Fellow Australian, @jdd32 had this to say about Lifespan of Oakley lenses and I thought it was worth sharing in it's own thread. What do you people think about it? I'm a little surprised, because most of the lenses I have are 10+ years old, but what Ron says makes sense too. I think what he's saying is for us to adjust our expectations!
"To be fair, the Oakley lenses are no more fragile than other lenses as they utilise the same coating technologies that are universally used for all lenses in the eye wear industry. In fact, One must remember that there is a lifespan attached to every object sold to customers. Industry standards for any optical lenses are 2 years in general. The reason is a valid ophthalmic prescription should only last 2 years, so therefore the industry expectation is that the customers would renew prescriptions and eyewear every 2 years. Hence the underlying coating and lens fabrication technologies are made with that level of expectation.
Some lenses can last more than the said bare minimum expectation of 2 years, as many of us have found them to last 5, 10, or even 15 years depending on:
1. How we use them (eg. at the beach vs. in the car),
2. How we store them (eg. baked on the car dashboard daily or stored in an office desk drawer), and
3. The severity of the environment we subject them (eg. do we have a medical condition of acidosis or are we wearing it under excessive sweat exposure in sports)
Know that when you buy lenses of any kind, they have a lifespan and treat it as a consumable part of the product that need to be replaced at least once every 2 years; any more mileage you get out of it is a bonus and therefore you won't get disappointed. Buying an Oakley lens may or may not last longer than other aftermarket lenses, but know that Oakley is renowned for their patented technologies with optical lenses especially in the areas of functional Iridium mirror coatings that enhance your vision and deliver optical clarity and contrast rather than the typical selling points of UV protection and a fashion statement ("ooo Ii'm wearing a deep red lens!")
EDIT: forgot to mention, the Oakley lenses are also considerably thicker than most aftermarket lenses and as a result have very good impact protection for your eyes. Some aftermarket lenses are so thin and cheap in the construction of the lens material that the lenses would structurally fail even if you attempt to 'pop' a lens into the frame."
Replacement Lenses
"To be fair, the Oakley lenses are no more fragile than other lenses as they utilise the same coating technologies that are universally used for all lenses in the eye wear industry. In fact, One must remember that there is a lifespan attached to every object sold to customers. Industry standards for any optical lenses are 2 years in general. The reason is a valid ophthalmic prescription should only last 2 years, so therefore the industry expectation is that the customers would renew prescriptions and eyewear every 2 years. Hence the underlying coating and lens fabrication technologies are made with that level of expectation.
Some lenses can last more than the said bare minimum expectation of 2 years, as many of us have found them to last 5, 10, or even 15 years depending on:
1. How we use them (eg. at the beach vs. in the car),
2. How we store them (eg. baked on the car dashboard daily or stored in an office desk drawer), and
3. The severity of the environment we subject them (eg. do we have a medical condition of acidosis or are we wearing it under excessive sweat exposure in sports)
Know that when you buy lenses of any kind, they have a lifespan and treat it as a consumable part of the product that need to be replaced at least once every 2 years; any more mileage you get out of it is a bonus and therefore you won't get disappointed. Buying an Oakley lens may or may not last longer than other aftermarket lenses, but know that Oakley is renowned for their patented technologies with optical lenses especially in the areas of functional Iridium mirror coatings that enhance your vision and deliver optical clarity and contrast rather than the typical selling points of UV protection and a fashion statement ("ooo Ii'm wearing a deep red lens!")
EDIT: forgot to mention, the Oakley lenses are also considerably thicker than most aftermarket lenses and as a result have very good impact protection for your eyes. Some aftermarket lenses are so thin and cheap in the construction of the lens material that the lenses would structurally fail even if you attempt to 'pop' a lens into the frame."
Replacement Lenses
