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Want to buy Oakley for hubby for Xmas-need advice

Mamabear

Oakley Beginner
20
53
Hello,

I want to gift my husband with a pair of Oakleys, and need help deciding. Specifically, I am wanting to pick the right model given that he plays basketball indoor & outdoor, as well as Ultimate outdoors, mostly day time, but sometimes with artificial light at night. They would double as protection - he was elbowed in the eye playing basketball a few years ago, causing a cataract, and recently had to have eye surgery - and sunglasses, so I want to get him interchangeable lenses. More information about my guy - he's Asian, has a round face, with big cheeks. And no, there's no way I can get him to wear goggles, and I've heard of many people saying Oakleys did the trick and allowed the peripheral vision needed.

I've research this and about tied myself into knots at this point. I have been told by various folks to get Asian fit M Frames or M2's and a couple swearing by Radars.I am leaning towards Radars, but which? PRIZM or polarized? Which lens? I'd like to get him lenses to play - yellow tint is recommended for outdoor basketball - and clear possibly for indoors.

I would appreciate your advice.

Thanks!
 
Hello,

I want to gift my husband with a pair of Oakleys, and need help deciding. Specifically, I am wanting to pick the right model given that he plays basketball indoor & outdoor, as well as Ultimate outdoors, mostly day time, but sometimes with artificial light at night. They would double as protection - he was elbowed in the eye playing basketball a few years ago, causing a cataract, and recently had to have eye surgery - and sunglasses, so I want to get him interchangeable lenses. More information about my guy - he's Asian, has a round face, with big cheeks. And no, there's no way I can get him to wear goggles, and I've heard of many people saying Oakleys did the trick and allowed the peripheral vision needed.

I've research this and about tied myself into knots at this point. I have been told by various folks to get Asian fit M Frames or M2's and a couple swearing by Radars.I am leaning towards Radars, but which? PRIZM or polarized? Which lens? I'd like to get him lenses to play - yellow tint is recommended for outdoor basketball - and clear possibly for indoors.

I would appreciate your advice.

Thanks!
I would think Flak 2.0 or Radar

As to lenses. May as well go with a Prizm lens as they are pretty nice and the older style lens seems to be on its way out
 
imo Radar EV Path Asia Fit. This has a particular lens cut to clear cheeks on top of having the nose pad that sets the frames at a higher angle for clearance like other AF pairs would.

However, the non Asia Fit version of the EV Path has a larger selection. You'd still be supplied with the thicker nose pad, so the full-fledged Asia Fit lens is perhaps an elevated measure vs. anticipated necessity. Like they'd have to be some seriously big cheeks imo.

And so in that particular respect, I'd entertain letting him have a field day with the site's custom interface so he gets exactly what he wants and can get a second lens in the bundle. There's also cool camo options. Only problem there is *if* he realizes he really needed the extra clearance, returns would be the slow method of sending everything back.

Lenses of choice depends on which activities. Given background I would lean to a clear lens, and then a polarized secondary.

There's Prizm Golf/Cycling/Water/Baseball/Trail — all of which are ideal for those respective disciplines, but not a confident choice for versatility. Some people can flex those tints but some others cannot. The water offers are polar. There's also Prizm Daily, which leans neutral with some fine tuning for contrast as a "Prizm" offering, and is Polarized. However, pretty much every polar option is going to run on the darker side. I'm not sure which polar lens has the lowest light transmission, let alone reasonable to use at night.

Avoid Fire Iridium. AR coating on the rear is rather prominent, and the base tint is....I can't figure out what it's good for. It's like an amber with low light-transmission, which is a bit of an oxymoron in my mind.
 
Cant decide between goggles and mframes? Get him an OTT

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From your description I think 4-5 lenses could benefit him. But that's coming from a collector who has no issue adding a pile of lenses to my stash.

Basketball indoor or ultimate at night I would go with yellow or clear. Persimmon is a touch too dark in my opinion, but also an option, especially if both are well-lit.
Basketball outdoor and ultimate during the day could go with a strong sun lens like black iridium, basically anything under the 15% transmission rate. I'd also get an in-between that is nice on overcast days in the 18-30% range. In old lens talk, that would be VR28, now they have all sorts of different options and I'm not hip to all the offerings from Prizm lenses.

I'd also recommend to stay away from mirrored glasses and polarized. In sports eye contact between teammates is important, and polarized can alter depth perception with some people. The tricky part is Glaucoma can increase light sensitivity and going darker and polarized might be a good thing for him. The good news is all Oakley lenses are UV filters, so he'll be wearing UV protection more often.

I agree with the gift card, too. The fit of the glasses are all different, which is part of why Oakley makes so many different pairs that essentially do the same thing.

If he doesn't like shield lenses (one piece for both eyes) the Flak 2.0 is a safe bet, you can get different size lenses and it seems to be a frame that can fit a wide variety of heads. If shields are a go the Radarlock or Radar EV would be the current choices an and the M2 is the budget pair of the shield sports line. Again, all have multiple sizes for lenses, as well as a wide choice of accessory lenses.
 
I wouldn't go with a giftcard. Actually having a thought out gift, even if it's not completely what you want will always be nicer to receive and be appreciated more.

In anycase, if you buy from a physical store, as you know, they will exchange, in the event that he really doesn't like them unless it's a sale item.

I'm Asian and the radars and flaks fit well, but exchanging the lenses aren't as easy to swap out as some of the switch lock systems (jawbones, racing jackets, split jackets) if you're swapping them often. If you can afford to, maybe consider getting 2 pairs with different lenses? In the end, you probably don't "save" that much on buying an additional lens, over a complete set (especially if you factor in regular swapping).
 
Why not get him an Oakley gift certificate? That way, he can choose what he wants or needs. He might even get one that makes him look good with the ladies, err.. I mean you. :D
I thought about it, for like, 5 seconds, but I am a sucker for that moment when they open the perfect gift and... :D
 
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