Costa Del Mar - Brine Sunglasses

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to field test a pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses. The sunglasses are the Brine Model. How do you review sunglasses, but there are some things to think about starting with the fit to your face, the tint, are the polarized or not, weight, and clarity. I am sure there are others, but this is where I focused my attention.

The lenses are large and slightly wrap around the eye which helped prevent sun coming in from the top or sides of the glass. I consider this a bonus, not being blinded by light is always a good thing. The lenses are polarized with an amber tint with silver mirror finish. Of all the different tints available, the amber tint is my favorite of all tints, whether it is yellow, smoky, rose, etc. I am usually fishing in and out of shadows all day long and the amber tint is dark enough to block light but light enough for me to see in the shadows. When I am fishing, I typically use a strike indicator and the amber lenses allow me to keep an eye out on the strike indicator between the sun and the shade.

I think one of the most, if not the most characteristic of sunglasses for fishing is if they are polarized and in this case, the polarized lenses were phenonimal. There is nothing worse than the glare of the sun on the water when trying to stalk trout. In this case, I could see the bottom of the river with no problem at all; I really couldn’t believe how clear everything was. I mean clear, clear, clear. It didn’t matter if the water was still or moving, I could make out objects in the water; rocks, branches, plants, and most importantly, trout. Most of my sunglasses in the past have been cheap pairs from sporting goods store and I thought they were great. I was wrong after this field testing. My old sunglasses are now stored in a gear bag to probably disappear; my gear bag is like the dryer with my socks, never to be seen again.

The frames were nice too, a light weight plastic which kept the weight down while I was wearing them in the car or while wading the river. I think weight is important too, who wants something heavy weighing down there their nose while out and about. The sunglasses come with nice hard protective case and an adjustable pair of sunglass straps to prevent them from falling off in the water.

My local fly shop sells these sunglasses and lets people test them outside before buying them. I suggest everyone try this. Do you buy a car without taking it for a test drive? Tell your local retailer you want to see them in real sunlight and not the florescent lights of a retail store. If all of your recent sunglasses have been cheap pairs like mine, consider giving these guys a shot, you shouldn’t be disappointed.

4 comments October 24th, 2008