Polarized Sunglasses

Polarized sunglasses, which are worn mostly by outdoor enthusiasts, help to reduce the glare from flat shiny surfaces such as water and flat roads.  Obviously, sportsmen like fishermen, boaters, professional drivers, and surfers have found polarized sunglasses to be the most useful of all types of sunglasses.  Although recently, more sporting activities such as golf and snow skiing have also adopted the use and glare reduction of polarized sunglasses.

How do polarized sunglasses work?  It's quite simple actually... Sunlight, when reflected off of water or a flat road creates horizontally polarized light waves.  Conversely, polarized sunglasses use vertically oriented "polarizers" in their lenses.  The combination of the two effectively neutralizes one another and thus you get glare reduction from the lenses.

There are some drawbacks to polarized sunglasses though.  For example, if you view liquid crystal displays (LCD's) at certain angles the LCD displays can actually be invisible to the wearer because of the inherent characteristic of polarization.  Obviously, LCD's can be used in many different electronic devices such as laptop computers, PDA's, car dashboards, and many other devices.  Be aware of this limitation when buying polarized sunglasses.

In summary, polarized sunglasses are a great choice for outdoor sportsmen who demand the highest performance out of their eyewear and can't afford the effects of excessive glare.  If you are a fisherman, boater, professional driver, or you participate in any other sport that typically involves water or roads then definitely consider polarized sunglasses when choosing your eyewear.