-L.A.S
Thursday, May 20, 2010
American Optical
Just another humble sunglasses recommendation from yours truly. If you don't have the monies for Ray Ban or even Randolph Engineering your best bet for classic military frames is easily AO Sunglasses. For 130 years these shades have been made in the USA and have graced everyone from military pilots to the Eagle flight crew in the first moon landing. Getting that pedigree for 50 or 60 bucks (starting price) is a pretty damn fine deal, especially at about half the price of what competitors are offering. Just like Randolph Engineering, AO lets you customize things like lens size and the temple style so they should have your specific tastes covered. I'm partial to square frame aviators myself (i.e. Ray Ban's Caravan or AO's Original Pilot), but that's not to say tear drop frame aren't boss.
-L.A.S
-L.A.S
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I've got #2. They're the real deal...probably want to make sure you try them on first as they can look huge depending on how small your head is. I got mine from the Army Surplus for $50--hard to beat that.
ReplyDeleteThese are very nice shades, but I have a hard time justifying spending even that amount of money on something I'm going to scratch or bend within a week. So I've got another option for you. I recently stocked up on aviators on a trip to a fossil outlet store where they were selling sunglasses 2/$36. I bought 4 pairs and have taken the worry out of the equation.
ReplyDeleteTop ones are ma faves.
ReplyDeleteI picked up #2 in Seattle just last weekend. A military surplus downtown, $42. I had seen them in Vancouver the day prior for $80. Damned Canadian markup.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.omahas.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=sunglasses&osCsid=diagbfk7gvn0l10100te36ulj0&x=0&y=0
ReplyDeletehttp://www.armynavydeals.com/asp/products_details.asp?SKU=FX85160&ST=2&Air%20Force%20Style%20Sunglasses-%20Gold%20w/Smoke%20Lens
They look exactly the same as my RE's, are they made in the same factory? Are the lenses comparable?
ReplyDeleteI picked up a couple of pairs of these in the Bay area a couple of years ago. The lens quality is amazing, but the arms definitely do not curve as in the pictures. Hands down the best glasses for riding with a full face motorcycle helmet.
ReplyDeleteThey stay on and up surprisingly well, give excellent coverage, and with glass lenses you know you're getting UV protection. I can't wear wraparounds, as I seem to fog/sweat them up instantly. Once I got Lasik'd, I went sunglasses-crazy until I found these...mission accomplished
ReplyDeleteFinally, someone giving AO's their due. I owned two pairs of Randolph Engineering aviators before I stumbled upon some AO's. The RE's were great sunglasses, but both pairs fell apart on me (one pair had the nose piece fall off, the other lost a couple of screws, and then lost themselves). I bought the AO's at an Army Navy store and I'm never paying for RE's again. I've got two pairs and they've lasted forever under all kinds of conditions.
ReplyDeletePleasantly, the posting is actually the contemporary area of interest for this registry associated issue. I harmonize together with your conclusions and will eagerly look forward to your incoming updates. Simply say gives thanks won't enough, in your lucidity in your posting. I’ll immediately grab your rss feed to keep abreast of all updates.
ReplyDeleteI have both milspec Randolf and AOs, same style and size. Other than the way the soft eyepiece is attached (small difference of no preference) only the price is different; AOs are less than half the price. Repair parts from Randolf (lenses, temple) are double the cost and appear to be interchangeable. As they are both made to milspecs there can not be much in the way of hidden quality differences.
ReplyDelete