The Kiteboarder tested the Tierra de Fuego, one model among many watersport sunglasses part of the Ocean Glasses collection. You can check the entire catalog here or at oceanglasses.com
TIERRA DE FUEGO: UV 100% Protection/CE with ATOM system, HYDROPHOBIC water repellent coating, anti-impact protection, adjustable elastic strap. Available in matte black, gloss black, gloss white, red, green, blue, and yellow. MSRP: $79.
For more information, contact Bay Area Kitesurf, the US Ocean distributors, at info@oceanglasses.us.
The Ocean Tierra del Fuego sunglasses are a lightweight pair of sunnies that you can wear in the water while you ride. In this respect they are similar to other watersports sunglasses that we’ve tried in the past, but they have a really unique feature that make them stand out.
With interchangeable arms and removable foam padding, the Tierra del Fuego easily and quickly converts from a standard pair of sunglasses suitable for everyday use to a pair of specialty watersports sunglasses.
The Tierra del Fuego glasses feature polarized grey lenses that are vented along the rear edge to help prevent fogging. In normal sunglasses mode they are light, comfortable, and stylish enough to be worn as an everyday pair of shades.
People with smaller faces may want to try them on before buying as the lenses are fairly large and might give a smaller face a bit of the bug-eyed look.
To use the Tierra del Fuego in the water, you remove the arms, install the head strap, and clip the foam insert into place, a process that takes less than a minute. The foam helps give your eyes more protection from the wind and also makes the glasses float in case you happen to lose them during a crash on the water.
If you aren’t used to wearing eye protection on the water, watersports glasses can provide an amazing amount of relief from sun, glare, and wind. The polarized lenses of the Tierra del Fuego really eliminate the glare from the water, making the water appear much more clear. They are comfortable to wear and shed water drops really well.
During one session, our tester reported a minor amount of fogging, but to be fair this occurred on an unusually warm day in cold water, conditions most likely to cause fogging. For the next session our tester applied an anti-fog spray to the lenses and reported no more fogging.
As a reasonably-priced choice to protect your eyes on and off the water, the Ocean Tierra del Fuego sunglasses a worth a close look that will provide a huge amount of eye-strain relief, especially in riding locations prone to a lot of glare.
