Need a 2nd pair of sunglasses - recommended.. (bonus story about my Costa Blackfins)

I'd like to get a 2nd pair of sunglasses. I love my current pair, but cannot (it seems) find the right 'strap' to go around my neck. I normally don't use one, but when fishing or hunting, etc., it's nice.

The problem is my favorite pair ever - Costa Blackfin. Great glasses but they have a rubber strip that runs along the bottom of the arms and wraps around the end of the arms. You could peel them off if you wanted to. The rubber provides great grip to keep them on your head, but too much wear and tear on them will cause the rubber to tear and then fall off. So, putting a 'strap' (why can't i think of what they're called?) on each arm is ok if it will stay on permanently.

In fact, I was in Gander Mtn once and a sales clerk tried on the Costa brand (cablez?). I couldn't get them off without ripping - and they did. I was pissed but they just shrugged their shoulders at me. So, a Costa product wrecked my Costa glasses, all done by a GM employee. Grrrr.

What I like about my Costas: they look great, the fit my big head. The arms do not curve down much. I have a huge head so that the distance to my ears from the bridge of my nose is longer - traditional glasses don't fit b/c the curved-down arms sit on top of my ears. Grrr.

I have the Blackfin in Brown Tortoise with bronze plastic lenses. The cheaper end of the Costa options.

What I'd like to find: awesome polarized glasses. Wide frame. Semi-straight arms to fit my big head. They gotta stay on the head but not have the rubber issues I mentioned earlier. These will most likely be for fishing and hunting, etc.

So, what have you got for fishing that you love? Any recommendations? Thanks!



BONUS STORY: I think I've had these for over TEN YEARS! And I paid only 70 for them at the time, brand-new. Here's what happened. Found a new pair on Ebay. Worried they were going to be fake. Paid 70. Retail was in the 120 range I think or more. After years, the rubber wore out. I sent them in to Costa with $8.00 handling fee. Received a NEW PAIR! I couldn't believe it. Immaculate. Five years later, I sent them in again, but this time, I had to opt in for new lenses - which cost me 50 or 80 bucks, I can't recall. Got a NEW pair again. So, they've changed their rules, but I figured, I got 10 years out of the original pair, I'll pay extra to get another new pair.

If I had lost these early on, I probably wouldn't lay down that kind of dough on a new pair, but since they've been so good for me and lasted so long, I'll stick with them. I previously had two pairs of Oakley Frogskins (not the original but more sculpted with long, straight arms). Loved them, too, but they broke within five years each.

...and no, I will not put a big Costa decal on the back window of my truck or wear their hats/shirts.

Interesting. I too have a pair of costa's that have the rubber strip on each temple. Mine has also been torn off. I repaired mine with gorilla glue. Sounds like i should call costa and ask for a replacement.

Maui Jim's


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Smith chromapops. You will like how light they feel on your face compared to costa glass (I have blackfins too). Lens quality is about the same between the two.

I have the Costa Saltbreak 580G and they have the same rubber parts. I have sent them back twice ($13 each time) and I am pretty sure they put my lenses in new frames and send them back to me. If I leave them in the dash on a hot summer day the rubber nosepiece comes unglued. I need to get another pair, because when I have to send them back to Daytona Beach, I absolutely hate being without them for 2-3 weeks. I want a pair of the Tuna Alley for mys 2nd pair.
I use the Cables XL strap.

You can send them back for repairs if you want to do that. I won a pair of smith guides choice glasses in a Spearfishing tournament. I ended up really like them. Added bonus they have a built in cable on the back of the arms. If you don't like it you can replace the insert. They are large frames with thicker arms to block out more light.

For a permanent strap: Go buy shrink wrap tubing that will fit over the ends of your glasses arms. Cut a piece of paracord to your desired length. Melt the ends of the paracord, then "blunt" the ends to bulge them out a bit. Stick the paracord end half through the shrink wrap tubing, and the glasses arm through the other end. Heat with a lighter or whatever to shrink the tubing around both items. Repeat the process for the second arm. You can even add a spring ball clip to the back of the paracord to snug them against your head.

Another strap option. Drill a hole through each 'arm' and add monofilament line. I normally use 30 lb or so. If you want to get fancy, use 60-80 lb mono. Wrap the mono evenly around a pencil or some similar rod and put it in boiling water for a few minuets (experiment a bit). It will retain the coils.

MAUI JIM glasses

Native makes a good affordable pair of sunglasses. I like the Cable series, they fit my big noggin.

I like Smith. Mine are the Captain's choice Chromapop. They are very lightweight and comfortable, don't have any pressure points, and they have a built in cable. Lens quality is very good. They rarely leave my face or my neck.

Downside is the price. They are the best sunglasses I've ever worn (that includes Costa's), but I'm not sure they are worth the price.

I also have Smith shooting glasses that are great as well, with blade arms that slide inside of electronic muffs without killing your head.

I love suncloud sunglasses: https://www.amazon.com/Suncloud-Pol...73&sr=1-1&keywords=Suncloud+Sentry&th=1&psc=1

Quite a few of my friends have gone from Costas to the Suncloud Sentry and been very pleased.

As far as straps, I have always been a fan of the old school croakies: https://www.amazon.com/Croakies-Ter...=UTF8&qid=1492604053&sr=1-7&keywords=croakies

I had Costas way back when and still have a pair but haven't worn them since I started to wear Maui Jims over 10 years ago.

2boyz said:

Another strap option. Drill a hole through each 'arm' and add monofilament line. I normally use 30 lb or so. If you want to get fancy, use 60-80 lb mono. Wrap the mono evenly around a pencil or some similar rod and put it in boiling water for a few minuets (experiment a bit). It will retain the coils.

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this is what I do except I use a piece of leather, its round like a boot string but very thin...buy it in the crafts dept at wally or a Michaels/Hobby Lobby...stick the leather through the hole and tie a knot on the outside of the arm...make it any length you want

More useless info than you ever care to hear: I worked over 8 years, all through HS and College, as a caddy back home. Spotting golf balls in the air and tracking them is important if you're going to be any good at it. When I turned 18 or so, I started getting headaches staring up at the sky 75 times a day. I opted for a pair of polarized Oakleys. They lasted years, and I still have them, they're just beat up, and make me look like a teenager, so I went with a pair of bronze colored oakleys. My brother and another fishing buddy LOVE their Maui Jim's, and they seem to weigh almost nothing. My melon is too big for their glasses, though.

I have a pair of Ray bans, I like them best of any of the other brands I've tried. Bought them in 2004, still wearing them every day, not a single scratch on them. Glass lenses, polarized.

Folks. Great responses. Too many to quote/thank individually. Love the brand ideas and diy cables. I've used the fishing line on a cheaper pair, threading it through a large egg shaped float for surf fishing.


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Hawkman, Sounds like you got your money worth and more. I am a premium dealer and can not even buy them for that price point. But That was then and now Costa has been bought out by another company so the rules have changed. The days of $ 8 replacements are over with. As far as the rubber on the temple. That was a poor design by the old Costa Del Mar company. It is actually silicon infused or glued to the zyl frame. Also some models around the entire inside front of the frame. As soon as perspiration and suntan oil gets into it they separate. The new company has changed those designs . Still some silicon infused but not nearly as much. Couple of nice options would be Maui Jim and Smith Optics

Just glued my Costa 580's rubber back on this morning lol. 2nd time doing it.

I have never owned a pair that took THAT much sweat, drops, bangs etc, and not one scratch (knock on wood) on the lenses! almost 4 years old none of the many pairs of Oakleys I've owned made past 2 years.

I love the rubber strip on the bottom against my ear, so I can't see getting a pair that doesn't have them. $80 every four years seems like a good deal in my mind for my comfort. Except, like mentioned, those weeks where I don't have them.

I own both Maui Jim and Costa glasses and I love them both. Costa is the better lens I believe, Maui is the better company. However I do believe Costa is making a concerted effort to improve their customer service. 2 examples: I have a pair of Maui Jim Lighthouse glasses. I lost them on our mountain while out deer scouting and found them 2 months later nearly a half mile from the area that I lost them. The were warped and looked like they have been gnawed on by a raccoon, however they weren't broken. I sent them to Maui to see if I could pay to have the lens replaced. They made me pay the nominal processing fee and in 2 weeks I had a new pair in my mailbox for no extra charge. They told me that no matter what happened to them, they shouldn't have warped.

My example for Costa is that 2 months ago I had a pair of Permit 580G that the rubber began to fall off and the screw in the right arm had stripped causing it to become really loose. I sent them back and paid the $12 processing fee. Within 3 days of them receiving the glasses a technician called me and said they would be sending me a new updated version of the Permit 580G. They were in my mailbox in less than 2 weeks. You can't beat either!

Check with Costa again... they have taken the rubber strip off of several of their sunglasses. I just sent my Costa Zanes back last week cost me $11.95 for shipping. I knew there were a few small scratches on the them and they emailed me about replacing the lenses as well.

I also have a really big head and I bought a pair of Oakley Turbines and they fit pretty well.

Tony Hawkins said:

I have the Costa Saltbreak 580G and they have the same rubber parts. I have sent them back twice ($13 each time) and I am pretty sure they put my lenses in new frames and send them back to me. If I leave them in the dash on a hot summer day the rubber nosepiece comes unglued. I need to get another pair, because when I have to send them back to Daytona Beach, I absolutely hate being without them for 2-3 weeks. I want a pair of the Tuna Alley for mys 2nd pair.
I use the Cables XL strap.

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I have the exact same pair. I love them. I've also sent them to costa for the same reason and they put the lenses in a new frame. Had to wait for Saltbreak to be in stock but they offered any other frame if I didn't want to wait. I picked up a cheaper pair of Costas off ebay for when I'm without my favorite pair.

I like the look of the Turbines by Oakley - I hadn't checked out their site in years. I never liked how they always have a non-polarized option. Who wants that?

What I always did like about my Frogskins (Oakley) was that there was no screw holding the arm in place - just a little bump and socket type of setup. If you got hit hard enough, the arm would snap out and you could snap it back in.

That being said, I assume my Costas have a screw and it's never backed out on me, as they do on cheap sunglasses and Dollar General reading glasses...

I should add that the Frogskins I had did not look like the originals, nor did they look like the current frogskins. (If you google it, you'll be hard-pressed to find anything otherwise). Apparently, Oakley changed the look, and the look did not receive much love. Crazy. I don't care for the regular Frogskins look. Attached are what I had. The first "nice" shades I'd owned. I think about $65.00 at the time (non-polarized - didn't realize how awesome it'd have been to have it I'm sure).