Can Sunglasses Help With Night Vision?

Good vision at night is essential for avoiding problems which could result in serious injury or death.

If you subject you eyes to intense Ultraviolet radiation (UV Rays) and glare during the day, they will tend to compensate by trying to adapt to the bright light.

This natural built-in defense will persist for several hours after sunlight and glare are gone resulting in much reduced night vision.

Night Vision Light Adaptation

Studies have shown that night vision can be reduced by as much as 50% by exposure during the day to intense UV rays and glare.

Wearing a good pair of sunglasses, not those cheap sunglasses you buy in the grocery store, during the day will improve night vision considerably.

The military has known for decades that troops that are going to go on night operations and pilots flying from day to night need to prepare their eyes during the day by keeping them in low light conditions by wearing dark glasses.

Wearing a really good pair of sunglasses increases their night vision adaptation time to a minimum.

Even if you drive at night wearing a good pair of sunglasses during daylight hours will help you see a lot better at night.

How To Select Sunglass Lenses

To provide full, day-long comfort, a good pair of sunglassess should elimate all of the problems that ultra violet radiation (UV rays) and glare can present.

Good quality sunglases with lenses with 15-20% visible light transmission (VLT) work best for people with "normal" light sensitivity in their eyes.

If you are going to spend a lot of time fishing, snow skiing or boating you might want darker sunglass lenses with 8-12% VLT.

As you age, however, your eyes will gradually lose their light gathering ability, especially after the age of 50 or so, as a result you might not need sunglass lenses that are so dark. 

We highly recommend that you consider lenses by Randolph Engineering. They are either Crown Mineral Glass or Nylon lenses, each with outstanding visual acuity and exceptional protection for your eyes.

Genuine Randolph Sunglasses Lenses

It is hard to find quality sunglasses with quality lenses, and it also involves making an investment in those kinds of sunglasses.

One of the things we try to do on this website is research those kinds of quality sunglasses, focusing on Made in the USA sunglass manufacturers like Randolph Engineering, Inc.

Randolph Engineering takes great care and pride in providing exceptional frames and lenses built not only to protect your eyes, but also to provide comfort, product support, and in some cases like Randolph replacement parts so the sunglasses last for many years.

If you have never had a pair of Randolph Sunglasses I would encourage you to take a look and consider a pair for yourself.

Trust me, you will not regret doing so!

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!

About John White a/k/a JetAviator7