How Do Eagle Eyes Freedom Aviator Sunglasses Stack Up Against Randolph Aviators?

If you are a fan of aviator style sunglasses, then you are more than likely aware of Randolph Aviator sunglasses. For many years I was a Retailer for Randolph Engineering, the manufacturer of Randolph Aviators. Randolph Aviators for many years were supplied to pilots in the United States military, and many military veterans still have the original sunglasses.

For a long time Randolph and Ray Ban were the only real successful manufacturers of the classic Aviator style of sunglasses. But in recent years a number of competitors have come into this market, and one of them even offers an incredible aviator style at a fraction of the cost of a pair of Randolph aviators.

What I am going to do in this post is make a comparison between Randolph Aviators and Eagle Eyes Optics Freedom Non-Polarized Aviator sunglasses. I think you will find this comparison rather interesting to read.

The founders of Randolph Engineering, Inc., the manufacturer of Randolph Aviator Sunglasses, were Jan Waskiewicz and Stanley Zaleski, both of whom emigrated from Poland at the end of World War II.

Both of them were engineers, and met one another while working for the American Optical Company. During World War I and II the American Optical Company manufactured frames for prescription lenses and sunglass lenses. After the war the company was broken up and the AO Original Pilot Aviator sunglasses and AO General Pilot Sunglasses were sold off.

Jan and Stanley decided they could do a better job and make a better product, so they formed Randolph Engineering, Inc., a manufacturing company in Randolph, MA. They then build new equipment to manufacture updated and improved frames and created the Randolph Aviator.

The picture below is how their current Aviator sunglasses look:

Randolph Aviator sunglass frames are made with an 18% nickel silver alloy, and while they are very attractive after the finish is placed on them, the frames are realatively heavy when compared to newer frame materials like titanium and TR90 composite materials. 

There is no question but that Randolph is able to apply great finishes to their frames, and the frames last for a long time. When I was a Retailer for Randolph I had many ex-military and aviator sunglass aficienados that liked the parts that I supplied so that they could fix their sunglasses themselves.

While Randolph stuck with mineral glass lenses (which are the heaviest lens material available), today's sunglass lenses come in a number of different materials. Even Randolph now offers their Aviators with Nylon lenses which are much lighter than glass, and still have excellent visual optical quality.

And, of course, today the prices range from $ 279 to $ 339 for their Aviator sunglasses, depending upon the polarization. Polarized lenses cost $ 60 more than the non-polarized version. Randolph offers a wide variety of choices, including prescription lenses, which can add hundreds ot dollars to the cost of the sunglasses.

But, is there any viable quality option to the Randolphs?

After Randolph took away my Retailer agreement I began a search to find another brand that might work as a competitor to the Randolph Aviators. That search lead me to Eagle Eyes® Optics Freedom Non-Polarized Aviator Sunglasses for pilots.

Eagle Eye sunglasses are a brand that goes back to the early days of NASA back in the early 1960s. NASA began studying ultraviolet (invisible) and blue-light (visible) ray, after they discovered that astronaut's eyes were being damaged by thes harmful properties of light in space. These radiation light sources from the sun and other environments are now well known to contribute to cataract and age-related macular degeneration.

NASA scientists decided to study how eagles were able to see so far, and even down into the water, when hunting for fish. As it turned out, eagles have unique oil droplets in the eyes which give them the ability to filter out the light that is not important to them, and to allow them to laser-focus their eyes on their target - prey!

In the 1980's Avian® and TriLenium® space-transfer lens technology was introduced to the general public and adapted for everyday use on the earth. In the 1990s a new company by the name of SunTiger®, acquired that technology from two engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

That technology was then transferred to Eagle Eyes®, the current manufacturer of Eagle Eyes® Optics sunglasses. Which brings us to our comparison today between Randolph Engineering Aviator sunglasses and Eagle Eyes® Optics Freedom Non-Polarized pilot sunglasses, as well as a variety of different Aviator styles of sunglasses like the Eagle Eyes® Freedom Apollo 22K Gold Aviator Sunglasses and Hero Aviator Sunglasses.

The image below is of the Eagle Eyes Freedom Non-Polarized Sunglasses for pilots:

Eagle Eyes® Optics Freedom Non-Polarized Sunglasses for pilots have Stainless Steel frames and shatterproof notch filtered Polycarbonate lenses. This makes the frames much lighter, and the lenses allow a more focused view.

The Eagle Eyes® Optics Freedom Non-Polarized aviator style pilot sunglasses have another unique feature that differentiates them from the Randolph Aviator sunglasses. The frames come with spring hinges for the temples, and that allows a more comfortable fit. In addition, the frame has soft temple tips on the bayonet temples, and the adjustable silicone nose pads for are great for all day comfort.

The Eagle Eyes® Optics Freedom Non-Polarized Aviator sunglasses retail for just $ 79.95! At this price point you could purchase 3 1/2 pairs for just the price on one pair of Randolph Aviators. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog post about Sunglasses for Pilots and Aviation Enthusiasts. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this blog, sign up to receive your own weekly blog post here: Subscribe here!