Once you start wearing any kind of glasses, you’re automatically down the rabbit hole of all things eyeglasses-related. Light transitional lenses are a popular option that claims to reduce the amount of money you spend on eyewear and replace multiple pairs of glasses with just one pair.
Wondering if light transitional lenses are worth the hype? We investigated, and we also put light transitional safety glasses to the test. Here’s what you should know about light transitional safety glasses and whether they’re a good fit for you.
What Are Light Transitional Lenses?
Light transitional lenses are lenses that are treated so that they darken when exposed to UV rays and lighten when they are not. What this means for you, the wearer, is that if you wear safety glasses or corrective lenses, you won’t need to change to a pair of shades when you step into the sunlight.
Light transitional lenses feature a photochromic layer that changes when exposed to light. If you wear light transitional lenses, you should be able to go from indoors to outdoors without changing from your eyeglasses to your sunglasses.
Pros of Light Transitional Safety Glasses
What are the benefits of having one pair of glasses to rule them all?
Here’s what’s good about light transitional safety glasses:
1. Cost Effective
It goes without saying light transitional lenses can save you money. Instead of purchasing two pairs of glasses, one for indoors and one for when you’re in the sun, you’ll only buy one pair. If you traditionally wear safety glasses for your work and find yourself going from indoors to out frequently, this will save you from purchasing two pairs of glasses.
2. Convenient
There’s no denying the convenience of light transitional safety glasses. You won’t have to carry an additional pair of glasses in your pocket (in a protective case) for times when you need darker lenses. Safety glasses with light transitional lenses can go from light to dark and keep your eyes comfortable without switching between two different pairs of specs.
3. You Probably Won’t Lose Your Glasses
If you’re used to keeping two pairs of shades around, you might find yourself misplacing them. Having one fewer pair of glasses to keep up with can mean you don’t end up kicking yourself for losing your glasses (again).
However, it should be noted that having one pair of glasses can also make it easier for you to have to take a trip to the eye doctor or store if you lose them. You’ll have to get a new prescription or, at the very least, a new pair of glasses.
4. Eye Protection
Light transitional lenses are famous for their UV blocking abilities. Some safety glasses don’t necessarily protect your eyes from ultraviolet rays (Stoggles do because we are literally obsessed with eye protection).
If you have light transitional lenses in your safety glasses, you’ll get the benefit of UV protection when you’re exposed to UV light.
While they are not light transitional glasses, all Stoggles safety glasses are coated with a UVA + UVB protection, which means you never have to worry about your eyes being exposed to UV rays.
5. Allow You To Use Your Glasses at Home
Used to taking off your safety glasses when you hit the road to head home? Got a few other pairs of safety glasses stashed in your garage for at-home projects? Using light transitional lens safety frames can keep you from having a shazillion pairs of safety glasses at home and work.
Keep one pair of glasses that you can use indoors and at work and outdoors for home projects, sports, or yard work.
Cons of Light Transitional Safety Glasses
Light transitional safety glasses can be a great fit for some users, but they aren’t for everyone. Some of the drawbacks of using light transitional glasses may make them a no-go for you.
Here’s what you should know:
1. You Can’t Drive With Them
Unfortunately, you can’t drive with light transitional lenses. They operate by changing when exposed to UV rays. The windshield of your car also blocks UV rays, and because the windshield is doing the job, your glasses won’t get enough UV light to change colors.
This means you’ll still need to have a pair of sunglasses when you’re driving, which may eliminate the benefit of light transitional lenses altogether.
2. Light Transitional Times
Remember how it felt to wait for dial-up to connect you to the internet? That can be the feeling you get when waiting for your light transitional safety glasses to fully adjust. Although it normally only takes a few seconds, certain factors (like temperature) may cause it to happen slower or not at all.
Cold weather, air conditioning systems, and extreme heat can all delay the time it takes for your lenses to respond to UV light and darken. This can be problematic seasonally as well as year-round depending on where you live and what you do.
Ask any light transitional lens wearer, and they’ll probably have a story (or three) about how their lenses let them down going from indoors to outdoors.
3. You Might Experience Glare
Light transitional lenses can’t be polarized, so you’ll probably experience a glare if you attempt to wear them near water or snow. Something to keep in mind if you’re looking for safety glasses to protect your eyes during outdoor sports like snowboarding or wakeboarding.
4. Light Transitional Lenses Wear Out
Nothing lasts forever: if you have light transitional lenses, they may wear out faster, requiring you to buy a new pair sooner.
When the photochromic layer begins to wear out, you’ll notice that your lenses take a longer time to move through shades. They also won’t get as dark in daylight, which can render them useless. You’ll know it’s time to replace them when they begin to develop a yellow tint when the lenses should be clear.
5. They Don’t Get as Dark as Regular Sunglasses
Standard sunglasses offer much a darker shade than light transitional lenses, so if you’re used to darker colors, you may still find yourself squinting if you try light transitional safety glasses. Although you should still have enough coverage to protect your eyes, you may want to wear a hat with your glasses if you’re in direct sunlight.
The Stoggles Difference
At Stoggles, we keep it simple. All of our safety glasses offer UV protection, so you never have to worry about exposing your eyes to damaging UV rays whether you’re using our glasses indoors or outdoors.
We also use an anti-fog coating on our glasses, so when you move from inside to outdoors, your glasses won’t fog up and render you visionless until you can wipe them clean.
Work behind a computer desk? That’s no problem. Our glasses are also coated with blue-light blocking material so that your eyes don’t fatigue and or become potentially damaged from blue-light exposure.
Our safety glasses are all ANSI Z87.1 certified, offering you impact resistance that’s also spill and splatter proof. Want to use Stoggles outside?
We recommend SunStoggles for the job. With SunStoggles, you’ll get the same great level of protection and safety you do from our regular stoggles, but with lenses dark enough to keep you comfortable outdoors.
Suns Out, Stoggles On
When we’re in the sun, we want our drinks cold and our lenses dark. Oh, and by the way, we also want to look good. Stoggles make it possible to keep your eyes safe no matter what you’re doing outside or indoors.
Sources:
Self-Darkening Eyeglasses | What's That Stuff? | Chemical & Engineering News: Science & Technology
Ultraviolet Waves | Science Mission Directorate|NASA
A Surprising Danger in Planes, Trains and Automobiles|Skin Cancer.org