Tonic sunnies

[bluefin59]

Ok so I have had so many brands of sunnies over the years and for the last 4 years have been using spotters which have been great for fishing but now at 62 I found changing glasses to tie knots and rigging to be a pain in the but , recently my eye test showed that I need bifocals now . So a call 2 weeks before Xmas to spotters was made to organise some prescription sunnies but they couldn’t do it till this week which didn’t suit my travel plans , so I called Tonic sunglasses and a gentleman called Frank said he could organise it before Xmas so I sent him the model (rush) and my prescription and sure enough they turned up as stated before Xmas and now I have had them for a month I am way impressed by the ease of use (no more swapping to other glasses for rigging ) and they have a lense that improves my view while driving even in low light conditions . They aren’t cheap but I can now wear just my sunnies even indoors to a degree , it’s certainly changed my ability to rig my gear and the polarisation is as good as anything I’ve had before . Matt

[Dignity]

Matt, just something to be aware of, my mate got graduated sunnies (although I note you say yours are bifocal) and the first time he wore them on my boat and went to jump off onto the pontoon he took a tumble. He said that the pontoon deck looked a lot further away and he totally misjudged it. I also need to go down that path of getting graduated lenses
but at the moment I can do my knots without glasses but reading the GPS is a different thing. Cheers Sam

[bluefin59]

The reading section is only small And barely comes into my line of sight but thanks for the warning ,so far they have been outstanding for fishing and driving I’m way happy with them and don’t carry readers anymore unless we go out at night . Matt

[ranmar850]

Ugly Fish do them as well. You can actually buy stock Ugly Fish with a magnifying section down the bottom, or get them done prescription. I went for the latter, with my reading prescription at the bottom, obviously, no correction for the rest, brown polarised. Comfortable enough to wear all day no problems, i was spotting the free-swimming sails around the bait balls before anyone else on board with polaroids, and yes, they do brighten things up in low light, I can actually wear mine before sunrise, which I couldn't with my previous prescription polaroids.

[bluefin59]

Ugly Fish do them as well. You can actually buy stock Ugly Fish with a magnifying section down the bottom, or get them done prescription. I went for the latter, with my reading prescription at the bottom, obviously, no correction for the rest, brown polarised. Comfortable enough to wear all day no problems, i was spotting the free-swimming sails around the bait balls before anyone else on board with polaroids, and yes, they do brighten things up in low light, I can actually wear mine before sunrise, which I couldn't with my previous prescription polaroids.

Yeah having bi focals makes doing big drives so much easier towing the van now and being able to go fishing without swapping glasses all the time is great

[EdBerg]

Just so you know, if you are ordering Bi-focals you can get 3 different sizes in the lower reading glass part. I usually order the largest and also get them to put that part of the reading lens just under my normal line of vision to give me the largest window to look through but when I look ahead as in on the road my vision is just above the lower section so I don't look through the higher magnification part. So when I look at the dashboard all the instruments are clear and then look up to the road and also quite clear.

I tried the multi focal glasses but will not get another, they do a little bit of everything but don't excel at anything.

[Paul071978]

What sort of price are we talking here? I’m interested in getting some multi focal sunnies

[stevej]

How long did it take you to get use to them ?
I got graduated three stage multifocals last year as an short sighted and tying knots was getting difficult

I tried the first or a few months and just made me feel sick with the blury transition as I looked around $900 paper weights next to the bed atm

[bluefin59]

How long did it take you to get use to them ?
I got graduated three stage multifocals last year as an short sighted and tying knots was getting difficult

I tried the first or a few months and just made me feel sick with the blury transition as I looked around $900 paper weights next to the bed atm

About a week of constant use and now I don’t even notice the reading section and reading the sounder and tying knots have become something I wouldn’t be without now , I think it’s because the reading part is small but enough to glance down at the dash and can see again now . Matt

[bluefin59]

What sort of price are we talking here? I’m interested in getting some multi focal sunnies

My wife’s bifocals with transition lenses from a big name glasses supplier where 700 my tonics where $560 delivered .Matt

[ranmar850]

IIRC, my Ugly Fish polaroid prescriptions, via an optometrist, were $540 delivered. If you wanted off-the-shelf Ugly Fish polaroids, with just a magnifying section at the bottom, non prescrip, they were about $150, I think? I have certainly paid $900 for prescription glasses--if you go multi-focal, with transitioning ( auto-darkening) with good frames, easy to spend that much. I have had the whole hog--all that, auto darken, polarised, and I don't believe they were as good as these ones I have now. And it really hurt seeing them tinkling away towards the bottom , attended by a big bullshark, when a mackerel ripped line across the side of my head as I went for a close-in gaff shot I have only just gone back to Bi-focals after using multi-focals for many years. I firsr started using reading presciptions turn of the century, and eventually had to go multi-focals for work. I only really needed reading glasses still, but I was in mining construction at the time, and you just can't be putting on/taking off reading glasses under mandatory eye protection all the time when you needed to read fine print out in the field. So I just gave in and got multi-focal safety glasses, and started using multi-focal for every day use as well. Mine is probably a pretty common story.
In my case, my middle distance and long distance eyesight has been improving, particularly since I had a bad Pterygium removed mid last year. While this may seem a cause for rejoicing, the optometrist says it can be a sign of bad things to come. So, for now, I'm back to bi-focals. If you get presciption, you get to choose just how mch of the field of vision is affected, and adjusted as to what your average reading distance requirements are. You don't get this with simple magnifying-type (non-prescrip) correction.

[bluefin59]

IIRC, my Ugly Fish polaroid prescriptions, via an optometrist, were $540 delivered. If you wanted off-the-shelf Ugly Fish polaroids, with just a magnifying section at the bottom, non prescrip, they were about $150, I think? I have certainly paid $900 for prescription glasses--if you go multi-focal, with transitioning ( auto-darkening) with good frames, easy to spend that much. I have had the whole hog--all that, auto darken, polarised, and I don't believe they were as good as these ones I have now. And it really hurt seeing them tinkling away towards the bottom , attended by a big bullshark, when a mackerel ripped line across the side of my head as I went for a close-in gaff shot I have only just gone back to Bi-focals after using multi-focals for many years. I firsr started using reading presciptions turn of the century, and eventually had to go multi-focals for work. I only really needed reading glasses still, but I was in mining construction at the time, and you just can't be putting on/taking off reading glasses under mandatory eye protection all the time when you needed to read fine print out in the field. So I just gave in and got multi-focal safety glasses, and started using multi-focal for every day use as well. Mine is probably a pretty common story.
In my case, my middle distance and long distance eyesight has been improving, particularly since I had a bad Pterygium removed mid last year. While this may seem a cause for rejoicing, the optometrist says it can be a sign of bad things to come. So, for now, I'm back to bi-focals. If you get presciption, you get to choose just how mch of the field of vision is affected, and adjusted as to what your average reading distance requirements are. You don't get this with simple magnifying-type (non-prescrip) correction.

Great description of the good and bad points , I had a set of raybans with the reading bit in them but could never get used to them so went back to carrying sunnies and readers but these things are a whole lot better . Thanks for your input and appreciate your opinion it’s a long and can be an expensive route to find what is good for each individual, Matt

[Dignity]

I also have watched my uglyfish bifocals make their way to the bottom of the ocean, now my glasses always have a strap on them.
As to colour what I've found is the brown/orange coloured lenses are really good for low light times and estuary fishing where there is a bit of colour in the water and the grey/black colours good for clear waters in estuary and offshore. My current sunnies are black but unusually good for most light conditions although in the darker parts of the Passage the brown ones beat it hands down.

[EdBerg]

What sort of price are we talking here? I’m interested in getting some multi focal sunnies

I am not sure if you were asking me about the price of mine, but if you were then I think that I ended up paying about $250-300 after the rebate from the NIB health fund, I usually try to get actual glass lenses if possible, otherwise if in plastic I got a pair of them with polarized lenses ( price??) and it usually takes about 2-4 weeks depending on what time of year I order them.

[ranmar850]

I also have watched my uglyfish bifocals make their way to the bottom of the ocean, now my glasses always have a strap on them.
As to colour what I've found is the brown/orange coloured lenses are really good for low light times and estuary fishing where there is a bit of colour in the water and the grey/black colours good for clear waters in estuary and offshore. My current sunnies are black but unusually good for most light conditions although in the darker parts of the Passage the brown ones beat it hands down.

Yes, straps are a given. I normally had straps on those, but they were off for some reason at that time. Good timing.