Friday, October 31, 2008

Tifosi Torrent Photochromatic Sunglasses

Tifosi Torrent FC Photochromic SunglassesA while back I reviewed a pair of Vogel sunglasses from Tifosi and they have become my go-to glasses for everyday wear. This Tifosi Torrent model though is the pair I pull out when it's time to go for a bike ride or a hike.

They're photochromatic, which means they'll adjust to the brightness and become darker as needed. So if you're going from indoors to outdoors and shade to sunlight, the glasses will adjust to the conditions. As always, that means they don't get as dark as standard sunglasses, but to me that's a fair trade-off and they're "dark enough" for most situations.

As with most wrap glasses, they curve a bit around the eye to block out more harmful rays and fit snugly without moving around. (One drawback: if you have long eyelashes they might rub against the lens.) These Torrent glasses go beyond in two ways though. First, the nosepiece actually gets tackier when wet, so if you're sweaty or it starts drizzling the sunglasses don't slide off your nose.

Second, they have a small vent in the top corner of each end to let air flow through. This might sound like a gimmick, but in my tests it made a difference. I usually start getting tears in the corners of my eyes if I'm skiing or coming down a hill fast on a bike from the wind, but with these on it doesn't seem to happen.

These sunglasses come with a hard zippered case that has a pocket on the inside, plus a soft carrying pouch that doubles as a lens cleaner. At a retail price of $60, these shades deliver at a high level for the price. (The polarized versions are $90.) And hey, they let you see the world through rose-colored glasses...

Get the Tifosi Torrent FC Photochromic Sunglasses at REI

See more at the Tifosi Optics website.

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