If your going to be spending time on the water, invest in a quality pair of polarized sunglasses.   Your catch rate will go up significantly! If your not sure how to choose sunglasses, your options are: A)lens color lens material including polarization & anti-reflective coatings C)pre_script_ion or standard lenses D)_frame_ color and composition A)Lens Color & Polarization   Most professional guides choose and amber _base_d lens for inshore and dark grey _base_d for offshore fishing.  The amber or brown color enhances contrasts when you have a background and helps you to distinguish subtle shadows or the outlines of fish from the background. The dark grey lens seems to work better offshore where the water is clear and there is no background such as in shallow water.  An essential ingredient is polarization.  Polarizing films applied during the manufacturing process and sandwiched between _layer_s of lens material blocks most reflected glare coming back from the water allowing you to see deeper into the water.  Are the cheaper polarized sunglasses just as good?   For some they may be a perfect solution, for professionals with above average vision and who are not prone to losing sunglasses, probably not. Professionals in our opinion includes the serious weekend anglers and tournament fishermen.   Polarizition films have varying levels of quality that are more or less expensive to manufacture initially and to incorporate into the lenses during lens construction.  The notion that an eight dollar pair of Polarized Sunglasses is just as good as their more expensive cousins is akin to the cheaper Chevy being comparable to a Ferrari or Rolls Royce. Sure they both may get the job done, depending on what the job is.   For spotting fish when your livelihood depends on it, for a small price difference that many times is the amount of tip a guide receives for putting a client on good bunch of fish there really is no question in what they will choose. Anti-Reflective Coatings- are nearly as important as the Polarization. The anti-reflective coatings applied are applied to the inside of the lens.  This is critically important as the light reflecting from the back of your sunglasses can create significant glare.  This reflected light sources include reflections from your face, boat and clothing. These coatings are expensive to apply and include and use exotic materials.  The coatings applied in the highest quality sunglasses are done by vacuum vapor deposition manufacturing process for evenness in thickness and for best adhesion properties. Very expensive to do. b)Lens Material   The Options here are 1)Glass   Highest scratch resistance and optical clarity.  Disadvantages inlude the significant weight penalty.  Will hold up best to repeated cleanings when proper cleaning procedures are followed. Usually more expensive than the plastics 2)CR-39 Hard plastic Resin   This an excellent choice as these lenses are able to be manufactured to the highest quality of optical standards while providing a significantly improved weight factor.  More comfortable for all day wear particularly in hot climates.  Excellent abrasion resistance and when proper cleaning procedures are followed, will hold up nearly as long as glass lenses. Usually less expensive than glass lenses. 3)Polycarbonate   Polycarbonate lens development has come a long way in the last two to three years as lens coatings have steadily improved.  In addition to the anti-reflective coatings, a hardness coating can be applied using a variety of proprietary techniques and coating materials.  These coatings make these lenses nearly as scratch resistant as glass.  (up to 90% of the abrasion resistance of glass)  In fact, these coatings have improved these lenses so much that at least one manufacturer even offers a lifetime warranty against scratches!  Polycarbonate has been around a long time mostly under the tradename Plexiglass (tm) and Lexan (tm).  Both of these materials are perhaps best known for their impact resistance.  Sunglasses made of polycarbonate lens materials do indeed qualify in most cases as safety glasses .  Some sunglass manufacturers even offer in their advertising that their lenses are able to deflect small caliber bullets (.22) though they don't recommmend you use them for this purpose!  In 1997 Sunglasses Internationale will be testing the .22 theory. Check our web site for a full report later in the year.  We feel there is a real benefit to this feature for fisherman.  We know from experience that occasionally if an errant cast ends up in the trees, and pulling the line until it breaks can result in lead weights that hit with enough force to break the skin.  A direct hit to an eye would be disastrous!  Currently these are our lens material of choice for polarized eyewear.  Additional newer coatings include the Micro-Bead coating that sheets water like Rain-X (tm)  This is a permanent coating and it works great! We Sunglasses Internationale test our products under all conditions. C)pre_script_ion or standard lenses.  Many contact and eyeglass wearers report less fatigue and better overall vision by investing in pre_script_ion polarized sunglasses D)_frame_ Materials   Includes opthalmic quality Zyl, Nylon and Nylon Composites and _meta_ls.   _frame_ materials are important because this can affect the adjustability for comfort to fit your face.   1)Zyl