I personally find a lot of lost sunglasses at the bottom of pools, so I know losing sunglasses is a fairly common occurrence for river users.
For this article, I decided to review three of the most recommended floating sunglasses and to be upfront. I can only recommend the ones from Rheos The other two did not live up to my expectations.
Best in test: Rheos Nautical
The first sunglass I would like to discuss are the Rheos Nautical. At the time of writing, they retail for around $65.00. They float, because of their Nylon lens. Yes, the same plastic as our lines is made out of.
Nylon lenses are approximately 20% lighter than polycarbonate while maintaining excellent impact assistance. They also have a very high ABBE value meaning they are very clear and optically correct to look through.
A 20% reduction in weight, does not sound like much, but the difference is enough to allow fairly traditional looking sunglasses to float.
Rheo makes a wide range of different sunglasses in the Nautical Seroes. In different styles, sizes, and lens colors. Probably something for everyone, although the lens color selection is slightly limited the main fishing spectrum is still covered.
My favorite Rheos Nautical sunglasses for fishing are the Sapelos. It has nice wide lenses that block plenty of wayward light. The fit is a bit wide, so suits people with large faces.
The polarization is as good as any on the market. No complaints here.
They feel very light to wear, even lighter than my Oakleys Half Jackets that are built with lightweight polycarbonate lenses..
For extra peace of mind, they come with a lifetime warranty, although I have not need to claim it so cannot comment on how generous they are with claims.
Cressi Ninja Floating Sunglasses
I know Cressi from their diving equipment, but they also happen to make some floating sunglasses. Well, they are advertised as floating but in my test that was not really the case. Maybe they will float in saltwater, but they do not seem to be buoyant enough for freshwater.
They come in a range of lens colors and the polarization is fine.
The Cressi Ninjas are budget glasses, they use TAC lenses which are only found in inexpensive glasses.
I can’t really recommend the Cressi Ninja sunglasses for fishing, simply because triacetate (TAC) lenses are a deal breaker for me. They have some serious shortcomings compared with nylon and polycarbonate lenses.
The biggest downside, to TAC is that the material only naturally absorbs 40% of harmful UV rays. That is significantly lower than the close to 100% which Nylon naturally blocks. They do use a coating to bring the UV blocking up to standard but there is some concern over the longevity of such coatings when it comes to plastic lenses.
I have also read numerous reports of the coating peeling off and the frames delaminating. For these reasons, the Cressi Ninja Floating glasses are hard to recommend.
Unsinkable Polarized Men’s Rival floating polarized sunglasses
I also can not recommend these for fishing and again it is due to the lens material.
The lenses are made from Polyamide, which compared with other plastic lenses have very low shattering tolerances. We need our sunglasses to stop a wayward fly or lure, and I can not say for certain that polyamide is up to that task.
Secondarily, they come with quite a high retail price. Even on special they are more expensive than the superior Rheos.
On the plus side, they are very optically correct. If you need glasses for uses other than fishing they could be worth considering.
Summary
Well, I tested three different pairs of floating sunglasses, and only the ones from Rheo Nautical impressed me enough to recommend for fishing.
For more information on sunglasses, check my guide here.
For information on selecting the best lens color for fishing click here.
