I know you said you wanted a pair that was relatively inexpensive but I'll throw out a possible alternative, especially for anyone needing Rx correction. I'm hard on shooting glasses, mostly because I'm not careful with them. Trashing out 2 or 3 pair a year would not be unheard of and at 15-20 a pop, well it can get semi-expensive. I guess technically that’s not all that much. Add to that the fact that I have an irregular shaped, head which is larger than 90% of the population already, and the OTC glasses don’t fit that well. That is to say that in some cases, they’re excruciating to wear and the shunt valve placement behind my right ear just makes it that much worse.
This year after a visit to the eye doc and seeing some of what they had on hand, I decided to go a different route. Enter Rudy Project. I need only minor correction for my eyes, and don’t wear glasses for daily use, much less sunglasses at all. However I’d still like for my shooting to be all that it can be. After looking at some of the Rudy Project offerings and trying on a few different pair I elected to pick up a set. I ended up buying one of their shooting kits, specifically the “Magster†kit. These glasses fit great. Better than I ever could have hoped, and I don’t have any of the pain or irritation that the cheapo glasses used to give me. The lenses are phenomenal. The clarity is great, and the clear set I have is “photochomic†aka “photogrey†or whatever you want to call it, i.e. they auto-darken in the sun. The lenses are also guaranteed for 2 years. If you jack them up, for a $20 service fee they’ll replace them.
The kit also comes with a pair of dark lenses and a pair of red lenses, both of which I like but wont get into here. I also ended up ordering the Rx insert that goes in BEHIND the protective lenses. That way my Rx lenses are protected from damage by the outer lenses. Yet another plus. Finally, because I ordered the Rx lenses with the package, I was able to get my FSA account to pay for them. Technically it’s already my money, but atleast it’s tax free. In truth, if I had not ordered the kit with the Rx insert and been able to pay for it using my FSA, I would never have been able to afford them. So if you're in a similar boat, you might want to think about that option.
Now, the kit plus the Rx lenses is stupid in terms of cost. I was able to get a discount code off of the Brian Enos forum page which brought the price down considerably but they’re still out of the range of this discussion. That said, if you just wanted a standard pair with their Impactx lenses, the Rydon frames are a great choice. The price on the website is $260, then with the code from the Brian Enos page you’d be looking at ~180, plus they’re usually doing some kind of combo deal where you also can get a pair of casual sunglasses for free, or a bag, or whatever. Regardless of what you chose it’d be a decent deal for $180. The Rydon frames will take the Rx insert as well, so if you need correction you could add it (and put them on your FSA if so desired). The lenses would be guaranteed for 2 years, and there are a multitude of color options available. Plus, you’d have the flexibility of adding a different set of lenses depending on your shooting or target color, red for example.
I know this is contrary to the original post, but I wanted to throw it out there. If you are willing to make the additional investment, I think you’ll find that it’s worth it.
