Usage

• 1 day hike Umptanum Creek Washington (clouds, bright sun, and heavy rain)
• 2 night family camping trip Trout Lake Washington (Lots of driving, 1 day hike, 1 short canoe trip)
• 3 day trip to climb Mt Adams (used the entire trip, sun up to sun down. I did not even bring my glacier glasses)
• 2 day trip to climb Mt St Helen’s (used the entire trip sun up to sun down)
• 2 night family camping trip Central Washington (1 short canoe trip on the Snake River)
• 4 day solo hike in the Ingalls Creek valley (Central Washington at the base of Mt Stuart)

NOTE: I have literally worn these glasses every day since receiving them, ranging from 1-2hrs to over 16hrs.

Driving
These glasses are wonderful for driving. sun, shade, rain, overcast, and even twilight. They keep the sun out of my eyes even when driving west directly into a setting sun, and they keep the AC/wind from drying out my contacts. They react quick enough to handle transitioning from direct sun to shade. On a few occasions I have managed to wear the glasses during long drives, up to 16hrs, without taking them off.

Canoeing
They worked well when transitioning between sun and shade better than any glasses I have ever used. The wrap around style keeps the wind and water out of my eyes. The lenses are not polarized so glare off of the water was noticeable, but not a problem.

Hiking /Backpacking
Often hikes take me in and out of the sun. With non-changing glasses I find I remove them when I enter the shade and put them back on when I am back in the sun. I rarely lose my glasses, however on one trip I did lose a rather expensive pair of brand new sunglasses when I hung them on my pack while hiking through a forested area. With the Julbo Contest glasses I find I put them on and rarely need to remove them, sometimes I remove them out of habit only to put them right back on. This has helped keep my contact lenses from drying out and in at least a few occasions protected my eyes from leaves and branches while navigating through some undergrowth where I would normally have not been wearing my sunglasses. Another issue I have with some glasses is fogging. I normally make it a habit of carrying an anti fog cleaning fluid so I can help minimize this. Since receiving these I have followed the recommended care instructions and have used nothing but water and a soft cloth (when I have one available, my shirt or bandanna or whatever is available the rest of the time) to clean them. With the exception of some very extreme conditions, where I was sweating profusely in chilly conditions the glasses have not fogged up. I am very happy with how they perform under these conditions.

In general, I like wrap around glasses as they tend to help prevent my contacts from drying out but with some my eyelashes brush against the glass and I find that highly annoying. These wrap snugly around my face but my eyelashes do not touch them. While initially I was concerned that they might be a bit snug, I have found I can wear them comfortably for extended periods.

I have found only three things about the glasses that may be less than ideal (and I am really nit-picking here). First as I mentioned in my initial report is how easily the glasses pick up smudges and fingerprints. I find myself wiping smudges off the lenses all the time. On a positive note, despite the constant rubbing of the lenses with whatever cleaning material I have handy (shirt, napkin, bandanna, etc) the lenses are showing no sign of wear. I was concerned that this much rubbing might scratch the lenses or wear away the coatings, but so far I have not seen any indication of this. The second thing is that in bright sun, the lenses not quite dark enough for me and so I find myself squinting despite wearing the glasses. To be fair, I like VERY dark lenses, so this is most likely a personal preference. And while I would like them to be darker in bright conditions I would not trade that if I meant they would be darker all the time, so what I am asking for may be impossible: just as light at their lightest but darker at their darkest. I have checked with the manufacturer, and found that the lenses for these are replaceable, and that they sell a dark lens (US$20 + US$2 shipping) that I will probably purchase at the conclusion of the testing for use in very bright conditions. Last (and by far the least) is that sometimes I have been distracted by catching the logo printed on the far left of the glasses in my peripheral vision. At first this would occur a few times a day, and now almost never. So my preference would be to not have the logo there, but in reality it is hardly worth mentioning, and I only do so because I can find so little else about these glasses to complain about.

So far, the frames have held up well, despite lots of use. The hinges are showing no signs of loosening and I see no signs of wear anyplace on the glasses.

Likes	Opportunities for improvement
Snug but comfortable fit	Lenses could be darker for bright sunlight
Hinges solid and firm but not stiff	Lenses pick up fingerprints easily
Lenses clear and appear distortion free	Bridge guard not removable/replaceable
Resistant to fogging

Usage:

• Daily use
• 3 days camping/snowshoeing in the Eastern Cascades
• 5k fun run

I think I have only had one or two days since receiving these sunglasses that I have not worn them. Besides continuing to wear them each day, mostly while driving, I wore them while snowshoeing in the Cascades and for an after Thanksgiving 5k fundraiser run.

When I was snowshoeing, the temperatures were just below freezing with calf deep fresh powder. While it was mostly cloudy with some snow, there were brief periods of sun. I really like amber lenses in flat light conditions (overcast, rain, snow, etc) as they tend to enhance contrast and detail. These glasses worked well for this and only fogged up partially when I worked up a good sweat.

Anticipating cold temperatures (27F / -3C) and snow for the after Thanksgiving run, I wanted to be absolutely sure the glasses did not fog during the run so I cleaned them with “Cat Crap” (anti-fog lenses cleaner). It is the only time I have used anything other than water and a cloth to clean the lenses. I was pleased that the lenses did not fog up at all throughout the entire run despite me dressing just a bit too warmly and working up quite a sweat.

I see virtually no indications of wear on the glasses. There are a few very tiny scratches in the lenses, less than I would have expected given the use they have endured and the fact that I have not had them in the case once since receiving them. The frames look new and hinges show no indications of loosening.

To summarize, I really like these glasses. As noted above there a few minor details about these glasses I found less than ideal, but these are VERY minor and given how well these have performed almost not worth mentioning. Now that this test is over and I have the option to go back to using my previous glasses or replace these, I see no reason to do either and will continue to wear these. As mentioned previously I am still considering purchasing a dark (non-changing) set of lenses for very bright light conditions (e.g. alpine climbing, beach, etc), but for the majority of my sunglasses needs I will continue to use these as is.

This concludes my Report. I would like to thank the folks at Julbo USA, and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to test these sunglasses.