I have used the glasses, with the various lens combinations, just about every time I am outdoors for any length of time. This has been when driving in the bright sun and rain, when driving before sunrise and after sunset, while hiking along the beach, riding my bike, canoeing, working outdoors on trail maintenance or while working on my lawn and garden, attending my outdoor family reunion at Easter and many other times for all types of activities.   I even put them on one day for safety glasses when I had to cut up several sheets of OSB (Oriented Strand Plyboard) with my circular saw for a honey-do around the house. They are not safety glasses, but they did keep the dust from my eyes when I used them this way. I don't even take them off when going shopping indoors.  The Platinum lens that I use to drive with conceals my eyes enough to do the people-watching thing at the mall, not to mention that I had a couple ask me where I got the glasses from. I just told them Smith Optics and when I went to the Smith Optics website, there was a dealer locater link that found a retailer in my local mall. The temperatures have ranged from 20 F (-7 C) to 80 F (27 C). Humidity has ranged from 30% to 90%. Weather conditions have varied from hard rain to cloudy skies, to bright sunny days, dusty conditions on my biking trail, to high wind gusts at my local beach.

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I have found myself forgetting that I even have the glasses on most of the time.  Before  I was awarded this test, I  kept two pair of sunglasses, one for driving and one for working around the yard, hiking, etc.  I now find that I can do all of these things and more with  just this one pair of shades and the interchangeable lenses. I tried the RC 36 Rose Copper lenses for driving and found them to not work for me behind the wheel. They just do not reflect enough of the glare that I encounter while driving.  However, the RC36 lenses excel when outdoors in the yard, while hiking or while riding my bike in the park, etc.  They  brighten things up for me, and I can see clearly without squinting or my eyes becoming tired.  They also do a good job of keeping dust, pollen, etc. from getting into my eyes. I frequently bike with them on, and as with all of my other glasses, I do get perspiration running down the inside of the lens when I begin perspiring heavily. I don't fault the glasses for this, I know of no way to prevent this except to wear goggles, and that's not going to happen for me when biking. The yellow lenses have been the least used by me.   I like them when driving long distances in the early morning and evening. I found though that unless I was on the road, I kept the platinum lenses in and did not bother changing them out for the yellow lenses. It is unsafe for me to try to change the lenses while driving locally, but if on the road, it is convenient to do so at a pit stop.

Changing the lenses has become very easy after doing it a few times. The biggest drawback is that I get oil from my fingerprints on the lenses and have to clean them with an optical quality cloth to prevent them from becoming scratched. I was not used to carrying around a cleaning cloth for my sunglasses, I always used paper tissues, or sometimes my micro fiber riding or hiking shirt. Of  course, that was with the $10 throw away glasses I bought from my local discounter.  I had an optical cleaning cloth from my reading glasses and now keep that handy for the sunglasses. I like that if I do scratch a lens, I can order new ones and keep the frames, instead of throwing away everything and having to "break in" a different pair of shades every few months  or so.

On my Initial Report, I indicated that I would be testing these glasses on several scenarios.

"How do the glasses perform on strenuous hikes or other outdoor activity"?
"How well do the glasses stay on my head, especially when jogging, hiking or doing other activity"?

I gave these sunglasses and especially the "Hydrophilic Megol nose/temple pads" a really good test on a 50 mile (81 km) bicycle ride.  I was a little skeptical at first that the glasses would not slip on my nose, as my other glasses had done so many times, often requiring me to completely remove them when perspiring heavily for extended periods.  I had no problems with these glasses slipping during my ride. They stayed snug to my head and the bridge of my nose. I am not quite sure how this works, but even when I try to make the glasses slip on my nose, they stay in place.  The inside of the lenses became wet during my ride from sweat coming from my eyebrows and forehead. If the buildup was excessive, I would remove the glasses briefly while riding and allow the moisture to dry.  They perform better than anything else I have ever used for sunglasses while undertaking this particular strenuous activity. Just the fact that the nose pad and temple pads do not slip while sweating profusely is a major draw for me.  I found myself deliberately trying to shake these glasses off of my head one day after hiking a few miles in the park. I couldn't do it. I can make them feel a little looser, but no matter how much I jog, shake my head up or down, sideways,  twist, turn or jump, the glasses stay pretty  secure to my head. Those little nose and temple pads really do grip.

"What happens under high humidity situations with the glasses, do they fog easily"?

Well, yes the lenses do fog up under high humidity conditions.  The humidity in my little corner of the world averages 70% and better, especially in the summer.  When I go outside from my cool, air-conditioned rooms to the oppressive humidity of the Gulf Coast, lenses do fog up. They seem to clear rather quickly once the temperatures equalize, but it is just a fact that glasses down here get a little steamy once in awhile.  I noticed though that the nylon frames do not seem to get as cold or hold the cold temperatures as much as my old metal frames.  This could also explain why they clear of condensation quicker than my old metal frame sunshades. 

"Is there going to be a problem with the hinges working loose, or the screw coming loose and falling out"?

Close examination of the hinge pin with a magnifier reveals a cross-shaped pin that does not accept my usual tiny screwdriver that I keep to tighten the screw on my readers.  After this examination, I am satisfied that the pin is secure, though by what exact means I do not know. 

I intend to put the nylon frames to the stress test, and determine if they can withstand rough handling, bending, flexing and pulling forces. I will determine if bending, flexing or dropping the frames will cause the lenses to pop out.

The frames appear rather stout in their construction, and while I can flex the arms a little, the frame around the lenses is much less flexible. The nose piece measures 7/16" (11 mm) top to bottom, and 1/4" (6mm) thick. If I twist the frames back and forth, I can get a lens to pop out. The way that I normally handle the glasses though, putting them on and off, folding, or putting into the cases, etc., has not caused a failure of the lens popping out of the frame. The black part of the "Camo" finish on my frames appears to be applied by some method, and will scratch off, leaving a solid white base. I cannot scratch the finish off with my fingernail, I had to use a razor knife to get it to come off.  The finish appears durable, and so far it has sustained its appearance  and shown no signs of wear. Further testing during the next 4 months will bear on this.

"Can I adapt safety necklaces to these frames so I can hang them from my neck when not needed"?

In preparation for a local outdoor trip, I decided that I would try the same necklaces that I use on my other sunglasses on the Axis glasses.  The necklace is the type that has a loop that the arm fits through, and then the loop is tightened by sliding a clasp to close the loop.  This type of necklace worked fine, but because the temple arms have only a slight bow to them, the loop of the necklace touches the sides of my temples. When putting on this necklace, I was positioning the loop on the temple arm just above the spot where the "Hydrophilic Megol temple pads" end approximately mid-frame.  I noticed that the end of the temple pad seemed to be sticking up a little. Further examination showed that the temple pad was loose at this point, and that some type of adhesive is used to secure the pads.  The adhesive holding the "Hydrophilic Megol" pad had failed on one of the temple arms of my glasses.  When I rubbed gently on this pad the temple pad fell off completely.  There is a groove on the outside of the arm to align the pad with.  The grooves in the temple arms are not enough to hold the pad on without adhesive, so now I have the problem of the temple pad falling off every time I handle the glasses. I do not know if this failure is from the 50 mile (81 km) ride, excessive exposure to moisture or heat or some other cause.  This failure makes the other temple pad and nosepieces highly suspect on how they are going to fare, especially if I am wearing them during some strenuous activity outdoors.  The remaining temple pad and nose pieces appear firmly fastened at this point. I am basically unable to continue with these frames with the pad dislodged from the temple arm.  Per the warranty directions on the website, I boxed up the frames along with the temple pad and mailed it off to the address provided on the Smith Optics Website. I did phone and was able to talk to a person about the failure, who told me to return the frames.  I had also sent an email on Friday to the link on the Smith Optics website.  I received a reply to my email the next business day, (Monday), after talking to the customer rep and after I had already shipped the frames back to Smith Optics. Eric Carlson, of Smith Optics, indicated  "We believe it is an isolated incident and would like to get you a new pair that has the properly affixed temple pad."   

I received the new frames from Eric within one week of sending in the old frames. I must say that the customer service was very professional, Smith Optics immediately shipped out the new frames before they had even received the old frames that I returned via USPS  and followed up with an email to me when the frames were shipped as well as an apology for the problems I was having with the old frames.

Since the failure occurred shortly after a 50 mile (81 km) bike road trip in moderate heat and humidity, I decided to repeat that trip with the new glasses, but this time I would bike 100 miles (161 km) over two days in even warmer temperatures and higher humidity. I was tired at the end of the second day, and to further remove the suspicion I had about the failure of the temple pad, I crawled into my spa tub for a long, relaxing whirlpool massage.  I wore the glasses the whole time, with hot water splashing over the glasses and the steam from the water filling the room. At the end of all of this, the nose and temple pads were firmly affixed and I could detect no loosening of either. I have since done two 4-day hikes in temperatures averaging 80 F (27 C) wearing these glasses and also have begun my training rides on my bike of 15 miles (24 km) twice per day. I have had no failures with the temple pads and am of the opinion that this probably was "an isolated incident" as suggested by Eric of Smith Optics.

I carried the Smith Optics glasses on a 3-week hiking trip to Europe in April and May of 2005. The weather conditions varied from a low of 45 F (7C)  to a high of 75 F (24 C), at elevations to 3000 ft (915 m). During all this time hiking, and traveling between base camps, side trips, road trips, and climbs, the glasses performed magnificently. I have had no failures with the temple pads. The glasses stay firmly mounted on my face, they held up to repeated handling, being removed and carried in my pack, or hanging around my neck from my necklaces. They survived being stuffed into my duffels on my flights with other heavier gear, with no signs of any wear or failures. At no time did a lens ever come loose from the frames. 

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LIKES

Comfortable to wear

Lightweight

The wraparound style of the lenses does a good job of protecting my eyes in dusty conditions

Durable frames - hold up well to heavy use

Stay firmly affixed to my face, even under hot conditions and during periods of heavy physical activity

DISLIKES

The size of the case required to carry the glasses and extra lenses is somewhat bulky

An optical quality lens cleaning cloth is required to clean the lens, ( a bit of a nuisance, but is easy to get used to)

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Thanks to Smith Optics and BackPackGearTest for awarding me this review.

Russell Curry