We worship water. As beach dwelling surfers, our hearts live and die for the ocean and its healing, inspiring effects. But what happens when sun—our other deity—hits the surface of the water is pretty harsh from a vision standpoint. Due to laws of physics well beyond our control, when light pours down onto a smooth surface, it reflects back at hard angles, producing the bane of our existence, glare. Glare makes looking and seeing uncomfortable, washes out our views of nature and makes it harder to focus on the task at hand, whether that’s sailing, fishing or simply driving off into the sunset.
There’s a solution to this problem: polarization. Polarized lenses are treated with a substance that forces the molecules to line up and filter out some of the light. Much like the slats of mini-blinds, they block out the rays that approach the eyes horizontally, so only the vertically angled light can come through. The result is incredible. Clearer vision, for one thing, which is something we all want. Objects in our vision appear sharper, crisper. Fisherman love polarized lenses because they can see directly into the water beneath the surface. Water appears as it actually is—transparent. And life just gets easier when glare is eliminated. Eyes are less tired after a day in the sun, near the water, or anywhere you happen to be.