A learning about polarised sunglasses ....

[Fab Foodie]

I was at the opticians yesterday choosing new glasses and lenses ( thanks all that took part in the frame choice poll .... I took your advice!).

I'm having a regular pair of varifocals and a pair of single prescription sunglasses. I asked whether the tints on the sunglasses would be polarised or not and the optician asked 'do you ride a motorcycle?' I a said 'no but I ride a bicycle, why do you ask?' She said that with polarised lenses you can't see oil on the road well. I'd not thought about this before, and it's useful to know!

 

[Fab Foodie]

......but how many times a year do you come across oil slicks in the road?

Rarely, but it only needs a small patch and a bit of rain ....

 

[Sbudge]

......but how many times a year do you come across oil slicks in the road?

I've only come off my bike and hurt myself once (so far)...have a guess what caused it After that I'm particularly careful if I see those road-rainbows.

 

[vernon]

......but how many times a year do you come across oil slicks in the road?

Now that Elvis is dead, rarely.

 

[Tim Hall]

Cycling in the rain?

What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Polarised glasses are really not that great. It is not only oil slicks but also water puddles that appear differently. Eventually your brain switches consciousness and recognizes the differences but it takes used to. Also, it causes weird colouration with people's hair. You can instantly see when someone has dyed their hair, it gives it a weird sheen. Car dashboards go strangely matte and it doesn't make you see fish under the surface of the water like the comics in the 1970s made you believe. I would stay away.

 

[summerdays]

I frequently see those special rainbow puddles on the road and wonder why they are rich enough not to get it fixed, presumably work vehicles do they don't care.

 

[Katherine]

I was at the opticians yesterday choosing new glasses and lenses ( thanks all that took part in the frame choice poll .... I took your advice!).

We are expecting pictures.

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 4157594, member: 259"]Once you've got the X-Ray Specs you can examine your sea monkeys with them!

[/QUOTE]

I did both and they have not recovered from the embarrassment of knowing that I could see their naked bodies.

 

[jefmcg]

I don't think that is the main issue with polarized lens and motorcycles. Problem is polarised glass remove the part of wave light that is travelling perpendicular to the orientation of the lens (I'm not explaining this well, but high school physics was a long time ago). Anyway, that's fine normally, reduce glare etc. But if you have two sheets of polarised glass that are not perfectly aligned, they could end up blocking all the light.

Try it yourself if you have 2 pairs of polarised glasses: put on one pair, then look through the other pair. Rotate the other lens through 90 degrees, and you will see at one point the glass goes completely dark, no light transmitted. This would be a very bad thing that could occur if you are wearing polarised lenses behind a polarised visor.

 

[Tin Pot]

Vaguely related:

Who do you report this sort of contamination of the River Wey Navigation to?

 

[jonny jeez]

Vaguely related:

View attachment 119210

Who do you report this sort of contamination of the River Wey Navigation to?

Is that contamination?. I seem to recall that high iron/peat content , slow moving water manifests in a similar way to an oil slick, I think it even generates a surface film that is distinctly rainbowish. Either that or all of the ponds and slow streams that I grew up wading in, were equally contaminated

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Vaguely related:

View attachment 119210

Who do you report this sort of contamination of the River Wey Navigation to?

Someone not wearing polarised lenses, someone with them would wonder what you are jabbering about.

 

[Tin Pot]

Is that contamination?. I seem to recall that high iron/peat content , slow moving water manifests in a similar way to an oil slick, I think it even generates a surface film that is distinctly rainbowish. Either that or all of the ponds and slow streams that I grew up wading in, were equally contaminated

It's from the Mercedez Benz centre, so I'm pretty sure it's fuel

 

[Nigeyy]

It's no problem really, as you cycle, just tilt your head at 90 degrees if you think there's an oil patch, and bingo! It'll be obvious.