Category: News

It’s easy to get confused between lens class and lens category but they are very different.

LENS CLASS

The Class of the lens refers to the refractive properties of the lens – these must be exceeded to meet the required optical level. Another way of looking at it is the level of distortion of the lens. Lenses are sub-divided into three classes.

Optical Class 1 is the best visual experience with minimal, if any distortion.

Optical Class 2 provides an ‘average’ visual experience with some level of distortion

Both Classes are perfectly good for every-day wear and necessary to meet CE/UKCA standards.

Optical Class 3 is rarely seen and provides a low-quality visual experience. A cheap, poor-quality sunglass sold by a street market vendor might be an example.

LENS CATEGORY

The lens category number equates to a percentage of the VLT (Visible Light Transmission) that is, how much light the lens lets through. The higher the VLT the lighter the lens, and conversely the lower the VLT the darker the lens tint will be, blocking more light coming through to the eye. The majority of sunglass/eyewear lenses fall within one of five lens categories:

• Category 0: 80-100% VLT
• Category 1: 43-80% VLT
• Category 2: 18-43% VLT
• Category 3: 8-18% VLT
• Category 4: 3-8% VLT

The lens category VLT can cover quite a wide spectrum such as Category 1 which is 43-80%. Some lens colours are right on the “border” e.g. a yellow lens can have 78% VLT which is on the border between Category 0 and Category 1. The following is a general guide to the categories that apply to different lens colours:

• Category 0 – Clear, Light Yellow, Yellow, Pale Orange
• Category 1 – Orange, Rose & Vermilion
• Category 2 – Purple, Red, Amber & Light brown
• Category 3 – ‘Standard’ Grey & Brown
• Category 4 – Dark Grey & Dark Brown

 

It’s taken us a while to settle on a cap design we really like – it’s called ‘Vintage’: universal fitting, it really does seem to fit both men and women perfectly. Now in addition to Stone we’ve added two more colours: Green & Dark Grey. Made by cap specialists Beechfield with 100% cotton twill it also features a 6 panel design, stitched ventilation eyelets, pre-curved peak, brass buckle size adjuster and embroidered ‘e’ logo. Normal retail price is £9.95.

Here’s an offer for you – spend just £40 on anything on the website and we’ll send you one FREE of charge

To get your free cap, use one of the codes below at check out for your colour choice:

• DARKGREY
• GREEN
• STONE

And our usual free delivery on orders over £20!
Offer ends 26.02.25

 

We have a brand-new shooting eyewear model called Helix; designed and manufactured exclusively for us, we’re pretty excited about it! Helix has a big, full wrap lens and will appeal to clay target shooters of all disciplines including trap. Available in:

• 6 colours: Grey, Vermilion, Purple, Yellow, Light Yellow and Orange
• 4 Lens Interchangeable Set
• 5 Lens Interchangeable Set
• 4 Colour Bundle

Part of the design brief was to have a small adjustable nose pad (not intrusive even for shooters that close one eye), slim profile temples (for wearing under ear defenders) and a high spec, super sharp lens.

Here’s the full specification of this terrific new model:

• Black & Grey temples
• Class 1 optical grade, UV400 rated lens
• Large, full-wrap, rimless lens for totally unobscured vision and complete eye protection
• TR90 super strong temples
• Small, unobtrusive, adjustable non-slip nose piece
• Ultra-lightweight (29g) for all-day comfort
• Slim profile temples ideal for wearing under ear defenders
• Cam hinges to the temples (snap closure)
• Bhive PC lens material made with a macro-molecular structure providing enhanced clarity, improved impact protection and high chemical resistance (compared to standard polycarbonate lenses)
• High velocity impact protection exceeds the requirements of EN166F & ANZI Z87.1
• Advanced, multi-feature lens coating:
  • Oleophobic+Hydrophobic (repels rain, spray, water spots, grease, smudging and fingerprints)
  • Easy lens cleaning (no-friction surface)
  • Scratch resistance

Professional Coach and Top Sporting, AAA shot, Sean Gamblen said:

“Evolution Helix is a revelation – the lenses provide crystal clear vision and they’re incredibly light – easily the most comfortable shooting glasses I’ve ever tried. I’ll be wearing Helix for both coaching and competition. Top performance shooting eyewear at a genuinely affordable price”.

See Helix here

We’re delighted to announce the release of Elite, a new 5 Lens Interchangeable shooting eyewear set, created as a joint venture with Royal Armouries (RA). With a history dating back 700 years, RA care for one of the oldest and most extensive public collections of arms and armour in the world, displayed at its historical home of the Tower of London, the purpose-built Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds and at Fort Nelson near Portsmouth. RA is a registered charity and has several collaborations with companies to create licenced merchandise – every purchase of which supports its mission to preserve its world-famous collections for future generations to enjoy.

The new Elite model features a large lens with a 10-base curve for total eye protection and is simply loaded with features you would expect in shooting eyewear costing significantly more. The frame is made from lightweight but super durable TR90 nylon that will flex for comfort and the lenses are made from Class 1 Optical Grade polycarbonate with full impact protection (complying with EN166F). All 5 lenses are UV400 rated for maximum protection from UVR. The lenses also feature hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings that repel water, dust, oil, fingerprint smudges and dirt plus an anti-scratch coating. Additional features include adjustable nose pads and cam hinges to the temples (for snap closure). Lens changing is quick and simple.

Evolution’s Commercial Director Rhian Kelly said, “It’s been a privilege to work with Royal Armouries to create the new Elite shooting set for them. We will do our best to maximise sales which will help towards funding the preservation of its renowned collection of arms and armour”.

The Royal Armouries Elite 5 lens set is supplied with grey, yellow, purple, orange & clear lenses complete with RA branded cleaning cloth, soft carry pouch & high-quality hard case, all for just £79.95. See it here.

 

Participation in target sports (shotgun, rifle, handgun and archery) is undertaken with a dominant eye but this is not always the same as your dominant hand. Ideally the Master Eye (the aiming eye) should be the same as the dominant hand. If the dominant eye is not the Master Eye it is known as the Off Eye and it will interfere with vison: the shooter may see two targets, two barrels or the head may tilt over the gun, or the gun will move across the face to compensate. It’s not uncommon for a right handed shooter to be left eye dominant (and vice verse). It effects around 1 in 3 male clay target shooters and up to 1 in 2 female clay target shooters.

To solve the problem, you have to trick or suppress the dominant eye so your master eye takes over.

We now have three dedicated products that will help overcome eye dominance problems: i-Spot, Strike EDK and our new i-Patch. And we’ve put them all together in one section – see them here.

If you have an eye dominance problem and would like advice, please do get in touch info@evolutionsunglasses.com

 

One of the questions we have been asked many times over the years is “are all polarised lenses the same?”. The simple answer is no! But first let’s recap on why polarised lenses are different to standard sunglass lenses: they have a special film which helps eliminate glare reflected off a surface like a pavement, road, water or snow.

Lower priced polarised sunglasses (typically under £50) use a multi-layer material called TAC (Triacetate). Even though it’s multi-layer, a TAC lens is thin: usually no more than 1.2mm. Most inexpensive sunglasses with TAC lenses have the polarised film on the front so it can scratch and eventually lose some of its polarising properties. It’s important to recognise that TAC polarised lenses provide little impact protection and they can shatter, so they should not be used if impact protection is important like clay target shooting.

On higher priced polarised sunglasses (typically above £50) the lens material is likely to be polycarbonate; here the polarised film is sandwiched between two layers of the polycarbonate (or a similar material called Trivex) meaning the polarised film can never wear out. Importantly, a polarised polycarbonate lens also provides impact protection.

Most Evolution polarised sunglasses (typically under £20) use TAC lenses and they will do a perfectly good job but will eventually lose some of their polarising performance. Recently we have introduced two models with polycarbonate polarised lenses: Carmel and Novara. Their superb lenses are the type you’d find in competitors’ models costing upwards of £60 but both these models are under £30! Unbeatable value.

Carmel

 

Novara

 

Fogged up lenses are the result of condensation, the simple chemical process that occurs when water vapour cools down enough to turn from a gas back into its liquid state. This can happen quite suddenly when there is a drastic difference between the temperature of the lens and the surrounding air. It often occurs when a cold lens is near to your warm face. Close fitting wrap-around sports eyewear is more prone to misting up because the warm air heated from your face gets trapped behind the lens.

Typical scenarios for fogging up are:

• Walking into a warm shop from a cold outdoor (cold lens/warm air). The reverse applies if you step from a cool air conditioned indoors to a warm outdoors (cold lens/warm air).
• Putting on a pair of sunglasses left in the car overnight (cold lens/warm face)
• Putting on a pair of sunglasses left in a kit bag (cold lens/warm face)
• Anytime you’re outdoors and the surrounding air is colder than the heat from your face (cold lens/warm face)

If your sports eyewear has adjustable nose pads (and many Evolution models do!) a useful tip is to pull the nose pads away from the lens. This allows more air to circulate around the lens so there is less difference between the temperate of the lens and the surrounding air – so no misting occurs. Some sports eyewear models come with a factory applied anti-fog lens coating – these can be very effective. Safety Eyewear typically has an anti-fog coating applied as fogging up at the wrong moment could be safety critical. There are also some highly effective anti-fog products available to apply to lenses. We have two options and our Pocket Anti-Fog Spray is very effective and it’s currently on offer!

We’ve had a very busy year so far introducing new models – another three have just arrived, all manufactured exclusively for us.

Carmel Amber

Already available in Brown & Blue Mirror, the new Amber colour is Category 2 – this colour adds lots of contrast and is perfect for overcast conditions. It has the same polarised polycarbonate lens material meaning it’s not just glare blocking but can be used where impact protection is required. Just £29.95 including hard case.

 

Novara

A fab looking, true unisex polycarbonate polarised sunglass like Carmel, Novara is a cross over sport-leisure style that can be used for any sport whilst looking terrific when you’re just out and about. Only £29.95 including hard case.

 

Polo

 

A small-medium fit sports sunglass ideal for several different sports e.g. running, tennis, cycling, golf, skiing and more. Lenses are Class 1 optical grade and the frame is made from lightweight but super strong TR90. Available in two colour options: Red Mirror or Blue Mirror at just £16.95 each with soft carry pouch.

We’ve just taken delivery of another two brand new models manufactured exclusively for us, including our first ever photochromic model – this is called Match.

The photochromic lenses automatically adjust to changing light conditions (Cat. 0 – 3) with the lenses becoming dark grey in strong sun. Match has a full wrap fit to keep out wind, glare & UVR. The frame is made from lightweight but super strong TR90. The lenses are made from impact resistant, shatterproof polycarbonate and are UV 400 rated. Supplied with cleaning cloth, soft carry pouch & hard case all for the great value price of £34.95.

 

The other new model is called Windward

Windward features UV400 rated polarised, glare blocking Smoke (Category 3) lens with a blue revo mirror finish. The full wrap fit will keep out UVR, wind & glare. The frame is also made from lightweight but super strong TR90 frame. It is also available as an RX version with optical insert for prescription wearers. It’s available at just £19.95 or £24.95 for the RX version – fantastic value!

 

Just in and newly manufactured for us: 3 brand new, dedicated cycling models – all in ‘on trend’ cycling styles. All 3 are packed with features you’d expect in models costing at least 3 times the price including  lightweight but super strong TR90 frames and Class 1 optical grade, UV400 rated lenses. At just £24.95 they’re amazing value for money. The 3 are:

ROADIE

 

 

 

 

 

INVADER

STRIDE

Newly manufactured for us: 3 terrific looking sports style polarized models each with 2 colour options. Each has a lightweight but super strong TR90 frame and high quality, glare blocking, UV400 rated lenses. A nice feature is cam hinges to the temples for snap closure of the arms. They are:

FADE

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHORELINE

 

 

 

 

 

 

VENETO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone is priced at just £19.95 – fantastic value for money. See them all here.

Our Rapide shooting eyewear has sold well since we launched it about 2 years ago but the lens would flex when worn meaning it could be loose fitting especially for anyone with a smaller face. So we have changed lens manufacturer and strengthened the frame ‘architecture’. It’s now a more firm but still comfortable fit and will now suit anyone including women shooters. And the really good news is we’ve reduced the price (not something you hear very often!).

The 6 individual colours (grey, clear, yellow, rose, purple & orange) will retail at just £19.95 with a 4 Colour Bundle at £64.95. Probably the best value shooting eyewear available. The Rapide model is worn and endorsed by Steve Scott – Olympic Bronze medal winner; European, Commonwealth and World Championships multiple Gold medal winner.

Connect X is one our best-shooting shooting models – worn and endorsed by clay target multi-time sporting champion Chris Childerhouse. Now we have a new prescription optical insert available for it. The insert is large, covering most of the lens and it’s easy to move the optical insert from one lens colour to another. All you need do is take the optical insert to your usual opticians to have prescriptions lenses put in it. We also provide a prescription service.

It is available now as a 4 Lens Prescription Set (Connect X RX4). Plus any customer that already has Connect X will be able to buy the insert on its own to convert their Connect X for prescription use.

We have just taken delivery of our brand new Storm safety eyewear; this new model (EV035A) is fully certified high specification, technically advanced ballistic eyewear available as individual Grey, Yellow & Clear colours and a 3 Lens Interchangeable Set (Grey, Yellow & Clear lenses).

Tested & Certified to EN166FT by SATRA Technology Europe Ltd (European Notified Body number: 2777). All options come with a detachable, adjustable strap that can replace the arms with an optional RX prescription insert available.

 

Frame features
Matte Black Nylon frame is lightweight, flexible and super durable – Adjustable nose pads – Waterproof foam shock absorbing/sweat strip – Inlaid high-grip temple tips – Slim profile temples suited to wearing with helmet or cap – 10 base curve frame provides full-wrap fit to keep out wind, glare & UVR from coming in over the top or side of the frame – Arms can be replaced with adjustable strap (supplied) for a more secure fit and ideal for use with ear defenders/comms headgear.

Lens features (all 3 lenses)
2.2mm polycarbonate, shatterproof & impact resistant – Grey (Cat. 3), Yellow (Cat.1) & Clear (Cat.0) interchangeable lenses – Class 1, decentred and optically correct – Anti-Fog lens coating – Anti-Scratch lens coating – UV400 rated (maximum UVR protection)

Evolution Storm (EV035A) complies with EN166: 2001, EN170: 2002, EN172: 1994 + A1: 2000 & A2: 2001, ANSI Z87.1

See them here!