Gear Review: Costa Sunglasses

* Disclaimer: Product courtesy of Frames Direct. This is an unbiased review of the experience I had with this product. Good or bad, I'll give you my honest opinion.

The Fantail with turtle shell rims and amber lenses.

Frames Direct recently contacted me and asked if they could send me a pair of Costa Sunglasses to test out on the water in exchange for writing a review on how they performed. As anyone would do given this opportunity, I jumped at the chance to try out these sunglasses. However, as I soon found out as I used this product; they are not just your typical pair of sunglasses. No, these were built with fishermen in mind!

Over the years, I have owned several pairs of polarized sunglasses from a wide range of brands, models and prices. One of the things that immediately impressed my with the Costa line is the wide selection of frames and polarized tints they have. You can literally build the pair of glasses that you want to fulfill the functions that you want the most. For me, I went with the dark amber lenses for their ability to help you see into the water while sight-fishing, and the Fantail frame to help create a seal around my eyes.

Most fishing glasses on the market come with plastic lenses, but Costa gives you the option of their patented lightWAVE glass lenses which I chose to go with. They are 100% polarized and 100% UV A/B/C protected. This is the first time I have had glass lenses, and I chose them because of the added clarity and scratch resistance. Because of the glass, they are heavier than the other pairs that I have, but not by much. Compared to other glass lenses on other brands, Costa’s are 20% lighter and 22% thinner.

I used these glasses over the past couple of weeks on both rivers and lakes (see previous posts.) I also used them in several different weather and lighting situations. They out-performed the other pairs I own hands down! I could see further into the water in lakes and the lenses brought out more color than the other brands I own. They took the glare off the water almost completely giving you superb views below the water, and making it easy to spot fish. It is literally a night-and-day difference. See the pictures I took below of the same part of the river. Can you spot the Kokanee Salmon in the top picture? How about the bottom?

A view of the river without the Costa sunglasses over my camera lens.

A view of the river with the Costa  sunglasses over my camera lens.

 

A feature that I absolutely loved about Costa sunglasses are the rubber edges they have along the bottom of the frames. Not only does it make them more comfortable, but when you sweat, it creates a kind of suction to your face so that the glasses will not fall off easily while netting or releasing a big fish. This also makes it so you don’t have to wear those sometimes dorky looking lanyards.

To top it off, Costa also gives you a lifetime warranty against defects or workmanship to ensure that you always have a great pair of sunglasses on the water. After using them on the water and putting them to the test, I can tell you that these American-Made sunglasses are the best I have ever used, and I would recommend them to anyone.