With all the marketing nonsense surrounding sunglasses, it’s easy to forget that a good pair of polarized lenses is a tool, as essential to sailors as a good knife.

The principal purpose of sunglasses is to prevent ultraviolet rays, implicated in eye diseases ranging from cancer to cataracts, from reaching our eyes. Both UVA (400-320 nanometers) and UVB (320-290 nanometers) are harmful, but UVB is considered the most damaging. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) requires non-prescriptive sunglasses to meet a series of standards under ANSI Standard Z80.3. Unfortunately, the UV transmission limits are fairly loose for non-

The unisex Oakley wrap-around Hijinx scored well with our women testers. The bronze HCL lens ranked high among the polycarbonate lenses, particularly for eliminating prismatic effect.

prescriptive eyewear, enforcement is poor, and worthless counterfeits abound. The best way to ensure…