My history with sunglasses is mostly populated by cheapie pairs acquired at Target.  A couple years ago, however, I did splurge on a pricier pair of shades by Smith Optics.  My reason for spending real dough on them was that they had switchable lenses and I had a bright idea that the clear ones would be useful for pelting rain or snowy days.

Unfortunately, those conditions left me constantly fidding with them due to condensation, my breath fogging them up and making them more annoying than anything, so they’d always end up in my pocket by mile 2 until I eventually gave up and only used them on sunny days.

Still, I liked the darkest lenses quite a bit, never got into the yellow ones (supposed to brighten up a cloudy day, but I love dark days) or the rosey ones which I never did figure out why anyone would bother with.  Anyway, I spent some moolah for a feature I never used, so when I mistakenly left them somewhere at the Carlsbad Half last January, never to be seen again, I didn’t bother to replace them with another fancy pair – I went to Target and got a $19 pair from their Ironman line.  They’re ok glasses though they leave a red mark at the bridge of my nose, dirty up easily and don’t block a lot of sun.  OK, maybe they’re pretty crappy after all.

So when the folks at BTB Sunglasses offered me a pair of their specs, I was super excited.  It’s way more fun to review something you want and use anyway and I was really in need of a better pair of shades.

The thing that’s great about this company is that their glasses are inexpensive ($35-$50) but the quality is equivalent to high-end glasses.  Aside from the fact that I can’t change lenses (which I never did anyway) these are just as good as my $100 Smith Optics.

What I like about the site is that they tell you what size face each style is made for so you’re more likely to get a proper fit right off the bat.  My only complaint is that they should include photos of the glasses straight on, not just at an angle, but that’s my only quibble.

They let me pick the ones I wanted so I chose Model 420 which sell for $34.95 and honestly, I love ‘em!  They block sun well, they’re light, don’t leave a mark on my nose and they have one more thing the other companies don’t…they’re “Ballistic” rated.  If you check out their website, they’ve got an entertaining video of someone shooting the glasses with a shotgun.  In fact, when my glasses arrived, I got a fun little doodad in the box: a necklace with a BTB lens that’s been shot at.  Not sure if that’s standard with every purchase, but it was quite a kooky little trinket.

Not that I expect to get shot in the eye on my runs, especially on a bright, sunny day, but it does speak to the resilience of the lenses.  And you never know…this is Philly after all.

Now here’s something extra nice: The cool cats at BTB gave me the coupon code GIRLN20 so that my readers could get 20% off when ordering, which makes these glasses a super great deal.  So, until next time, happy non-shooting-in-the-eyeball-sunglass-wishes to you and yours.  Happy running!

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