Maui Jim Guardrails Sunglasses Review
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If you are a sunglass aficionado, the brand Maui Jim should ring a bell. This brand has been around the sunglass seen for over 30 years starting out if one of the more sunny spots in the world, Hawaii. When I think of Maui Jim, I think of quality and style. And while quality and style are definite factors you look for in a pair of sport sunglasses, function is many times the most important factor for those that take their sports serious.
The Maui Jim Guardrail is a sunglass that is new to the Maui Jim product line that not only has a cool aviator look, but they also have some sport performance to them. One of the aspects that attributes to the Guardrails sport performance is the flex in the frame. When you’re involved in running, mountain biking, hiking of other activities, it can be nice to have a frame that moves with your face/body versus having a stiff frame that doesn’t move at all. On the inside of the frame, there is a rubber grip coating to help the Guardrails stay on your head. And while this sounds good on paper, I have a medium sized head and found that the Guardrails to slip off my head when I look down. I also found the sunglasses to slip off my hat when I wanted to put them up off my face. If these are sunglasses that you have to have, I suggest getting a set of Crokies to make sure you don’t lose them. To help for added comfort and fit, the Maui Jim Guardrails have an adjustable rubber nose piece. This helps with comfort and fit, but doesn’t really help the stay on your face.
You have a few options when it comes to the Maui Jim Guardrails. You get the choice of a neutral gray and an HCL Bronze color lens. I personally like a bronze color lens because it warmifies what you are looking at whether it’s cloudy or sunny out. All Maui Jim sunglass lens are polarized which is great for taking the glare off shiny surfaces. If you are around water a lot, polarized lenses are a must since you get so much glare off the water. Reducing the glare also helps you to see what is below whether it be a fish of a piece of broken glass. This also can come in handy in certain situations where every millisecond counts and a glare could throw you off.
Another feature that comes with the Maui Jim Guardrails is Maui Jim’s Clearshell coating. Clearshell is Maui Jim’s scratch resistant coating that keeps your lens from getting big scratches from the occasional drop. I’ve dropped these glasses a number of times and I am happy to report back that I have no scratches on the lens.
The Maui Jim Guardrails retail for $309 which is pretty expensive for a pair of sunglasses. In my opinion, these glasses have a cool aviator look to them and an excellent quality lens. When it comes to sport performance, I was left wanting more because the sunglasses would often fell of my head and hat when looking down.
For more info on the Guardrails and other Maui Jim eyewear, visit www.mauijim.com or www.amazon.com/mauijim.
