Polarized sunglasses and fishing

Polarized sunglasses and fishing
By steve wolfsonEyes have always been considered the gateway to one’s soul. History shows us that sunglasses were not always used to protect people’s eyes from the sun. There is evidence that early sunglasses were used in ancient China and Rome. The Roman Emperor Nero enjoyed watching gladiators through polished gems. In China, sunglasses are believed to have been used before the 12th century. Originally sunglass lenses were made out of flat panes of smoky quartz. These glasses were used by Chinese judges to hide their facial expressions while interrogating witnesses.

Until about the eighteenth century sunglasses did not undergo any further changes until James Ayscough, while apprenticed to an optician named James Mann, looked at ways to improve glasses. He experimented with tinted glass and glass polarized. From there, sunglasses underwent changes leading to what we call sunglasses today. Sam Foster introduced them to America in 1929 designed to protect people’s eyes from the sun. In 1936 Edwin Land discovered that lenses can be polarized. He patented his process of making sunglasses with polarized optics and called it a Polaroid filter. From this original process polarized sunglasses have continued to evolve and become more refined.

When the sun shines on snow, water or any other reflective surfaces, the reflected light becomes polarized. This means that most, although not all, of the reflected light waves move in one single plane. Normal light moves in many planes but polarized lenses allow only light in one plane to pass through the lens to your eye. This eliminates much of the glare.

Although light from the sun is not polarized, when it is reflected by the surface of a standing body of water it is separated into two polarized components that are reflected and transmitted in different amounts. In most cases more of the horizontal component will be reflected than the vertical component. This reflected light is said to be partially polarizing. A lens that is vertically polarized can then be used to help eliminate the glare. There are a number of variables that can affect the degree of polarization and the effectiveness of polarized sunglasses such as the height of the sun. However, polarized sunglasses will not eliminate all reflected light. They can only eliminate some of the reflected light that helps reduce the glare.

Fishermen that wear sunglasses that have polarized filters to help block the light reflected by the waters surface can see under the water’s surface to where the fish are hiding.

Certain relatively flat surfaces, such as water, reflect a lot of light resulting in bright spots and glare that can be quite distracting and even hide underwater objects (such as fish). A good pair of polarized sunglasses can almost completely eliminate this kind of glare. Polarization can occur either naturally or artificially. Natural polarization can be seen any time you look at a large body of water like a lake or river. The glare off of the surface of the water is the light that doesn’t get absorbed by the water but is reflected. This is the reason you often cannot see anything below the surface, even if the water is clear, without polarized sunglasses.

Horizontally polarized light results when light strikes the surface of the water. That is why you can’t see anything but the glare on the water. Polarized lenses in sunglasses are designed in a way that only allows vertically polarized light to enter and eliminates the horizontal light component. Polarized sunglasses allow an angler to see into the water spotting fish and structure where fish can hide.

There is a difference between polarized sunglasses and normal sunglasses. Basically, normal sunglasses decrease the intensity of all light that passes through the lenses. While polarized sunglasses decrease the same light, they also do it selectively by eliminating the reflection from the light coming from the water’s surface. This becomes critical in deciding how to choose a pair of sunglasses.

For more great information about vision care and how to protect your eyes, be sure to visit www.sunglasspolarized.com
About the Author

Steve writes about items of interest to both you and myself.