Kind of related to Toby’s post about distracting headlights, it got me thinking about those yellow tinted ‘Night Driving Glasses’ you used to see sold in Halfords and such like. Seems from the reviews on Amazon of the Revex ones that the majority of buyers find them useful. Of a similar idea for bikers, I also remember seeing yellow/amber tinted Pinlocks when I was out in Canada a few years ago, but have never seen them sold here.
Whilst I get my eyes tested regularly and they are healthy (bar being short-sighted), I find as I get older that it takes my eyes a bit longer to re-acclimatise after being blinded by Horray Henry in his Xenon’d up Merc ML on a dark night.
Any of you use or have used these night driving glasses or yellowish tinted Pinlocks/Fog-City inserts, and are they any good?
All I can say that the amber pin lock insert that Kaos has makes my eyes go funny and makes everything a different colour in the evening and I found it pretty distracting. I think the yellow one is better…
Like you say, they’re tinted lenses so will reduce night vision like maybe making a pedestrian harder to see :ermm: On the other hand, they’re meant to be better at filtering out certain types of light on the spectrum so meaning you don’t get dazzled as much by on-coming headlights etc. I think the idea is that whilst there’s a small loss in some respects, the benefits outweigh these thus giving generally better vision when driving. There’s no scientific consensus one way or the other, and likewise from the reviews, some people seem to find them really helpful and some people don’t - all down to an individual’s eyesight I suppose! I just wondered if anyone on here had used them and what their experience was?
They are not meant for night use but more low light situations. I’ve a pinlock that I use in the gloomy early mornings and can say that visibility is much better - but as Cheeky pointed out some colour perception is impacted. Theory has something to do with filtering blue hazy light frequencies out and therefore allowing greater focus of red and green light. My advise is a nice clean and scratch free visor provides the best vision at night.
Back in the day when I rode a Vespa 150 Sportique I rode everywhere, day and night, with amber/yellow tinted sunglasses. (An affectation that went with the Hush Puppies and tonic mohair suits.)
Can’t say I noticed (remember) any improvement in vision or reduction in glare.
I’ve never tried it but I really want to, I might get an amber visor when I’ve next got a few quid bouncing about.
I think that they improve the contrast of the visual field? I’ve heard they are most useful in the wet, as you can spot standing water better, but as I said I’ve never tried it.
Did anyone ride with polaroid sunglasses? They used to make oily surfaces look like black velvet,which is great but look a tall screen and the world went psychedelic:w00t:
amber is not meant to improve night vision, its meant to reduce glare so you dont get dazzled at night with no street lights from vehicles coming from opposite direction.
i have an amber pinlock insert for my arai, i’ve tried it at night and it really works for glare. some say that it could make certain objects invisible, havent investigated that point.
I always thought that amber / yellow is to improve vision in foggy conditions as it makes shadows / contours sharper by increasing contrast without loosing too much light. I could be wrong though…
For me the single color lens (yellow) sharpens movement making it quicker and clearer to see it when it happens. Useful on a long work day when you are riding ‘progressively’…
I’ve got a 10% tint pinlock fitted all year round. Its a good compromise, takes enough of the sting out of headlights and shop lighting whilst maintaining good vis.
they make your eyes ‘open’ up, highlighting everything…its good for improved concentration, and you may notice little things quicker? plus at night as said less headlight dazzle the same thing can be achieved with a very light tint visor- 25% tint, or a light tint pinlock.
you can get Amber/yelow tints for pretty much any lid.
remember tho all tinted visors, no matter how small the tint- are illegal at night.
i didn’t know until recently…Pinlocks are illegal at night:blink: no matter what color or clear.
i use Polarized sunglasses’s for fishing, cuts out the glare/reflection of the water, makes fish spotting so much easier!!
on the bike they work but you cant see drivers faces well at all, you get an oily film it seems on the lenses, same for using cash-points or mobiles while wearing them…odd…bit like when a camera looks at a computer screen you get the moving lines, but cant see it with the naked eye.
Well having been for an eyesight test the other week and having ordered some new (regular) glasses, I noticed that Specsavers sell Ultradrive tinted lenses as a £30 lens option, so there must be some benefit of yellow tints
As I wear contact lenses most of the time, I ordered a pair of £10.99 Low Light ‘Biker’ glasses from Amazon figuring that it was worth a try without breaking the bank…
Well what to say other than I picked them up from the post office on a dull day, put them on, and burst out laughing as everything looked bright and sunny! I thought they were immense and it wouldn’t really matter whether they worked at night as I was loving them during the day! My partner thought I was nuts until I passed them over to her to try… then she started laughing as well. She says everything looks better with them on and calls them the ‘happy glasses’ :hehe: They would probably be awesome for anyone who doesn’t like dull miserable days or who suffers from depression or SAD syndrome!!!
Trying them at night, they are as expected - good but not amazing. The first thing you notice is that all white light including all car headlights is now yellow, a bit like driving in France years ago when cars had yellow headlight bulbs. You don’t really notice any drop in visibility despite the tint, but I wouldn’t say that contrast is increased or that anything is clearer with them. The only real benefit is that they ‘soften’ oncoming lights a little, and you don’t get that harsh glare that tires your eyes quickly. I don’t really like wearing them around the city at night, but for open roads, dual carriageways and motorways, they definitely help.
I use a yellow insert in my Shoei, makes a big difference for the early morning start and dark evenings. You get used to it quickly and it does not mess with your vision. it does highlight indicators and that in itself is a saver. Worth investing in as far as I’ve found.
