Ombraz Armless Sunglasses

I was skeptical when told about a pair of “armless” sunglasses. As a photographer for the last twenty years in the outdoor world and co-owner of Angling Trade, the B2B authority in the fly-fishing space, I’ve seen it and used it all in the sunglasses realm. Unfortunately, that means I’ve become a product snob when it comes to the glasses I wear and test. There are many high quality shades out there for anglers, but none that are quite like Ombraz. The first thing you’ll notice is they don’t have arms. Think of your current pair of sunglasses, but with a tailless sunglass retainer like these from CHUMS as the only thing holding them to your face. 

It sounds strange, but they really work. I’m not saying Ombraz are the best sunglasses for every use case, but after testing them fishing, boating, shooting (cameras and guns), skiing and boogie-boarding in the surf, I can say without hesitation they make a lot of sense for a lot of outdoor situations. 

The cord is made out of recycled fishing nets and very soft and comfortable. If you’re one of those folks that gets sore ears from wearing a hat with your shades, Ombraz will fix that. It’s hard to explain, but you don’t even wear them very tight and they stay on your face extremely well (snugly). You’ve got a very svelte, built-in sunglass retainer that’s always there. 

I loved this feature for a ton of reasons. When taking photos, I was able to drop my shades at will, wearing them in the ocean while swimming and, of course, they make sense for rafting/boating in case of an accidental dip. As anglers, I think most of us wear sunglass retainers for our expensive polarized glasses and with Ombraz this feature is already built-in. They are also so much easier than a normal pair of sunglasses to pack or put in a bag, as they lay flat in their case, which is a small neoprene bag with a cleaning rag. 

My pair of Tetons have a polarized brown lens. I tend to gravitate to this color as a trout fisherman for the contrast and definition. My lenses are prescription and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting a non-glass pair of shades to meet my expectations–while there are great “plastic” glasses out there, I generally choose actual glass for the visual acuity and durability. These, however, are exceptionally sharp from edge-to-edge. I can’t speak to the materials durability quite yet, but I have no scratches a few months in, and I've been fairly rough on them. I do, however, take great care when the lenses are dirty or covered with water spots. You can get Ombraz in clear prescription as well.

To top it all off, the company claims to be the most carbon neutral product on the market, planting “20 mangrove trees for every pair of sunglasses it sells,” which they say sequesters “1713x more carbon than is emitted to produce and deliver each pair.” 

If you’re in the market for a pair of sunglasses that stay on your face during lots of outdoor activities, but are also comfortable, durable and compact to pack, you owe it to yourself to check out Ombraz.