Custom RX Lenses

Each prescription lens is fully-custom and specialty-crafted right here in our shop, which lets us make nearly any lens you can imagine. All of our lenses use our proprietary formulas and optical adjustments which allow for true, fully-functional and distortion-free peripheral vision and a lens experience unlike any other in the world. We firmly believe that lens choice is a largely a matter of personal preference, however there are lenses that are best suited for certain conditions and light environments.

Pricing: The prescription lens costs vary widely depending on the focal style (single-vision, lined bifocal, progressive bifocal) as well as the lens style (Clear, Polarized, Transition). Our lenses begin at $209 and go up from there. For exact price quotes you should call or write.

While we have many lens options available and will gladly make prescription fishing lenses to your specifications, here are a few options which receive our strongest recommendations for specific conditions.

Mirrors: Mirrors cut glare and look sharp. There are some people who think that the fish can see reflections bouncing off a mirrored lens and that it scares them away. It’s tough to know for sure because the fish don’t talk. But, if you’re worried about the mirrors scaring the fish, don’t get a mirror.

We don’t work with glass because it’s not safe. One story about a glass lens shattering in someone’s eye is enough to convert you into a polycarbonate believer. Plus, polycarbonate lets us keep the lenses as lightweight as possible so that you can have them on your face for hours without feeling unnecessary pressure from their weight. It’s true that polycarbonate is softer than glass, and to account for this, all of our lenses come standard with an Anti-Scratch coating, and a 1-year warranty. Use them hard, and if you scratch them within a year we’ll make you new ones.

Specific Conditions

open-river3

Open streams and rivers, where you might be in and out shadows

Polarized Brown. Blue Mirror.

  • Increase contrast/improve depth perception

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Open water, deep water fishing

Polar Grey with a Green Mirror.

  • Cuts harsh glare in full, bright conditions

shaded-river3

Shaded and wooded streams and rivers. Low light conditions, early morning, evening

Drivewear, or Polarized Rose-Copper.

  • Versatile lens options for crisp views in low light

How We Make Them

Each prescription lens we make is crafted by hand, with attention and care, right here in our shop. The process uses various proprietary techniques and passes though multiple people and steps along its path to from the point of order to when it arrives at your door.

1)After we take the lens order from you, the next step is for us to get the lens materials from which we’ll grind your lenses. We source our lens materials from some of the best laboratories in the country, using different labs depending on the specific, unique requirements of each prescription, lens and frame combination. In order to determine these specs, Bret, the owner and Master Lenscrafter, sits down at his desk with paper and pen to apply the optical formulas and make the proper adjustments to ensure that curved, prescription lens of the sport frame will provide clear, distortion-free optics throughout the lens, including the periphery. This is the most important step in the process. (It is, naturally, double top-secret and this is only a mock-up of our Mt. Falcon lens pattern to suggest the measurements and diagrams Bret makes during this process.)
Mt.Falcon-Lens-Spec.-300x195

2)Next, the lens materials arrive in large-format blanks which we then custom grind into the final lens shapes you’ll ultimately see when the glasses are finished and in your hands. They arrive like this Polar Rose-Copper/Blue Flash Mirror sample :
LensBlank.PolarRose-255x300
3)And then we grind them. This is the loud part, and the part that sprays polycarbonate lens dust all over our shop and why people always think we came out of the snow. It’s also the part of the process that lets us craft fully-custom lenses with complete control over the lens styles, shapes, and optics. It is also the fun part and an aspect of our lenses of which we’re quite proud. We have a physical connection with our lenses and our product that other sunglass companies who craft prescription lenses simply don’t have. No one else in the world makes custom sport lenses this way.
Bret.GrindDust-225x300

Here’s a little 17-second clip of what sometimes takes up to an hour:

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While Bret or his son Ian, who is apprenticing here at Sports Optical, are the only ones who actually craft the lenses, the rest of us step up to clean, custom-tint and hand-polish the lenses once they’ve been cut. At this step we do a final inspection for quality, looking for any lens aberrations or any other issues that might otherwise make us hold onto an order and remake a lens. We do our best to ship a set of glasses only if it’s perfect.

Final Step: Something like this…

Rydon-GreenGradientAR-300x238RUDY PROJECT RYDON IN CUSTOM RX, WITH GRADIENT GREEN TINT AND AR.
GolfRx.RacingJacket.BlueMirror-300x170OAKLEY RACING JACKET. POLARIZED ROSE-COPPER LENSES WITH BLUE MIRROR.
Ketyum-Transition-Mirror-300x209RUDY PROJECT KETYUM. TRANSITION LENSES WITH BLUE MIRROR. COOL AS IT GETS.

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