Oh come on, seriously? how can they claim to be unbreakable… This was certainly my initial reaction to the Gloryfy eyewear range when I first saw it in June at the ORA trade-show last year. Of all the outdoor gear I own & use, few pieces of kit are a fragile as my sunglasses. My previous sunglasses were forever getting scratched, bent & broken. So as sceptical as I was, the prospect of these being tough (I wasn’t going to even consider them unbreakable at that point) was a big draw card.

Also aside from the practical appeal, being the curious gear nerd that I am, I simply wanted to know more. Gloryfy is an Austrian Company that specialise in eyewear, but what makes them unique is that they specialize in unbreakable eyewear. The materials used to construct Glorify glasses are unique & patented to the company, so whilst they give away a bit of info the exact details on the technology are a bit of a trade secret. Basically, technical names & descriptions aside, the frames & lenses are made from flexible ‘unbreakable’ materials.

Untitled

L: On the long exposed approach to The Nuns Veil. R: The G3 Devil after a hard days work, at the head of Gorilla Stream.

The G3

Like most sunglasses there is a natural dance between practical & stylish when making a selection. I wanted sunglasses that would be suited to the outdoor activities I regularly engage in, so hiking, rock climbing & Alpine Climbing. Beyond that, I wanted something that didn’t look too out of place walking around town. Spending a lot of time in harsh sun & living in Queensland around the water fairly often, a polarised lens was an obvious choice. After trying on a few styles I found the G3 both fitted the shape my head well, but also looked pretty good on my noggin. The design is a curved wrap-around frame, that is super comfortable (no unwanted pressure & you barley notice they’re there), offers good side protection & also doesn’t fall off when I lean forward. The last point was a must for me, as dropped glasses halfway up a long climb doesn’t appeal!

Going for an understated aesthetic I chose the G3 Devil Polarized. I also grabbed a pair of the G3 Air as a spare pair. Having two pairs is usually my preference, but I also wanted to test the Air feature against fogging up, a common issue with my large bushy sweat catching eyebrows…The air frames are available in the various styles & they have small channels that line up with venting holes in the lenses. Note: Air lenses will fit in non-air frames, but will not vent as effectively. Locally in Summer, the Air proved to be great on hot sweaty days out. I still found myself using the Devil Polarised more often & prefer the colour (yes colour is very important). For an Alpine trip to NZ I added the F4 (Category 4) Lenses to my kit, for extra protection against the harsh sunlight reflected off the snow. The ability to quickly & easily change the lenses of Gloryfy glasses is a really cool feature, one I’ve used plenty of times in practice too. In terms of optical quality the Glory lenses are excellent. There are options available for all needs & they can do prescription lenses if needed. I’ve used (& generally destroyed) various other high-end eyewear in the past & the visual quality is easily of par if not superior to anything I’ve looked through. To achieve this with such a flexible & durable lens material is simply amazing.

Screen Shot 2016-05-03 at 12.55.30 PM

Some info on the design, specs & options for the G3

Use & Abuse

So far I’ve worn either (or at times, both interchangeably) pair of G3’s every single day since getting them in December. In that time they’ve protected my eyes against the harsh outdoor world & in return I’ve given them plenty of rough treatment. Probably not a fair & equal exchange, but one I can live with. OK,  I must admit to babying them a wee bit to begin with, even using the nice include hard-case for storage & transport. That soon changed… By the time I was using them in NZ throughout February, they were routinely shoved in jacket or rucksack pocket unprotected & the lenses wiped on the hem of my shirt. I’ve also dropped them, a lot. They were even stood on a couple times, not intentionally. Sure after a couple of rather brutal ‘troddings’ the arms came off & a lens or two popped out. But it was simply a matter of snapping the arms back in place & re-setting the lenses.  The frames & lenses have an elastic ‘memory’ so even after being squashed underfoot, they continually revert to the original shape.  I’ve demonstrated to various people the flexible frames, which never ceases to garner an impressed response, aside from being super practical in use.

LG gloryfy NZ

L: Hanging out in a white-out whilst descending off Mount Brewster. R: In the clouds on the summit of Mount Brewster

My G3’s frames appear unmarked, which still baffles me sometimes. In turn lenses are showing some minor scratches. But to be fair, they are in far better condition than my other sunnies after similar treatment & It’s more cosmetic than anything. I haven’t noticed any visual imperfections whilst wearing the glasses, which is what counts in my eyes. It’s worth noting that the lenses are highly scratch resistant, but not impervious to damage. So ideally cleaning them properly with a clean cloth (not with a week-old dirty merino base-layer) would probably be better in retrospect.

During the NZ trip I was reminded of the importance of having good glasses & in this case a spare set. We were about 6 hours of hard slog away from the car on the approach to Mount Brewster… Deano suddenly looked mortified & remembered his sunglasses were safely back  on the dashboard of the hire-car. Luckily, I’d packed my second set of G3’s so a potential crisis was averted & we carried on to have a successful summit bid the next day. Deano later remarked how impressed he was with the sunglasses. More importantly the potential for either an aborted trip or snow blindness was averted! Good eye protection is crucial in the outdoors, something I’m constantly reminded of. The Gloryfy Lenses feature great optical quailty coupled with 100% UVA/UVB protection, which results in both less fatigue on your eyes at the time but it’s also protecting them for years to come. This, along with their functional design & resistance to rough treatment, makes for a great pair of sunglasses.

LG gloryfy Deano

Deano Heading up the West Ridge of Mount Brewster, wearing the G3 Air Polarised

Conclusions

Basically I’m super impressed with the Gloryfy eyewear & in particular love using my G3’s. Sure it’s a bold claim to say anything is unbreakable, but in my experience it’s pretty a fair call for Gloryfy. For anyone who is looking for top quality eyewear, that both looks good & performs in harsh conditions, consider Gloryfy. I’ve not used anything else since getting mine & really noticed the drop in quality when trying on my previous (made by another well regarded high-end outdoor eyewear brand) glasses recently. Later this year I’m heading to Nepal for some high Altitude Climbing, Gloryfy will be the eyewear brand I’ll trust for that trip & for many more adventures in between. Thumbs up & happy eyes here!

Lachlan-GLoryfy NZ-225

Overlooking Queenstown from Queenstown Hill

About The Author

Lachlan Gardiner

Lachlan works as a freelance photographer, writer and videographer. His practice lies somewhere between storytelling and being a total gear nerd. Often found hiking, mountaineering, climbing, cycling, packrafting, or just hunting down the next story - Lachlan will take basically any excuse to get into the outdoors. In between all of the above, he also works in our Paddy Pallin store in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.