Transition type or tinted lenses and brazing?

[Eric Estlund]

I just had my eyes checked, and my general eye health is good. That said, I have always had very light sensitive eyes- I wear sunglasses outside pretty much all year, and almost any time it isn't fully dark night.

I'm considering a low tint lens for general wear, and am wondering if any of you have experience welding or brazing with a transitions type lens (under your goggles or welding helmet). My first instinct is that the delay would drive me crazy, but maybe it's better then that. I'm leaning in the direction of a low fixed tint, but am wondering on others experiences and thoughts. Thanks!

[edoz]

I'm in the same vision boat as you, 20/20 with high light sensitivity.
I have never tried working with a transition lens, but I can tell you that glasses of any kind can give weird reflections when worn under a welding hood. Brazing though, I'm not sure.
What do you use for brazing now? #3?

[Eric Estlund]

Oh, I'm a bit nearsighted, so I generally wear small glasses. No big deal there- a bit of anti reflective coating allows them to work well under the #3's I silver braze with and the #4 goggle I bronze braze with. The goggles really cut down on glare since they stop light from coming in behind the lens.

[JuanGrande]

What is the intent behind using the transition lens? The reason I ask is that I just got a pair late last year for cross racing - got tire of trying to juggle multiple glasses, etc... Anyway, my only comment is that they don't transition very quickly, and if indoors, they don't darken at all. When driving a car in bright sunlight, they won't draken due to the auto glass blocking the uv. That's why I asked about the purpose - lack of UV (for triggering tinting) and the slow nature of the tint reaction need to be considered.

JC

Oh, I'm a bit nearsighted, so I generally wear small glasses. No big deal there- a bit of anti reflective coating allows them to work well under the #3's I silver braze with and the #4 goggle I bronze braze with. The goggles really cut down on glare since they stop light from coming in behind the lens.

[Eric Estlund]

To reduce daily eye strain. The regular transitions are not for me, but the Xtractive get darker and never reset to clear- they always have a low grey tint. These would not be a sunglass or brazing replacment, just an option to reduce glare and strain for the times I am not wearing a darker lens. I just want to make sure they don't screw up the good thing I have going with my current brazing lens'.

At this point I'm leaning in the direction of a light green or gray fixed tint. Still reading up on articles in PubMed and have yet to talk with my optometrist. If I find out anything specific I'll report back- otherwise I might give something a go for a year and hope for the best.

Thanks for your experiences- they echo some of what I've been hearing about the regular Transitions (V1).

[Bigfoot]

A lot of this depends on how sensitive your eyes are. I find that if my glasses are too dark then I cant see the brazing color change too well. You do though want to not kill your eyes by going with something too light.

[Eric Estlund]

Thanks all- I ended up ordering an FL-41 in #2 (darkish, but still fairly light tint). The FL-41 is a rose tint. The contrast was good, and there has been some research suggesting it can help with (some) migraines. Seemed dark enough to help with some of my issues, but not so dark I can't wear them at night.

Best case scenario it helps kill two birds with one tint. Worst case-I liked it roughly equally to the green #2 I was also debating, and can try that next year if I need to.

The jury is out- I'll have them in hand in about a week and will report back.