April 6, 2022

What is the Best Sunglass Lens Color for Hiking?

Reward your effort and behold the striking vista in hiking sunglasses designed to enhance color, clarity, and detail the way only Maui Jim can. Our PolarizedPlus2® lenses come in a variety of colors to suit any outdoor sport in all weather and lighting conditions. See nature in all her beauty while still protecting your eyes from the harsh glare and harmful rays of the sun.

Colored Lenses Capture Every Detail on the Hiking Trail

Color is subjective. As the angle and intensity of the sun shifts, wavelengths absorbed and reflected off the surfaces around us alter the perception of color. Meanwhile, your brain sorts through chromatic biases to determine what you’re truly observing as you scale rocky peaks, trek lush tropical pathways, or stroll the powder-soft shores. The brain not only uses the immediate incoming color data but compares the moment to past experiences to arrive at its best calculation of true color. Fascinating as that is, how can you be sure you’re soaking up the most authentic moment?

Human eyes are evolved to see best during the day, with the truest colors processed during the middle of the day under indirect natural sunlight. However, too much sunlight washes out colors, while too little sunlight darkens them. Oranges and reds become intensified later in the day – which is why sunsets appear so brilliant — as darker colors dissolve into the inky blackness of twilight, making it harder to discern clear detail. Understanding how the quality and angle of light affects perception, you can see how the color of a lens can help the brain subtract bias and maintain accurate, even enhanced, vision.

What Color Lens is Best for Hiking?

Just as there’s a Hawaiian landscape for every soul, Maui Jim makes a sunglass lens color for every condition:

Hawaii Lava – A red mirror coated lens overcomes blue color bias, enhancing depth of field and detail, while reducing eye strain. When you’re taking a long drive, staring down the sun, to your perfect hiking destination and plan to spend hours on the trail, a red tinted lens alleviates stress and improves visibility.

HCL Bronze – You never know where life will take you. Perhaps you begin on your tropical patio listening to the sounds of ukulele over a cup of java. Later, you’re jogging around the park with your dog. Tomorrow you might be on Pipiwai Trail or Waihee Ridge. Bronze color lenses provide a warm, inviting tint suitable for everyday use, in any condition.

Maui HT – Sunset strolls and late-day hikes are best served by a high transmission green lens that offers extra contrast and saturation. When you’re not hiking, this lens provides splendid visibility on the golf greens and tennis courts, reducing eye strain in high sunlight conditions

Maui Rose – If hiking isn’t your only pursuit, you’ll need a fast action lens that can transition to beach volleyball, paragliding, mountain climbing, surfing, or jet-skiing. A rose-tinted glasses lens increases contrast to enhance crisp detail.

Neutral Gray – It’s early morning when you start scaling the rock crevasses. You can see your puffs of breath and the dew drops sparkling on the foliage. For those early morning and midday hikes where you crave rich colors with sharp contrast, a neutral gray lens filters out the harsh sun, while boosting awakening hues. Water-lovers reduce fatigue on sunny days with gray tinted lens that work equally well in bright sunlight, as the rare cloudy day.

Polarized Hiking Lenses, the Essential Hiking Companion

If you spend a good deal of time outdoors, polarized lenses with UV protection are as essential as a good pair of hiking boots, a bottle of sunscreen, and a canteen of water. Not only do polarized sunglasses reduce bright reflections and glares (particularly when you’re near water), but they also augment vision, boosting clarity and detail in high-intensity daylight. Lightweight, vivid, and versatile, polarized lenses are excellent for every occasion, except for sitting in front of the television. Nature’s free programming is far superior, so it’s worth selecting a pair of trusty sunglasses that can help you achieve those pinnacle moments of the “here and now” with comfort and ease.

Maui Jim Color Sunglasses for Hiking

Imagine seeing color for the very first time. This is your first hike in a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses. We developed our colored lenses out of a deep, genuine love of Hawaiian sunsets, breathtaking elevations, and sandy ocean shores. Some might say it’s an impossible desire to engineer a pair of sunglasses that soaks up the saturated richness of a sunny day on the island, but we’ve mastered color with patented technology you have to see to believe. See the world the way Maui Jim intended and witness nature’s true palette in all her splendor.