Julbo Instinct sunglasses

[Bergretter]

Anyone using Julbo's instinct sunglasses with the photochromic Zebra lenses? They are supposed to darken to category 4 protection in bright light yet mine seem to be not adjusting as advertised. Any other experiences with these?

[snodger]

Yeah, I was kinda wondering the same thing about the pair I bought a couple weeks ago. I've had (and lost) two pairs of the older photo chromatics and they at least looked dark most of the time. The instincts seem to always stay light orange color. I've had mine out on the water, sailing, and my eyes seemed to be well protected but the lenses never really got dark. I don't know whether they are actually doing what they advertise which is to go from something like 43% light blockage to 98%. I also don't really like the shape of the glasses, liked my others better, guess thats why I bought them at REI!

 

One thing that was strange was that once I layed them down on the grass in the sun and when I picked them up they had bizarre stripes of darkness going across the lens where the blades of grass were'nt blocking the light. That made me think that the lenses do work and made me decide to keep trying them out. You could try an experiment yourself by putting something over half the lens and putting it out in the sun. Perhaps the new zebra lens somehow can block the light like a traditional glacier glass lens but without the dark lens??

[skiing_addict]

I have had a pair of the julbo magics with the zebra lens for about 4 months now. I think they work OK for glacier travel, but a buddy of mine has the instincts and he likes a darker pair of glasses for snow. They certainly are great for putting on all day and forgetting about them/not having trouble when moving from shadow to non-shadow (adjusts quickly). I agree that they don't get as dark as their other cat 4 lenses.