My baby blues have always been susceptible to direct sunlight. That’s one of the reasons I don’t mind plunking down good money for a quality pair of sunglasses. I’m also prone to dropping those sunglasses out of a motorcycle helmet or stashing them in a pocket when the sun goes down, pockets that usually have change jingling around or some other abrasive object in the bottom that always seems to scuff up the lens right in my field of view. Since the sunglass frames are still solid, swapping out lenses makes more sense than shelling out the dough for a completely new pair of shades. Enter Revant Optics.Revant is a Northwest-based company that formed a few years back as Visionary Lenses but has since changed its name to Revant. The company was born after perceiving a niche in the market, this being an absence of companies offering high quality aftermarket lenses. They did their homework, tested out materials and conducted quality tests, then began offering replacement sunglass lenses for some of the most popular models, predominantly Oakleys and Ray-Bans, but expanding into Costa, Spy Optic and Rudy Projects, too.The Revant lenses I’ve been using are for a set of Oakley Gascans. Revant offers three varieties of lenses for the Gascans alone – Non-Polarized, Polarized and their Elite HC3 Polarized Lenses. The Non-Polarized lenses come in 11 color options ranging from $24 to $28, the Polarized ones come in 13 different colors at prices ranging from $32 to $36, while the Elite HC3 Polarized Lenses, the ones we tested, sell for $52.
The HC3 lenses were packaged securely, arriving in a small box the lenses wrapped in plastic with a bit of added padding from a soft bag like the one that came with the original sunglasses, the type that doubles as a lens wipe. They are a direct replacement and the fit was spot-on, simply pop out the old ones and snap the Revants in their place. If you’ve never done this before, Revant has a page dedicated to lens installation to take you through the process. The lenses are said to be Z87.1 Impact Resistant, the same rating as the original Oakley lenses, and offer 100% UV protection and 8% VLT. The HC3’s come with a 60 day return policy and a one-year warranty.
In bright sunlight, the Revant Elite HC3 Polarized Lenses do a great job of cutting down glare. The clarity is as good as the original Oakley Gascans, and the tint on the Stealth Black set is dark enough so my eyes are comfortable and open wide. Though the Gascans aren’t necessarily riding glasses, I use them frequently when I wear a three-quarters helmet for short trips and don’t notice any difference between the quality of the Revant replacements and the originals. I do like that the tint allows me to wear them in the early strokes of evening and still be able to see.
After putting out a $150 for a pair of polarized Gascans, the last thing you want to do is come up off another $150 because of a scratched lens. The standard Gascan replacement lenses from Oakley are $60, while polarized lenses bump up the price to $80, with the Black Iridium Polarized ones going for $90. Seeing how the Revant Elite HC3 Polarized Lenses go for $52 and worked on par with the originals, it makes replacing scratched sunglass lenses less of a bitter pill to swallow.
