Revision Sawflys have been around for a while, but semi recently Photochromic lenses are now available to offer some more options. By default I'm still a fan of the Sawfly glasses in general as they offer great coverage in a nice lightweight, flexible package. I was even able to get this sample in a small frame size where regular size fit my head pretty good, but the small frame is just that smidgen better. None the less I'll mostly be blabbing on about the new lens. The general concept of Photochromic is that when hit by UV light the lens darkens, which in of itself is pretty darn cool. Thus the idea is to have clear lenses in the dark and dark lenses in bright light outside that is seemingly magically adjusted on the fly without having to change lenses.

There are some complications though as the UV light has to be direct rather than bounced to get good darkening results. Due to this, even wearing a common baseball cap will shade the glasses enough to prevent them getting as dark as most would prefer outside. This applies even more so to a vehicle situation. Even when fully blasted with UVs from direct sunlight, the Photochromic lenses don't get quite as dark as the classic dark lenses. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as usually I don't find the need for full dark unless in super bright reflective situations. On the other end of the spectrum, with no UV light the lenses get pretty darn close to clear. On a night op however, this super slight difference may be noticeable.

With those complications noted, they still really shine in say a CQB environment where one is more likely to wear a helmet than a cap with the light conditions constantly changing going back and forth from outdoors to indoors. While the lenses take about 1 minute to fully go from one light situation to the other, this is much more convenient than having to bust some sort of tactical time out to change lenses or fight through with decreased vision by having the wrong lens for the situation. In my experience the Photochromic lenses are just dark enough to take the edge off a sunny day, while being tame and adaptive enough to see clearly when quickly transitioning to an indoor environment. In contrast a not so good situation is say a long drive on a traffic heavy bright day where everything is reflecting intense sun into your vision, yet sadly it is not direct UV so the Photochromic lenses will stay fairly clear.

Revision provided some extra intel for those more interested in the Photochromic technology:

• • Photochromic lens coatings work by changing their chemical structure when exposed to UV light
    • When these special molecules are exposed to UV rays, they undergo a chemical process that causes them to change shape
    • The new molecular structure absorbs portions of the visible light, causing the lens to darken
    • In the absence of UV light, the molecules change back to their original form
  • The number of molecules that change shape varies with the intensity of the UV rays
    • UV radiation is absorbed by cloud cover and therefore photochromic lenses do not get as dark in overcast conditions because there is a lesser amount of UV exposure
    • The lenses will not change as much in certain situations such as wearing the lens with a hat or driving in a car because the UV rays are blocked by the hat brim or windshield
  • The pace at which the lens changes can vary depending on certain factors
    • Photochromic coatings require a “breaking in” period and will change more quickly the more that they’re used
    • Photochromic coatings will change back to their original form faster at higher temperatures and slower at lower temperatures

Just like the rest of the Sawfly line, the Sawfly Photochromic Kit is Rx compatible. The Sawfly Photochromic Kit is available in Small, Regular, and Large sizes in the online store for $149.99 or you can purchase the individual Photochromic lens for $80.
Continuing to be awesome, Revision is still graciously offering the coupon code:
MONKEY
for 30% off MSRP on up to 5 items. That is some no messing around savings!

 

Although my white ass usually wears a hat outside I look forward to trying out the Photochromic Kit to be my go to tactical lens setup and will hang on to the classic darks for the really bright situations and driving specs.
http://www.revisionmilitary.com/store/sawfly/sawfly-photochromic.html