Blue Azores

The Blue Azores is engineered for bright sunny days offshore. 

Blue Azores Lens Detail:
Pursuit: ---------------------------- Offshore
Protection: ------------------------ UV400
Polarization: ---------------------- 100%
Filter Category: ------------------- 3
VLT: ------------------------------- 10.73%
Base Tint: ------------------------- Gray, DG10
Mirror: ---------------------------- Blue, MLB73
Frame: ---------------------------- Base 8

Blue Azores is a twist on the traditional blue mirror.  This lens was designed for comfort in the bright sunlight and specifically engineered to perform best in blue water.  The deep gray base tint allows your eyes to perceive colors in their purest form.

#ALL

THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME

One thing’s for sure, you didn’t need to check the depth recorder or the GPS to know you have reached Condor Bank. Fifteen nautical miles to the south of Horta harbor flocks of shearwaters glide over the calm blue ocean surface, dipping occasionally to pick up a tasty morsel left by schools of spotted dolphins carving up the baitfish. Blue water and blue marlin! Welcome to the Azores!

POLARIZATION

Sunlight scatters in all directions. But when it strikes flat surfaces like water, the reflected light becomes polarized — meaning the reflected light beams travel in a more uniform direction. 

Polarization offers great advantages when it comes to decreasing eye strain and discomfort in bright sunlight. It also makes a tremendous difference in how tired your eyes, and thus you become after a long day on the water.

Polarization plays an integral role in making Purpose Built Optics and is the predominant reason you can see beneath the surface of the water.  However, there can be a few drawbacks.  In the shooting world, the manipulation of directional light can affect your depth perception. This is why the PBO Shooting Series uses non-Polarized lenses.  Being able to see the electronics on your boat from all angles presents another challenge for polarized lenses. Most electronics manufactures use a polarized film on the screen of the LCD panel. As your angle changes in relation to the panel, you can go from a clear view to total darkness if you are wearing polarized lenses.  This frustration often causes you to remove your sunglasses exposing your eyes to the glare and harmful UV rays.  The PBO LIghtvvision Series is a game changing lens that gives you the best of both worlds by only a special reduced polarization filter! A clear view of your panel and the protection your eyes!

TINT AND VLT

The tint of the lens is probably the most misunderstood and underrated aspect if lens design.   Some people incorrectly assume the darker the lens the more protective it is.  Others equate the color of the exterior mirror coating to tint, this is also wrong.  Tint is the colors of the dye used in the lens making process.  Along with the other layers of the lens, tint is what controls the amount of light allowed to pass through your sunglass lenses. This is referred to as VLT or Visible Light Transmission. This number does not refer to how protective the lens is, just the amount of light passing through to you eye.

For Hook and Bullet, tint serves a specific purpose and is a key aspect of creating  Purpose Built Optics.  Choosing the right tint and VLT provides better visibility by controlling key aspects of the visible light spectrum.  Utilizing photonic dyes we create contrast to enhance your view in specific environments.  Through this process we are able to substantially enhance detail, revealing complex textures, subtle highlights, hidden shadows and vibrant colors.  From the environment, to your eye to the visual cortex of your brain, Purpose Built Optics are finely tuned and categorically grouped to change the way you see the world!

UV Protection

You can't judge a pair of sunglasses by the color, at least not for eye protection purposes. PBO lenses use a proprietary UV-absorbing treatment to block 100% of UVA and UVB light. Because this treatment is colorless, clear lenses can block UV rays just as well as dark-colored lenses.

UV refers to the Ultraviolet Radiation that penetrates the Earth's atmosphere from the sun. In today’s market, it seems as if UV protection would be included on all lenses, but it is not.  Some of the less expensive sunglasses on the market save cost by not providing adequate protection for your eyes.   A dark lens without proper UV protection will fool your eyes into relaxing in bright sun.  This negates your natural and involuntary reflex to squint, allowing more damage than you would get without sunglasses at all. 

Our lenses are manufactured in Italy and follow an EU guideline that obliges sunglasses manufacturers to treat lenses against UV rays (UVA + UVB) (UV 400). All Hook and Bullet sunglasses are labeled with "CE" on the inside of the temple arm.  This symbol indicates conformity with health, safety, and environmental protection standards and ensures that our sunglasses provide the utmost protection for your eyes.

BASE CURVE

Your peripheral vision plays a big part in what you see. Restricted peripheral is also referred to as tunnel vision. Use your hands to block the sides of your face. Now consider doing that wide open in an airboat in a narrow canal! You probably found that uncomfortable because you know there’s so much more to see than what is straight ahead. In our world your safety and success depends upon your ability to maximize all of our visual ques!  

The base curve is the measurement of the lens curvature or how much the lens curves to the shape of the face. Depending on how high or low the base curve is indicates how curved or flat the frame and lenses will be. The higher the base curve number, the more “wrap” you have. 

We offer two base curves, 6-Base and 8-Base.  A 6-base curve is a medium base that we consider the minimal curve for being on the water or in the field. An 8-base curve is considered high and creates a wraparound frame shape. An 8-base curve provides the most protection from the sun and allows the frames to hug your head while maximizing your peripheral vision.

WARRANTY

While other companies tell a good boardroom story about the quality of their glasses, we choose to have fire side chats about reputation. If our workmanship or quality does not hold up, we will give you a full refund.

Hook and bullet sunglasses are warranted to the original purchaser for the life of the sunglasses against any defect in materials and workmanship when purchased from an authorized Hook and Bullet reseller or from the Hook and Bullet website. Hook and Bullet will repair or replace, at our option, any pair of Hook and Bullet sunglasses found to be defective – exclusive of damage caused by improper or unreasonable use. This warranty does not apply to normal wear, including lens scratching or accidental breakage.

Click here for more details on our Warranty. 

SHIPPING

Free Domestic Shipping in the CONTIGUOUS United States of America on all Sunglasses.  Clothing and other gear, shipping cost options are presented at the time of checkout.

For all international orders and orders outside of the contiguous United States of America, shipping costs are presented at the time of checkout.

Click here for more details on shipping.