First, a confession: I don’t usually like wearing sunglasses while running. And I run a lot. I test and review sunglasses for Outside, but most sunglasses kind of suck for running. They fog when you get sweaty, or they jostle around, or they’re too heavy and overbuilt. Many lenses—even the ones billed as transition lenses—are too dark for trail running through dimly-lit forests or on early-morning missions with fickle light (which is when I tend to get my miles in).
So, for years now, I’ve run without eye protection. But on longer runs or mid-day outings in bright sun, I’ve started to notice serious eye fatigue. My legs are holding up fine at mile 20, but my eyes are cooked, which makes seeing trippable hazards in the trail even harder. All of which led me on an exhaustive hunt to find the perfect running sunglasses. I tested a whopping 51 pairs of sunglasses over the last nine months (perk of the job!) and I ended up finding the unicorn I was looking for: the Julbo Density.