Oakley Thump 256MB Sunglasses (05152C) (05152C)

Customer Review: Best Oakley so Far
I purcased my Thump a couple of months ago and I absolutely think it worted it's price. Mine is a Thump 512MB Black Iridium and in my opinion the best Oakley so far. I saw other brands which looks like Thump but the original one is the best one. Oakley is one of my favourite brands and I own 11 of them. I do have a Half-Jacket, a Penny, a M-Frame but the Thump is my favourite one with my Valve (Ducati Limited Edition). I'm glad I got my Thump and I recommend everyone one. It's performance is just as good as a iPod and it's character is strong as a Shelby. I say if you gonna buy a MP3 player, and if you're attracted by the Oakley frames, buy a Thump! You won't regret it!
Customer Review: Oakley Thump - there are better alternatives!
I saw these and played with them at a local store. They are xtremely overpriced. My notes: I have a 256 mb Rio that I wear on my arm, expandable to another 256 mb with a flash card. I can take the music on said card and plug it into my Palm pilot too - so it's transportable. With the Oakleys, you upload to the shades, and you're stuck with it there. My Rio never skips (Oakley touts "non skip" as a big plus - but most music players these days - even cd players - are skip proof.) Therefore, I have over 500 mb of music - double Oakley's - for $370 less than the Oakley 256 model. Only the top of the line 256 mb Oaks come with polarized lenses. No matter what they say about the other models, anyone who knows anything about eyewear will tell you that if the lenses aren't polarized, they're garbage. The Oakley earbuds are very uncomfortable. On my Rio and traditional players, at least I can switch the earwear to a comfortable variant. Also, if the Oak buds break, you're screwed. If mine break, I spend another $10. I don't know about their claim that "You can flip them up to grab a phone call or listen to a conversation, then flip them back down and not miss a beat. No more fumbling with wires or jamming rubber things in and out of your ears." I for one don't carry a phone with me, let alone talk to anyone, while working out. Ever. I also think that one would look like a complete fool walking around the gym (or anywhere indoors) with your lenses flipped up just so you could still wear them (and not walk around in darkness) and listen your music. Can you say "dork"? With my player on my arm, the cord is not an issue. I run it through my shirt sleeve. Also, I can at least scroll through my songs and see what I'm playing. I would get tired of pushing buttons on the Oaks to find the song I'm looking for. For $495 that they want for the 256 mb model, go buy yourself a 20 gig I-Pod (with 78x's the storage) and a pair of real eyewear, like some Revo's. And have $ left over

The History: A Classic Style Born

If you're anything like me, you always thought Tom Cruise pioneered aviator sunglasses to the world. In 1986, Top Gun set the stage for a new fashion era. However, the reality of aviator sunglasses debut was very different. In 1936, the U.S. military commissioned Ray Ban to make sunglasses as standard issue for pilots in the Air Force. Pilots needed protection against sun and glare without decreasing visibility. The dark teardrop-shaped lenses do a great job of covering every angle to keep out as much light as possible. Aviators have continued to be popular among military and law enforcement personnel, but in recent years have grown in popularity among all types of wearers.

Who Made Aviators Popular?

Hollywood has started many a fashion craze, and sunglasses are no exception. Aviator sunglasses became extremely popular in the 80s with Top Gun and a slew of law enforcement movies. Recently, even more movies have surfaced starring actors and actresses sporting aviators. Carrie-Anne Moss showed off a pair of black aviators in The Matrix. Johnny Depp played Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas wearing orange-tinted aviator sunglasses. A more recent example would be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They wore Nitro glasses by Oliver Peoples, classic aviators with yellow lenses.

What Types of Aviator Sunglasses are Available?

The newest style for aviators is colored lenses. Some of the more common colors seen have been blue, purple, pink, orange and yellow. Bolle, Oakley, Dior, Swiss Army and all other popular brands have their own designs of aviator sunglasses. Aviators are even available as prescription sunglasses.

Classic Aviator Sunglasses

The only true classic pair of aviators is the original Ray Ban. However, most other brands that sell aviator sunglasses have based them on the traditional, classic aviators.

Polarized Aviator Sunglasses

Many of the newer pairs of aviators are polarized. Polarized sunglasses block out the majority of horizontal light waves allowing only vertical light waves to pass through untouched.

Mirrored Aviator Sunglasses

Reflective sunglasses come with a reflective coating that produces a mirrored look. These aviators often come with a gradient coating that gradually changes from top to bottom. The main disadvantage of mirrored sunglasses is they are easily scratched. Even so, they look really cool!

Matt Morrison is a regular author for Everything Sunglasses