Julbo Tensing Overview

These glasses are excellent for travel above treeline or anywhere where the sun is extremely bright and reflecting off snow, rock, pavement, or water. The Tensing sunglasses are Julbo’s cheapest glacier glasses, but feature Julbo’s high quality Spectron 4 category 4 lenses, which are the same lenses that many of their more expensive glacier glasses feature. They are very dark and block 95% of the visible light and 100% UVA/UVB/UVC rays. The lens and frame materials are top-notch, lightweight, and durable. Ours have survived hundreds of miles of high altitude backpacking without any issue.

Julbo Tensing Pros

• Superb sun protection
• Excellent wrap-around coverage
• Lightweight
• Durable
• Regular and medium sizes
• Great price

Julbo Tensing Cons

• Hot on face

Spectron 4 Non-Polarized Lenses

The lenses on the Julbo Tensing are non-polarized. As a life-long lover of polarized lenses, I was worried at first that this would be a drawback. However, after wearing these glasses, I found that I prefer non-polarized lenses for mountaineering because they allow me to see the subtle differences in reflection between snow and ice packs, which is helpful when route finding and glissading. (With a polarized lens, much of the surface reflection is eliminated so a crust of ice reflects light nearly the same way as fresh snow powder.) While these lenses are non-polarized, they are treated with an anti-reflective coating to reduce eye strain and eliminate interference glare.

I found these lenses easily wiped clean (dirt/dust, water droplets, and snow) with a soft cloth or the microfiber storage pouch that came with the glasses.

Frames

The frames provide ample coverage. They’re almost goggle-like, but breath much better than goggles due to the side vents, weigh less, and take up less space. The frames block light from the side, above, and below the eyes much better than any other non-goggle sport glasses I’ve owned. The downside of this great coverage is my eyes and face under these glasses get more sweaty and hot than with lower coverage glasses and I have to wipe away sunscreen from running into my eyes more often. This problem is common with any full-coverage glasses, but I thought it was worth noting so you can adjust your sunscreen application if needed.

Minimal Fogging

I’ve worn these glasses from 20 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and they performed well. I found if I keep the glasses on my face they don’t fog, but if I was changing the temperature and humidity of the lens quickly by taking them on and off they did fog up a bit. The side arms and nose pads work well enough to keep them on my face when running, biking, or climbing. The side arms are quite flexible.

Sizing

The frames fit my face well–I have a narrower face shape and the regular sized Julbos were too large for my face, but these smaller ones fit great. My hiking partner, who has a slightly larger face, has a pair of regular Julbo Tensings and loves them. The main difference between the Julbo Tensing M and regular Julbo Tensing glasses is the size: the Tensing M glasses are slimmer and smaller than the Tensing, but the frame and lens materials are identical. I have a smaller face so finding top quality glacier glasses that actually fit my face proved difficult until I found the Tensing M glasses.

Final Impressions

I’ve worn these in bright sun while mountaineering and in the snow, out running, and on long bike rides and they worked great for all of those activities. They accompanied me to the summits of Mt. Whitney and Mt. Shasta, and have consistently provided excellent protection for my eyes.

Note that these glasses are not recommended for driving, as is the case for any lenses this dark.

With a low price point, durable and functional materials and design, and top-notch workmanship I would highly recommend these for any outdoor enthusiast looking for excellent sun protection for their eyes. If you have a smaller or slimmer face and often struggle finding sunglasses small enough for your face, give the Tensing M glasses a try–otherwise stick with the regular Tensing glasses.

If you are interested in buying Julbo Tensing Glacier Glasses….

On the Julbo website you can find more detailed technical specifications for the Tensing and Tensing M sunglasses and Spectron 4 lenses. I was able to purchase my glasses for around $30 on Amazon, and have seen similar price points offered by Campmor and other outdoor retailers.

— Gadget