Review: Ombraz Armless Sunglasses

By Owen Clarke

Before buying Ombraz, my experiences with sunglasses followed a predictable pattern. I’d score a pair of cheap $15 to $20 plastic shades, sometimes as a gift at a wedding or reunion, sometimes at Walmart, other times at market stalls while backpacking in Central America. I’d wear them until they’d become scratched, broken, or lost. Usually this only took a couple of months. 

It was a lazy, wasteful habit, but to me, it made more sense than shelling out a couple hundred dollars for high-quality sunglasses. Ray-Bans might be a bit more scratch-resistant, I figured, but they were just as easy to lose or break. 

A couple of years ago, I looked to Ombraz as a possible solution. I haven’t looked back.

(TLDR; I strongly recommend this product. These are the best sunglasses I’ve owned, by a significant margin. Check them out here.)

These armless sunglasses—which wrap around your head via an adjustable cord—are supremely durable, comfortable, packable, and versatile. I’ve worn a polarized pair of the Ombraz Classics (Charcoal Frame) for roughly four years now, and I take them everywhere. I’ve brought Ombraz on dozens of backpacking and rock climbing trips. I’ve worn them surfing in Bali, peakbagging in California, and trekking in Vietnam. Over the last few years, I’ve attempted to go up every 14,000-foot peak in the Lower 48, solo, and the same pair of Ombraz was with me on almost all of those scrambles and climbs.

The armless design is overall an improvement on traditional, “armed” sunglasses, but there are a few drawbacks. In this review, I’ll address four key aspects of the product: durability, utility, price, and sustainability. 

Wearing my Ombraz in the Sierra Nevada

Wearing my Ombraz in Indonesia.

DURABILITY: 5/5

Ombraz are very durable. The armless design, combined with a rugged TR-90 frame, means these are virtually impossible to bend or break. The only rigid components are the lenses and the surrounding frame, so the glasses are two-dimensional. Unlike traditional sunglasses, accidentally sitting on them or stuffing them into the bottom of your pack won’t put any pressure on the frame or arms all. You can pack them all over the place, stress-free.

The lenses are also very difficult to scratch, and the neoprene case, which comes with an integrated lens wipe, protects them nicely without adding any bulk. Again, I went from breaking sunglasses every few months, to having this pair for over two years with zero issues. It’s a full 180 for me.

NOTE: A couple of years after buying my first pair, I finally got some scratches in the lenses, not while bungee jumping or rock climbing, but just while walking down the street. I whipped my hat off my head, forgetting I’d perched my Ombraz on top of it, and the poor shades went skidding along the sidewalk and picked up a few scuffs. 

UTILITY: 4/5

Ombraz are versatile and comfortable. The corded design means you don’t have to worry about them staying on when surfing, paddling, skateboarding, mountain biking, fighting ninjas, or performing any other high-energy activity where normal sunglasses might fly off and get lost. (They also “sort of” float, although I wouldn’t put too much trust in that fact if you aren’t in flat water. You can buy a “Floatie” accessory if that’s a big concern.)

While it might look like Ombraz fit “tight” like a pair of swim goggles, you actually only need a light amount of tension to get them to stay on. Check out their “How to Wear” video if you snag a pair. I never feel any pressure from the cord, and I usually forget it’s there.

Likewise, there are no glasses “arms” to irritate the top of your ears, like on normal shades. You can easily hang ‘em from your neck when you don’t want to wear them, and they sit on my forehead, as well. The cord also presents other possibilities for storage. You can hang them from a tree branch near your campsite, from the rear view mirror of your car (see below), or from your bike handlebars.

It also makes it easy to not lose your glasses. It’s not just that I haven’t broken them, but these are also the only sunglasses I’ve ever owned that have managed to last more than a year without going missing.

I’m giving utility a 4 out of 5 because the corded design does have some drawbacks. For example, I ride motorcycles frequently, and I used to always wear sunglasses when riding with the shield off my helmet. I cannot wear my Ombraz like this, because the strap must be “slipped” around the head. I still buy cheap shades for this purpose.

You can probably imagine the other scenarios where the Ombraz retention cord poses a slight problem. They fit well under a rock climbing helmet, but for the same reason, you also can’t simply slip them off, like a pair of shades. You have to unbuckle your helmet to take your Ombraz off.

The other drawback is that, while Ombraz generally look pretty cool, if you’re bald (like I am now) the cord running around the back of your head sort of makes you look like Vin Diesel in Pitch Black. It’s not really a great look.

When I first bought these glasses, I had long hair, and while I still wear them, it’s definitely better if you have some hair to cover up that cord : ) 

PRICE: 5/5

These sunglasses cost roughly $160, at least when I bought them. That’s relatively expensive, but for what you’re getting, the price feels solid. I spent that $160 four years ago now, and haven’t looked back. I would have lost or broken probably a dozen or more sunglasses in that time span. They’re also warrantied for life, and I’ve had good experience with their customer service.

SUSTAINABILITY: 5/5

Ombraz throws around a lot of eco-friendly, greenwash-y talk, but in this case, I think it’s warranted. They get solid marks. The frames are plastic, but the cord is 100% recycled, the packaging is all cardboard, and they plant 20 mangrove trees per pair of sunglasses sold—they’ve planted nearly 2 million to-date. You can read more about their Net Benefit Impact on their website. The carbon absorbed by these mangroves over a 20-year period means Ombraz touts their shades as the most carbon-negative product in the world (apparently 1,713x negative).

That’s pretty rad, and in the grand scheme of things it’s far and away better than most companies out there. I also add marks because the durability of their product, and their willingness to perform lens repairs, means that most people who buy Ombraz will end up getting use out of these shades for a long, long time. At the end of the day, they’re still selling something, but Ombraz seems about as good as it gets from a sustainability standpoint.

Check ‘em out if you fancy a pair, and drop a comment with any thoughts.