Polarized
A lens filter that blocks the horizontally reflected light bouncing off a water surface, letting you see beneath it instead of a sheet of glare.
Light reflecting off a flat surface becomes polarized along one axis. A polarizing filter is oriented to block exactly that axis, which removes the mirror effect from water, wet roads and car hoods while leaving the rest of the scene intact.
On the water the difference is not subtle. Glare disappears and you can suddenly see rocks, weed edges, drop-offs and fish. It is the single feature that makes sunglasses fishing sunglasses, and it is why anglers who try a polarized pair never go back.
It is not the same thing as dark, and it is not the same thing as UV protection. A cheap dark lens can have neither.
The filter is oriented for a horizontal surface, so tilting your head sideways brings the glare back. It also darkens some LCD screens, so a phone or a fish finder can go black at certain angles through polarized lenses.
Test a pair by looking at a phone screen and tilting your head. If the screen goes black at an angle, the lenses are genuinely polarized.
Common questions
How can I tell if sunglasses are really polarized?
Look at an LCD screen through them and rotate the glasses ninety degrees. Genuinely polarized lenses will darken dramatically or go black at one angle.
Related terms
Where this comes up
The guides that use polarized and show it on real gear.
Polarized is one of 206 terms in the glossary.
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