Knockaround Sunglasses: An Owner’s Review


In this article, you will find information on knockaround sunglasses and my review about them. I am an optician and can speak out of experience comparing the lenses of the knockaround brand to other sunglasses. For this article, I bought the customized version of the model Torrey Pines with polarized lenses.

So first of all the knockaround sunglasses feel pretty sturdy and solid build. Overall the Torrey Pines is a big frame but it wraps nicely around my head and they, of course, have all sizes in their collection. I went with the color that is grey and has a semi-transparent look which I really like because you can see the inner workings of the spring hinge of the sunglasses.

Here in the list below you can see the exact configuration of the knockaround sunglasses I checked out for this review:

Frame ColorJelly Grey
K LogoGreen
LensCaribbean Moonshine Polarized

Having tested knockarounds sunglasses in different light conditions I can say they are worthwhile the money. Personally, I paid 40 bucks for my Torrey Pines and at this price point there is not much I could think of that I would like to change on those sunglasses. When you want more like an antireflective coating on the back you usually need to pay up to 150$ to 300$.

But although an anti-reflective coating is great with my glasses I did not have to deal with too many reflections on the back surface because of the way the frame is wrapped around my head. The more curved the lenses are the less you have to deal with reflections.

Speaking of reflections the polarization is great. Read on to see what I would like to be different and where knockaround sunglasses crush other brands.

Build Quality

At first my colleagues which are also opticians and I looked at the knockarounds and we started the sentence like “At this price point…” the frame is built well or the hinge moves nicely. But really in general also compared to high-end brands that cost 10X what knockaround sunglasses do if you compared them side by side they still move great and the material feels like it could take a beating but would withstand the mechanical stress.

In fact the material of the frame not as worn out after a couple of years compared to the higher-end ones because a lot of the more price-intense frames are made of cellulose acetate. When you try to do scratch cellulose acetate with your fingernail you can do it. But not with the polycarbonate material used by knockaround sunglasses. I tried to scratch it and push my fingernail in it but nothing. That is great.

What is also great is how the temples of the frame open and close because even when I pushed the frame a bit and the temple tips did not scratch the lens’s surface. Because They do not touch the back surface.

One thing which I personally would love to see changed is the type of hinge used. It has two plastic rolls. While this looks very stable and moves great it limited capabilities in terms of adjustments. When those sunglasses sit a little askew of course an optician can correct the fit by tweaking the frame a little but this would work a little better with different hinges.

When the temples are closed it is possible to wiggle the temples a bit. But that is not a problem. Most hinges with a spring will have this little wiggle. When the temples are open and you wear them bearing surfaces on the temples and the middle of the frame work great together and eliminate the wiggle.

Lens Quality of My Nockarounds

The lens quality is superior compared to most sunglasses you get at this price point. There are different types of lenses on the market. Some sunglasses produce a more contrasty image and very popping colors and with others you get is a more realistic image with balanced colors.

In my Caribbean Moonshine Polarized lenses, the base dye is grey and is a more balanced lens. It does block the light from the sun effectively by blocking 85% of the light. In combination with the green mirror on the lens (which is more a fashion thing than for visual purposes), this lens is a great allrounder with great as expected UV protection. (I checked it with a lensmeter that can also measure the UV transmission through the lens material)

I like to wear those sunglasses on cloudy days as well as in bright sunlight. I personally recommend the polarized option. All of my sunglasses are polarized and I really like the increased glare protection that comes with it. Here in the picture below you can see the difference the polarized option can give you for example when a windshield in front of you is producing glare. With polarized sunglasses, you will have a lot fewer problems in those situations.

But it is not all perfect with the polarized option. For example, sometimes the windows of cars also produce polarized effects. In combination with polarized sunglasses they then get visible to you. For example the ones you can see in the image above.

Here for the picture I made a photo positioning the camera so I am looking through the polarized knockarounds sunglasses on the left side of the picture. As you can see the the image looks a little spotted on the left side compared to the right side. This however is not the case when you look in front of you in your car. But it could come up if you look back or out of the sides of your car.

If those effects might bother you Knockaround sunglasses got you covered. They also have non polarized lens options. The polarized options just cost me 5$ by the way.

For this article, I had a couple of questions and wrote with the staff from knockaround and I can think of a company that wrote faster and helpful replies. Really great people work there. I had a great experience as their customer.

I wish you a great day.

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