Originally conceived and designed for boat-based fishing folk, Tifosi’s Crit shades with Enliven Off-Shore lenses can also claim to be among the best kayaking sunglasses, thanks to their frame design and a blue mirror filter that reduces glare.

But how good are they really? I have been wearing them while engaged in a wide spectrum of saltwater shenanigans to find out.

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Tifosi Crit Enliven Off-Shore Lens Sunglasses: design and materials

Equipped with the Enliven Off-Shore lenses, the Crit sunglasses from US-based, Italian-named brand Tifosi, are aimed squarely at sea-faring adventurers. The Off-Shore lenses incorporate a blue-mirror filter that cuts down the intensity of high-energy blue light beaming off the saltwater, instantly reducing glare and effectively protecting your eyes.

For freshwater anglers, amblers and paddlers, who do most of their exploring along rivers and across lakes rather than on the sea and ocean, Tifosi’s Enliven On-Shore range (which are also available through Amazon) will work better. Instead of the Off-Shore blue blue, the On-Shores have a green-mirror filter designed to do the smart work in that very verdant aquascape, to improve visual acuity.

Besides featuring the aforementioned filter, the Tifosi Crit lenses are polarised, to further optimise visual clarity, colour contrast and definition while you are on the water. The lenses are also optically decentred, to ensure your vision isn’t distorted.

The sporty, wrap-around, half-build frames have hydrophilic rubber pads to keep the glasses firmly on your face in even the roughest conditions and most mountainous waves. The Crits are lightweight and feature a couple of vents to improve air flow and reduce the risk of fogging.

Tifosi Crit Enliven Off-Shore Lens Sunglasses come with a rigid case to protect them from being damaged when they’re not on your head, as well as a soft storage pouch made from a material that can be used to clean the lenses.

Tifosi Crit Enliven Off-Shore Lens Sunglasses: performance

I have been wearing the Crit Enliven Off-Shore sunglasses during sea kayaking escapades and stand-up paddling sessions for the last few months, as summer arrived with a flaming burst of bright sunshine that seemed to last for months, and they have served me well.

The word Tifosi means ‘Super Fan’ in Italian, and the Georgia-based brand specialise in making fairly affordable eyewear for people engaged in all kinds of sports. These sunnies are not as pricey as models made for marine activities by brands such as Bollé and Oakley (I’ve recently tested their Holman and Split Shot models) and yet the lens performance is almost on a par with the more expensive shades.

The inbuilt blue-mirror filter works impressively well, and it combines with the polarised category-3 lenses to provide excellent visual clarity and definition when you’re out on the water.

I was able to read the waves while sea-kayaking in all kinds of conditions, including some seriously lumpy days a good way off-shore, and when closer to land I could see through the water to identify rocks and other obstacles in order to avoid collisions that could potentially damage my boat.

Paddlers who venture out on rivers and lakes as well as going along the coast might find it frustrating to be told that they need a different pair of sunglasses for each environment, but you need to keep this in perspective.

The Off-Shore version works fine in a freshwater setting, you just don’t get the same level of colour contrast in the green part of the spectrum as you would with the Enliven On-Shore range of lenses.

If you really want the best of all watery worlds, you can simply buy the other lenses and swap them in depending on where you intend paddling for the day – just as you might put a specific tyre on your bike depending on the terrain you’re planning to cycle on.

I really like the vents in the frame of the Crit sunglasses, which allow some air in to cool my face when I’m paddling on hot sunny days, and also completely prevent any fogging issues from occurring.

The wrap-around design of the frame also cuts out glare and provides a very secure fit, complemented by the hydrophilic rubber pads on the arms and nose, which hold the glasses in firmly in place, particularly when they get wet from seat or sea water

On the downside, I found these glasses slightly uncomfortable to wear after a certain amount of time, especially across the nose, where they felt a little bit pinchy (but this could be down to the shape and size of my pretty prominent proboscis…).

Buy the Tifosi Crit Enliven Off-Shore Lens Sunglasses on Amazon