Until recently I had no clue that Emerson Knives, the company known for making high quality knives, made eyewear, but they do and they’re pretty good at it. I got my hands on a pair of the Commander and also a pair of their Desert Roadhouse eyewear. Both pairs share many similarities but have different styles.
Both the Commander and Desert Roadhouse feature TR 90 high impact frames that make a solid but lightweight pair of sunglasses. They also feature impact resistant ballistic shatterproof lenses that have the ANSI Z87.1-2010 rating, which makes them great for a day on the range, real world tactical work or any other activity which requires high performance safety glasses. The lenses are also polarized which neutralizes glare and enhances clarity.
The lenses on both pairs are also coated in a special anti-scratch coating to help protect the lenses against the abuse of being thrown in a bag or and other action which could scratch the lenses. Both pair of glasses come with a soft bag for storage that also doubles as a lens cloth.
I thought that both pairs are very comfortable to wear for extended periods of time and did not make my eyes feel fatigued for any reason. However, I personally liked the Desert Roadhouse pair over the Commander. The Commander features a more curved temple pieces that make it difficult to put on the top of your head when your sunglasses are not needed. Also, when I received my shipment of glasses one of the temple pieces was loose and moved freely and the other was tight. Even after attempting to tighten the screw I was unable to fix the problem, which I found annoying considering the price of the glasses.
Overall, Both pairs are high quality and do an excellent job of protecting your eyes.
You can see the full line of Emerson eyewear on their website
Author – Cameron Paidousis is a former Police Officer and is a current member in the Air National Guard where he serves in Security Forces. For his civilian job he works as security contractor for the U.S. Government. When not working he enjoys spending time with his family along with kayaking, hiking, and traveling.
