looking for a recommendation. I run on a on the sidewalk of a pretty busy road and at night the headlight from oncoming traffic is quiet annoying. Does anyone have a suggestion for glasses or what to look for?
Night vision with oncoming headlights is basically the worst lighting scenario for your eyes. Yellow or light amber lens is really your only option. The risk to any tinted lens is your reducing the information that can reach your eyes when there aren’t on coming headlights.
If you do get them try and also try and find them with anti-reflective. Headlights hitting a non-AR lens will cause the light to scatter across the front surface of the lens causing halos which could make things worse. Anti-reflective will reduce or eliminate that issue.
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I’ve been wearing a baseball cap (with my headlamp mounted over it). For oncoming cars with hi beams, I pull the brim down to block the headlights.
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I suffer from scintillating scotoma, and whilst the problem is different, the solution is probably the same. Chat gpt frecommended I run with a cap and use jumbo reactiv 0-3 sunglasses. It has worked wonders. Other brands with similar specs might work just as well.
The thing is this lenses ready very fast to changes in light conditions, and are sufficiently clear to use with low light conditions.
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Being the smart-ass that I am, I would say “find someplace else to run” but that’s probably zero helpful
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Finding a location where it’s not night at that time would require extensive travel.
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Strongly agree w ppl above that a ball cap, and eyes down when needed, is your best bet.
Adding to that: Polarized lenses will kill the glare bouncing off cars, windows, etc. Yellow lenses highlight contrast and do a pretty mind-bogglingly great job at making rocks, gravel, stones, cracks, contour / dips & bumps, etc, all really pop. I never ride after dusk wo them.
Polarized yellow is the way to go.
Sunglasses are not worth $100 - 300, period. It’s price fixation & market control. I’ve worn $ 300 top brand glasses and ski goggles, and $ 20 - 75 of same. Don’t spend $ 5 - 15, clarity will be bad, but don’t spend >$ 100, either. They do get scratched in the first few rides, it’s almost inevitable. So you are going to need to replace them, way more often than you want to drop $ 100 - 300.
Polarization on below is a solid 7.5 - 8.5 / 10.
Reco you order two different glasses and compare. Possibly from other sources. Some “polarized” lenses are just plain lying, and you’ll see it, instantly.
“Long Keeper Night Vision Sunglasses Polarized Glasses for Driving for Men Women”
https://www.amazon.ca/Vision-Sunglasses-Polarized-Glasses-Driving/dp/B06XK1DG6T?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1
[ Edit, before the ST lawyers eat me: I am not saying there is zero difference btwn $ 20 and $ 300 lenses. Sometimes there can be; the image can be clearer. I have found a few cheap pairs of glasses w zero detectable difference.
But we’re talking 8 - 9 / 10 vs. 10 / 10, and I’m not giving anyone > $100 for that difference, that will get scratched in the first few rides, and now the clarity doesn’t rly matter; the scratches have functionally equalized the visibility btwn the two. ]
#TFLDNR response Polarizes lenses for reducing on coming headlight glare at night are not recommended.
More detailed response if interested.
There’s a lot of misperception about polarized and when they are beneficial. Opticians tend to just say polar is best because for non specialty scenarios like sports it has a ton of benefit and is almost always the best sun solution. Polar lenses are great for when you are in an environment when light is reflecting off flat surfaces such as road glare, snow glare and lake/ocean glare. But they are actually detrimental when seeing the contrast in shadows (potholes, roots on a trail, raised sections of sidewalks, snow moguls) is critical. So in sport polar can be fantastic, but it can also be a hinderance. Cycling non-polar is safer but if you’re highly sensitive to glare it can be worth it. If running on pretty even surfaces polar is beneficial, but not for trail running. Even skiing if you are mogul skiing you should absolutely not wear polar, but for a recreational skier they are almost always going to be better.
In the OPs case even a grade 1 polar yellow (lowest shade of color saturation) would be detrimental because it would not only reduce visible light when not being lit by oncoming traffic it would reduce shadows making it more likely to trip and be injured.
LOL ! Fair; that’s a clean hit on me ! 
Was trying to provide info for OP / others.
I know and everything you mentioned above, and have zero misconceptions w what “polarized” is, how it works, etc. And agree w most of what you said.
Strongly disagree on polarized in low light, though: As you mentioned; it’s use is to kill glare off surfaces; cars, windows, signs, etc. I love wearing them at night for glare.
While contrast takes a minor hit, the yellow boosts that. Yellow polarized at dusk is like hyper - vision. Have tested yellow non - polarized side by side; you see vastly better detail w polarized, and the glare being gone.
You make an excellent point though; yellow polarized are for dusk and low light. For dead - dark / very low light, you do want clear. As you said; now you’re taking away the last of the valuable visible light.
Wondering if clear polarized are available. No experience.
Agreed, brown/yellow/amber polarized lenses for every day activities at dusk are fantastic. They provide great contrast and don’t block so much visible light to be obtrusive so you can wear them later into dusk.
No, clear polar lenses don’t exist. They are a filter applied to the surface of the lens. That’s where things like Oakley’s PRISM lenses come into play. While not a clear substitute for polar they are working with how color is applied to the lens to create some of the similar effect as polar without the true polar effect(still though they are a tint and reduce visible light).
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