Gatorz’s newest frame style is called the Marauder, and they look a bit like a full coverage Wayfarer style. Combining my go-to look with a wrap style frame that offers extreme peripheral vision, I got my hands on a pair immediately and put ’em through their paces up in North Idaho.
[EDIT: Gatorz has offered TTAG readers a 15% discount with coupon code TTAG15]
Made in the US of A from CNC machined 7075 aluminum and ballistic rated to the highest standards, I always liked and appreciated Gatorz but wasn’t a big fan of their high-speed-low-drag “Operator” style frames.
With the release of their Delta frames (seen on me in the pic above) there was a style that I loved wearing every day, and Gatorz have since become my favorite sunglasses. While I wear a lot of cheap-o sunglasses for fun, I also own or have owned Gargoyles, Oakleys, Ray-Bans, Smiths, and others and have never liked glasses more than I do my Gatorz.
These new Marauder frames have thinner temples and skinnier stems than Gatorz’s other styles, but still employ the same quadfecta of heavy-duty stainless steel hinges.
The length of the stems allow the Marauders to wrap far enough around behind my ears that they grip extremely securely to my head. Whether shooting around the lake at max speed on a jet ski, floating a river, or stealing a friend’s side-by-side to bomb up logging trails in the mountains, I never worried about the Marauders leaving my head. Even if I turned to look sideways while at 45 MPH.
After about four continuous hours of wearing them, however, I did find that the stems became uncomfortably tight at their tips on my large noggin. No problem, as custom adjustability is one of the really cool aspects of Gatorz frames. Machined from aluminum, the curve of the frame at the bridge and the curves of the stems can be adjusted by hand (instructions and tips HERE). Yeah, the 7075 is super strong, but with a firm grip and by flexing a little at a time, Gatorz can be perfectly adjusted to your unique and lopsided head.
Same, too, for the really comfortable nosepiece. With a metal core inside of grippy silicone, the nosepiece can be adjusted in all sorts of different directions to move your sunglasses up, down, in, and/or out.
Now, let it be known that I have long and luscious eyelashes. There are tons of sunglasses that simply don’t work for me because my eyelashes touch the lenses. There are few things more annoying. Given the Marauder’s wrap-around sort of style I was concerned they would fall in this camp, but surprisingly that wasn’t the case.
Even with the nosepiece adjusted very minimally and keeping the frames quite close to my face for as much coverage and protection as possible, my lashes don’t touch.
Thanks to the wrap style and relatively large lens real estate, the peripheral vision in the Marauders is awesome. I have alien-like peripheral vision (according to the tests for that at the optometrist’s office) and even I can barely see the edge of the frame anywhere in my vision. From one edge to the other, there’s no lens distortion that I am able to notice.
As you’d expect, protection from wind, spray, debris, and even dust is top notch. At full speed flying around the lake, my eyeballs were wind and water spray-free.
On the logging roads in the side-by-side, where it was so dang dusty that after I took my hat off it still looked like I was wearing a hat and everything on and around me looked like it had been antiqued with a thick layer of sepia-toned flour, the Gatorz kept wind and dust out of my eyes. ANSI Z87.1/MILSPEC ballistic lens ratings will keep the peepers safe from high velocity debris and fragmentation.
I chose polarized lenses for my Marauders, and, while looking down at the river we were about to float, the difference with and without the glasses on was absolutely massive. Without them looked significantly worse than in the cell phone photo above (I think the cell phone camera provides some anti-glare/polarization of its own). In particular, over the entire far half of the river I was entirely unable to see into the water due to the glare.
Holding the Marauders in front of my cell phone camera dramatically reduced the glare, but there’s some glare from inside of the lens now because of the gap between the phone and the glasses. This is definitely an imperfect example that was 10x more dramatic and effective in real life with the glasses actually going on my face. With the Gatorz on I could see into the water everywhere in the river; could clearly see the rocks, fish, etc. and there was a near-complete elimination of glare.
It was a good, relaxing day in the mountains of N’Idaho. With the Marauders on I was able to spot dozens of fish, two pairs of sunglasses, and some other objects on the bottom of the river that were entirely invisible without quality, polarized lenses on.
Unlike some other purpose-built sunglasses, I also like the relatively casual look of the Marauders and happily wear them out-and-about on daily activities. They provide full protection by fitting fairly closely to the face with a generous wrap-around and large frame size, yet they maintain a casual and cool aesthetic.
Between these Gatorz Marauder frames and my Delta frames, I’m ready for any activity. The optical clarity, polarization, protection level, massive adjustability, and Gatorz’s lifetime warranty are extremely hard to beat.
As a guy who has owned a couple of $500 cars that suited me extremely well and currently drives a 2012 minivan, I don’t take spending $160+ on a pair of sunglasses lightly. I’ve come to really love the Gatorz product, though, and if a high-end, high-performance pair of shades is on your list, Gatorz needs to be way up on that list, too.
Specifications / Available Features: Gatorz Marauder glasses
Frame Width: 139mm
Frame Height: 47mm
Nosepiece Height: 25mm
Nosepiece width (adjustable): 30mm
Temple tip to tip (adjustable): 125mm
Temple length: 112mm
CNC machined 7075-T6 aluminum frame
Stainless Steel Rivets Bond 4 Hinges to Frame
Adjustable Center Frame Width
Thin Adjustable Temples
Adjustable Silicone Nosepiece with Metal Core
MILSPEC Ballistic rated
Anti-fog coating
High contrast lenses
Scratch resistant coating
Polarized glare reduction
UV protection
Cerakote finish
MSRP: $160+ (polarized starts at $210) [coupon code TTAG15 for 15% off]
Ratings (out of five stars):
Overall * * * * *
I love these things. Top quality, made in America, fully adjustable fit, good looks, great protection. Gatorz are fantastic sunglasses.
Yeah I got a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses some years back from my brother. Absolute crap which deteriorated very quickly. I’m pretty happy with my solar shades & glasses my son gave me. El cheapo “as seen on tv”…yeah they kill glare too!
I’ll have to look at thos. I’ve always worn Ray Bans or Costa’s. Where I live a good set of sun glasses is EDC.
Nice, but over priced.
I was moderated for saying that!
For the hundredth time there’s no person here doing any moderation. TTAG is on WordPress and uses WP’s standard, automated content moderation with the standard settings to filter spam comments and some foul language. No idea why it seems to catch seemingly random things sometimes and misses seemingly obvious spam sometimes. But if you think there’s a human reading all the comments and deleting some, you’re way off base. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
They ain’t cheap, but I don’t think they’re overpriced. There are a zillion brands that are more expensive, lower quality, and not made in the US.
LOL…I miss the bad old daze.
Ill just wind up losing them or sitting on them.
“polarized starts at $210.”
Or you can just go to Walmart, Kmart, or any department store and get a pair of polarized fishing glasses for $19.99 that are every bit as good.
As for TTAG’s “automated content moderation,” those censorship bots block certain gunm-related content automatically. For example, you cannot say that a pistol or revolver was coc-ked or half-coc-ked, because the censorship bots think that c-o c-ked is a bad word, and it will be blocked. Instead, we have to say, “the revolver was half-roostered,” or “my 1911 pistol was roostered and locked.”
Can they make them in Rx lenses?
That was my first thought as well, and apparently yes:
https://prescription.gatorz.com/products/prescription-lenses-for-delta
Thank you Carlos! Nice to know. I vaguely remember those days when I didn’t have to wear corrective lenses *sigh*.
Mine’s pretty good after cataract surgery last year!
No problem! The only issue is, like pretty much all sunglasses, they’re single vision only, no progressive lenses. I’m at the point where it’s glasses off for close in, glasses on for the rest of the world.
Nice but I’ll stick with my $25 Skullerz safety glasses that have the same rating. I work in the oil industry and PPE can and will be mangled, crushed, partly melted….you name it. They tend to survive a couple years so it’s worth it to me to just buy a new pair. If you want polarized they’re like $45 now but used to be less.
Yeah if I knew I was going to destroy them I wouldn’t buy nice ones, either haha. I’ll wear cheap safety glasses at the indoor range or when running a lathe or whatever. But I also wouldn’t prefer to wear work style safety glasses out at a distillery or on a hike or on the lake or on the deck at a restaurant or something when I want to have more stylish sunglasses on. At least as a single guy haha
“Now, let it be known that I have long and luscious eyelashes. There are tons of sunglasses that simply don’t work for me because my eyelashes touch the lenses.”
Beard trimmers can keep long lashes a manageable length…
They look nice.
Hey, is that your Sherp? Killer.
I used to pay that kind of money for Serengeti 5603 Summit with the vermilion sedona glass lens, NON-polarized. Pilots hate polarized sunglasses and I’m a pilot. Of course all good things come to an end and Serengeti quit making them and only offered them in a style that was polarized.
Now I just buy mirrored polycarbonate safety glasses that function as sunglasses also.
Sunglasses are a high markup item and I’m not paying that idiotic price for a name.
I have found the Smith and Wesson Magnum 3G safety glasses to be a great value and fit for sunglasses at under $15 a pair.
They offer numerous tints and colors but sadly no polarized option. In recent years I find that I need something with a yellow tint while driving at night to deal with glare from opposite direction traffic. I would like to try something with yellow tint and polarization but can’t seem to locate anything. Suggestions would be welcomed.
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