fire dog--WELCOME!
i heard a rumor you might become a 'regular' on this forum.
if you've been wearing costas that long (same as me--since about 1987), then you are probably talking about the old Osprey model! man those were awesome glasses. ugly as a mud fence, but the best fishing glasses ever made. and back then they were still made in ormond beach. i had my first pair of ospreys for like 10 years. i didnt wear them that long, and had other pairs along with them. but man, they were indestructible. i finally traded them in to CDM for a new pair of some model or another. those crapped out. and the customer service manager there now--rebecca i think, has been with them all that time. she was just a rep back then, but if i ever needed something i could rely on her. no so much anymore. lol CDM has gone down down down hill for years--from the standard they set in the 80s and 90s. frame quality--how many pairs have i had that the rubber nose piece 'rotted', or the rubber on the temples came off. hinges stretching, hinges made with plastic too hard and crumbing and FOREVER the lenses delaminating. lenses seem to explode whenever they hit something, or something hits them. i have three pairs now in a drawer that the frames are broken or the lenses are broken. CDM wont warranty these, but they will replace at a 'fee' if you argue enough. i'll get around to sending them in sometime or another. the lifetime warranty is still by far the best thing going, and really the best thing about the glasses. pain to get them to honor it for 'free', and not try to charge $49 for a lens or other fee. it aint cheap, but they will work with you.
sounds like i'm bashing CDM, but honestly they are what i wear 7 days a week--on the water and off. as bad as i really would like to get away from them, there is no product on the market that can equal what these glasses do. i dont prefer the 580s, either the P or G, but i like the 400 lenses--i prefer the green mirror. my eyes work well with those in shallow water or in an offshore spread, on brite days or cloudy. ive been wearing them so long, they just work for me.
there is no close competitor that i know of. i wish there was. there is a new company that just popped up in florida called RCI (right coast independent?) that claims may be the new replacement for CDM. they are a US company in indiatlantic, fl. but the glasses are actually made in italy. is that worse than china or hong kong like CDM? i dunno. but these glasses are only for sale in a few places right now. havent had a chance to try them. i begged them for a free pair, but no dice. lol.
until i check these out, or something else better comes along and can beat CDM, i'll trundle along as part of the costa del mar saltlife club.
cheers.
drew