The Liry Review

The premium feature of many Julbo models is the Reactiv lens that adjusts its tint based on the amount of light received. These photochromatic lenses are not just a flashy gimmick, but an incredibly useful feature that bumps the versatility of these glasses to extremes. Julbo measures the reflectivity of their lenses from category 0 to 4, and these Reactiv lenses go from 0 to 3. I am not sure if category 4 is for things like welding, because as far as my sensitive little eyes can tell, category 3 is more than enough for scorchingly bright glacier snow and flashing rivers. With the lenses going all the way down to category 0, it means they work at a level with virtually no incoming light. I was able to throw these glasses on for alpine starts in the dead of night, with no moon to speak of, and had no issues staring at the glow of my headlamp for hours on the uphill. As dawn broke, there wasn’t a need to dig through my pack and pull out my sunglasses from their case. And as the day wore on, the lenses adjusted and the wrap-around sides kept my eyes safe from harsh rays reflecting off of snow.

Let's be honest, Julbo isn’t your everyday cheapo sunglasses that you pick up at the gas station. You pay a good bit more for these sunglasses, but compared to the cheaper ones you get exceptional build quality. No more tightening those miniscule hinge screws with your fingernail to keep them together, or gluing the nose pads back on after they come unstuck. No, the Julbo glasses all come with metal hinges, high end plastics/rubber, and bombproof joints between materials. In my short time with my new pair, and in my years with a similar old pair, I had zero degradation issues outside of normal wear and tear on the lenses. And on top of great construction, they also have thoughtful design. The frame of the Liry glasses focuses on proper ventilation to avoid fogging up. The center of the frame, over the bridge of the nose, has an open gap in it to facilitate airflow out of the top of your nose. I don’t know if my large nose added to the effectiveness of this feature but I found that I never fogged up in these glasses, even when steaming uphill with my buff over my face and sunhood up on a sunny day.

For the fit of these glasses we should probably talk about the elephant in the room, my large nose (pun intended). I have had issues with other manufacturer's sunglasses sitting far too high on my nose, but never a problem with any Julbo model. The Liry model comes with the adjustable nose arms that are comfortable and can be bent open or closed to adjust to your specific nose. Julbo also has ASIAN FIT versions of nearly all their models, including the Liry, which I am told work well with smaller noses, although I am largely removed from this issue (another pun). The arms of the Liry do not have any adjustment, but I found no problems here. I happen to have a large head size as well, and these glasses were firmly gripped on to the side of my head while trail running. Despite holding on tight as I moved around I had no headache from the arms even when pressed under my climbing helmet for 12+ hour stretches of the day, an issue that has often plagued me with cheaper sunglasses.

These glasses will be my new “everything” pair for all of my adventures, and it will likely be a rare sight to see me in the mountains without them for the next few years. I tested them on ski mountaineering missions where the breathability meant I didn’t fog on the skintrack, but the coverage meant my eyes weren't tearing on the ski downhill. For a cloudy ice climbing day, they work incredibly well as “safety” glasses for ice shards, where other sunglasses might be too dark to keep on. Even on a well forested trail run or mountain bike day where dappled light can bounce between too bright for bare eyes but too dark for regular lenses, these Reactiv ones adjust to perfectly in the middle.

With any pair of Julbo Reactiv sunglasses you should expect a top of the line build quality, accommodating fit, and intentional design choices. I’d honestly recommend any pair in their lineup if you are looking for quality, but the new Liry model works amazing if you want a model that helps to cut down on fogging and fits the look you like. The Reactiv lenses mean there is no light level where your sunglasses won't be appropriate or will get in your way, and you can have them on at literally any hour of the day. My only warning with glasses like these would be not to get them if you are someone who frequently loses glasses, because with glasses this good it would be a shame to drop them down a boulder field or forget them somewhere irretrievable. But if you are looking for a pair to throw on your face and forget they were ever on, you can’t go wrong here.