Oakley Eye Jacket carbon upgrades
I have a sizable collection of Oakley Eye Jackets and like to use them as everyday sunglasses. Many collectors wont wear them because of their famously fragile arms, but the arms are actually quite strong and generally fail from fatigue rather than impact. Regular use only makes this situation worse so I came up with a solution to keep my collection in use despite Oakley discontinuing support for the model.
To the right is my everyday pair of Fuel/Gold Iridium Eye Jacket 1.0 glasses in the original design with squared hinges and integral O's (the first of many revisions described as the "1.0"). If you look very carefully you can spot the carbon fibre tow extending along the arm from under the earsock. This pair were given a matt finish to the epoxy but it can be left glossy with the fibres picking up the light.
This ivory pair with VR50 lenses show off the carbon even more. They also broke their hinges and have had them glued in the open position, reinforced of course with yet more carbon fibre on the inside of the hinge (visible in the background) where tension forces are present.
This work only holds off the inevitable and removing the stress concentration in the arm where the earsock begins only pushes the forces elsewhere. After several years the frames develop fatigue cracks in their orbits, which are then themselves patched with more carbon (images coming soon). And the repairs themselves have to be replaced every couple of years as the epoxy degrades under the earsocks and the constant flexing of the flexible frames under the stiff FRP slowly peels the adhesion between the two. I have a black pair with carbon on the arms and both above and below the lenses on the orbits, they are already on to their third rebuild.
Unobtanium not just in the earsocks, but they're worth it.