Product Review: Costa Untangled Pescador

Costa Untangled Pescador

Sunglasses are so unbelievably important when hiking in the mountains. One second you may be in the shade of the forest and the next step, fully exposed to bright sun coming through thin air. I don’t do any hikes without a great pair of glasses anymore so I was really excited when Costa Del Mar sent me a couple of pair to test out. Costa is more of a boating and fishing line of sunglasses but with so many high altitude lakes and snow covered landscape reflecting the sun at me I thought they would be great for mountain hiking as well. First up on the review is the Costa Untangled Pescador sunglasses.

As a disclaimer I would like to mention that I was sent these glasses for the purposes of doing a review. All opinions on this page are my own and based on my own experiences with these glasses. This review is for general informational purposes. Your experience may be different.

The Untangled Line from Costa

I was so excited to try out a pair of the glasses from the Untangled line from Costa. The Untangled line uses recycled fishing nets to create the frames. According to Costa, “every year, an estimated 640,000 tons of discarded fishing material makes its way into our waterways. Discarded fishing nets are the most harmful form of plastic pollution in our oceans.”

Costa partners with a company called Bureo to turn the discarded fishing nets into viable materials. Each Untangled frame comes with frames made with 97-100% recycled materials. Costa is very popular in the fishing and boating world and it is great to see them give back and work to help clean the oceans. Great job Costa!

Direct from Costa on the Untangled Pescador

Before I get into my personal review of the Pescador sunglasses, I wanted to take a moment to tell you what Costa says about these glasses. About the Pescador, Costa says this, “Returning to the waters where they were born, the square design of the Costa Polarized Pescador larger sized frame will bring out the fisherman in you.”

Here are the stats and features directly from the website.

Price*

$209.00 USD

Frame Size*

134.5 mm across the front top

17 mm across the Bridge

55 mm lens width

46 mm lens height

140mm Temple Arm Length

Colors*

Frame: Net Light Gray, Net Gray with Blue Rubber, Net Gray with Gray Rubber

Lenses: Polarized Blue, Green, Gray (availability depending on what color frames)

Lens Features*

Costa 580® lenses

Costa 580® lenses were designed by in-house light spectrum experts to enhance colors because standard sunglass lenses fell short.

The lens’ multipatented technology

manages light by:

• Absorbing Harmful High-Energy Blue Light (HEV)
• Enhancing Reds, Greens, and Blues
• Filtering Out Harsh Yellow

Gender*

Unisex

*All information from Costadelmar.com

What I Liked

First and foremost I love the Costa Untangled do so much to help with the environment by using recycled fishing nets. That is such a cool project and I am so glad they are taking advantage of the technology. But that isn’t all that I liked! I also liked the durability, lenses, and build of the Costa Pescador. Here is a bit more detail about what I liked. I also would like to mention that these were samples and were a touch small for me so I my testing was bit limited. More on that later as well.

Durability

One of the first things I noticed about the Pescador is that they are put together really well. I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to recycled materials but these glasses are solid. They are a touch small for me and I really put the frames under pressure every time I put them on but they held shape and didn’t crack or bend. That was a feat in itself after being pushed to the limits by my giant sized melon.

I also store the Pescador in my hiking bag with nothing but the soft sleeve that they came with. Along with metal bottles of sunscreen, bug sprays, metal micro-spikes, knives and more crammed into the pack with them. I haven’t gotten as much as a scratch on the lenses and not a single dent in the frames after a half a dozen hikes of having them stuffed in the pack. I was really impressed with that.

Visibility

I think the Costa Lenses are second to none. The clarity is simply amazing. Each lens is polarized with options on which color is available. The polarization takes the glare and reflection off of water such as the high alpine lakes and even dulls the reflection coming off of the snow.

The lenses also filter certain colors while at the same time enhancing others to make the trees, grass and even rocks look sharper on each hike. I don’t know how this lens technology works but I am really blown away by the quality.

Recycled Material

I just wanted to touch again on the fact that these frames are made from recycled fishing nets. Earlier, I talked about it with the durability section and how much abuse the frames have taken in the few sessions I have had with these glasses. I also want to talk about how cool the glasses look. I was sent the gray frames but it isn’t a solid gray. You can see a little swirl in the pattern that makes them feel like they are more natural.

It almost looks like an imperfection and then you realize that the pattern goes through the entire frame and is a simple reminder that the glasses are made from recycled materials. The longer I looked at the swirl pattern the more it looked like a net in the water to me. I am not sure if that is done by design or just the nature of the material but I loved it!

Style

I am definitely a function over style guy and will never grace the cover of Vogue. But I really like the Costa Untangled Pescador style. The glasses have really, dare I say, sexy lines. They square off around the eyes have a high bridge that keeps them lenses in place.

The mirrored lenses also give that flash of style that I can barely pull off but love. I really enjoy the way I look while wearing these glasses. I have a rounder face and usually go with more of a wrap around style but actually feel very comfortable in these shades. Plus, I really like them on the trail and think I would look even cooler out on the ocean with them!

The smaller size and the squared off lenses did cause a little bit of a light leak to come through the sides of the glasses. Costa offers an option with side sun shields but I did not have them for this sample and am pretty sure they solve that problem.

What I Didn’t Like

As a blogger I have to find something I don’t like about each product or they take away my blogging card! While I love the concept of the Untangled Pescador and I really like Costa Sunglasses, the biggest problem with this pair of sunglasses is they were just a touch too small for my wide head.

No fault of anyone on this one. I was sent a sample of the shades and I have a gigantic head so they were just a little tight. I am not holding this against Costa at all, I just didn’t really want to break the glasses. If you have a big round head like me, I would suggest either trying this on first or checking the measurements on the website before ordering. Again, these were samples sent out for me to review and we didn’t do any sizing or measuring so no biggie.

Video Review of the Costa Untangled Pescador

For those of you who prefer a more visual approach to the review I have put together this quick video review. If you enjoy the review or any of my videos make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. It is free to subscribe and will give you updates to new content.

Wrap up of the Costa Untangled Pescador

I really loved these sunglasses and was so bummed when the samples were just a little bit too small for the enormity of my head. I absolutely love the fact that Costa is working with recycled products and helping to remove used fishing nets from the ocean with the Untangled line.

The Costa Untangled Pescador use the top-notch Costa lens system to keep and even enhance the views throughout. They help repel water and I have never had an issue with any fogging. Overall, they are a great pair of sunglasses. I just wish they came a touch bigger!

As Costa is mainly focused on fishing and boating. I thought it was important to test some of these and let some of my mountaineering friends know about them. We run into a lot of high altitude lakes, streams and glacier run off. Plus, a lot of reflective snow so having a pair of glasses that nullify that glare is important for every pack. Also, you can feel great about a product made from recycled fishing nets.

More Reviews from the Fatman

If you like this review, you can see other products I have reviewed on my Product Review Page. If you have any items you would like me to review or any comments feel free to email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com or you can follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!