Editor’s Note: These may not be legal in all 50 states. Check your state’s driving laws before using these while moving.
Up until 2019, we flew our four-passenger airplane some 250+ hours per year for business. Then we traded in those three wheels for six and slowed down. There’s nothing worse than flying east in the early morning or west facing the afternoon glaring sun for hours with little sunshade protection. It’s more prevalent if you’re short, since sun visors don’t always shield your line-of-sight vision – whether you’re in the seat of an airplane, vehicle, or motorhome. Movable sunshades are just the ticket.
Reduce glare, not vision
The automatic shades in motorhomes are great for front-facing glare, but sometimes quartering slivers of bright sunlight affect vision comfort for both driver and passenger. We found these sunshades more effective, especially on the middle of our Jeep front windshield, to reduce glare without impeding vision as the sun visors don’t extend far enough. Because they are so flexible, they fit well in curved windshields.
Place movable sunshades on any glass window
We started using collapsible sunshades more than six years ago. We picked up our sunshades at the Sun ‘n Fun Airshow in Lakeland, Florida, and have used them religiously since. Sunshades come in several forms and sizes. Some clip onto the bottom of the vehicle’s built-in visors. But that doesn’t dim the glare coming directly through the middle of the front windshield or the quartering front (both windshield and passenger side window). I’m relatively short and the seat in our Jeep Wrangler doesn’t raise in height so I deal with unwanted glare from time to time despite wearing sunglasses and a visor. Reducing glare without reducing visual acuity makes these easy to use.
Movable sunshades are easily obtainable
These are the ones we use. So, when you venture out for that early morning hike or trail ride and you’re traveling directly into the sun, borrow that sunshade or two and better navigate the ride.
Read this edited article published February 28, 2012 here: Block window glare with movable sunshades – RV Travel
We purchased additional window shades and keep them in the back side windows while traveling.
Kate Doherty has been writing for more than 30 years in technical and general media. In her previous business, she and her spouse dealt with special projects within the military/government sector. Recently she published Masquerade: A Logan Scott Novel under the pen name Bryan Alexander, a thriller now available in eBook and paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple iBooks. It’s a page-turner!