Why did my Flak 2.0 XL break...!?!?

[Farrealm]

Does anyone know why my Oakleys could have broken like this?

It's a pair of Flak 2.0 XL, about two years old and directly purchased from the Oakley website. A few weeks ago one of the arms fell off and I noticed that on one side a small piece of plastic just above the hinge had snapped. It was still attached by a small layer of plastic but eventually fell off. A week later the same happened on the other side.

Now... I have broken plenty of Oakleys over the years but usually by something like dropping a backpack on top or riding across them on my mountain bike. Never have they spontaneously fallen apart. This was my sort of good / careful pair. Mainly for in the car, never dropped, good condition, no scratches, and to so. There doesn't seem to be any reason for why they would have broken, especially on the inside of the frame and on both sides..!?

I contacted Oakley customer service (Australia) and they were like "that's unusual... we will send it to our "management team"... here's a 20% discount on your next order". Not very helpful and still no clue as to why they broke.

 

[Patient_Cero]

You wear your glasses on top of your hat?

 

[TNGoldbeard]

I’ve never seen that before. Sure they were never out of your possession?

 

[Atticus]

I'm gonna blame the communists!

 

[Broccoli]

Are you sure that they are real?

 

[Farrealm]

You wear your glasses on top of your hat?

Ah... yeah... I can see how that could be the issue. I don't often wear them on my hat but sometimes with a hat where the arms just sit slightly on top of the hat fabric. I guess this would stretch the frame and put some outward pressure on the hinge. I can see how that would not help, especially as it happened on both sides. I have done the same with other Oakleys but the Flak 2.0 frame seems a bit more of a tight fit so the perhaps more easily broken in this way. You'd think the hinge would be strong enough, especially as at some stage the arms needed to be pushed into the frame... but I guess over time and with enough repeats things break. Thanks replying!

 

[TNGoldbeard]

Ah... yeah... I can see how that could be the issue. I don't often wear them on my hat but sometimes with a hat where the arms just sit slightly on top of the hat fabric. I guess this would stretch the frame and put some outward pressure on the hinge. I can see how that would not help, especially as it happened on both sides. I have done the same with other Oakleys but the Flak 2.0 frame seems a bit more of a tight fit so the perhaps more easily broken in this way. You'd think the hinge would be strong enough, especially as at some stage the arms needed to be pushed into the frame... but I guess over time and with enough repeats things break. Thanks replying!

I’ve still never seen a newer frame just break, especially on both sides. That’s more of a Costa issue.

More pics of glasses? Pic of Sku number?

 

[Farrealm]

Are you sure that they are real?

I sure hope so... I directly ordered from Oakley online. They have the red USA made logo but then again they were shipped from China... to Australia... The SKU seems fine and the lenses (prizm polarized) are definitely good enough to be real...

 

[Farrealm]

I’ve still never seen a newer frame just break, especially on both sides. That’s more of a Costa issue.

More pics of glasses? Pic of Sku number?

SKU seems real. It's OO9188-B359, which matches other Flak 2.0 XLs (rose gold prizm polarized) I could find. They have the the 59 O 12 and 133 below (this O is the Oakley O). As you mentioned I probably just used them in the wrong way. Interesting thing is that it will still hold the arms in-place (with the top hinge bit broken off) even when putting some outward pressure on the arms (like wearing them on a hat). It seems that the most pressure you can put on this part of the hinge is by closing the arms and then forcing them down... but you'd have to do that on purpose... Ah well... I guess we will never know... one of life's "not so great" mysteries...

 

[TNGoldbeard]

SKU seems real. It's OO9188-B359, which matches other Flak 2.0 XLs (rose gold prizm polarized) I could find. They have the the 59 O 12 and 133 below (this O is the Oakley O). As you mentioned I probably just used them in the wrong way. Interesting thing is that it will still hold the arms in-place (with the top hinge bit broken off) even when putting some outward pressure on the arms (like wearing them on a hat). It seems that the most pressure you can put on this part of the hinge is by closing the arms and then forcing them down... but you'd have to do that on purpose... Ah well... I guess we will never know... one of life's "not so great" mysteries...

Can we get a pic of that?