The main excuse people give for not buying quality sunglasses is usually this: “I always lose them, so I’m afraid to spend a lot.”

Hey, I’ve said the same thing myself in the past. (Ditto for expensive leather gloves and fancy umbrellas.) There’s nothing worse than losing something nice, as opposed to something cheap and crappy you don’t care about.

There’s one way to better the odds of holding onto good sunglasses though, or your real glasses if that’s the case. You can use an eyewear retainer from Chums. You hook something onto the stems that allows the glasses to hang around your neck. So on or off your face, they’re still on your person.

“But those things are so dorky” or “Do I look like a surfer?” I can hear you saying. Well, there are probably a lot more of these eyewear retainer styles than you thought. The past few weeks I’ve been using a new $10 model from Chums, the ultra light Orbiter. You can barely see them in that photo at the top. That’s because they’re made of very thin coiled wire. They weigh in at less than a gram. A gram! Little rubber nubs on the end stretch to go over the tips of any glasses stems. You forget they’re there until you need them and they’re inconspicuous.

There’s what they call a “halo effect” too, which means they extend a bit to the back and stay off your head. That’s good I guess, but maybe not if you’re trying to lean your head back on a beach chair or someone walks up behind you and gets a wire in the face. Being made of metal, the Orbiter can also get a bit chilly in the cold: better for summer than on the slopes.

If you want something more traditional, you can get other eyeglass retainers in cotton, rope, or neoprene. If you’re a surfer or kayaker, you can even get a floating version.

I also hooked up a kids’ version to the first pair of sunglasses my daughter has ever worn that are worth more than $10. So far she’s gone a month without losing them, which is close to a new record. A highly recommended $6 investment for your junior traveler(s). You gotta like their promise on the package too. It says “Proven to withstand 1) white water rafting, 2) 200 mph freefalls, 3) 10-year-old on sugar.

And here’s something you don’t see often on products retailing for a few bucks: “Home grown in the USA.”

See the whole line at Chums.com

Chums products at Amazon