Do you bring spare glasses/contacts?

With eyes that bad...I'd advise taking a spare set. Hard to meet your needs when everything looks all blurry...

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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
Just like your AMEX Card (don't leave home without em'). I always have a spare pair handy in a hard case. Other good tag alongs are;

1. Quality Leash like Chums or Croakies
2. Shades (even Clip-Ons are better than nothing)
3. Tiny Screwdriver
4. Lense Cloth & Cleaning Fluid

Make sure your glasses are in good shape before you leave (if possible). Most of your better optical shops will clean and adjust your glasses for "free" periodically.

Good luck.
 
Not only do I keep a spare set with me but when travelling or going TDY I take 2 sets of MC2P glasses, 1 BC clear and 1 BC sunglasses along with my every day glasses. I'm as blind as a bat without them so I try and be prepared if/when they break.

I tried wearing contacts once on a TDY to the PI. Got a bad eye infection and had to stop wearing contacts for a month or so. Now I will not wear them any more on any TDY.
 
jrf: I also share your need for glasses, as well as the same initials.

I once had to wear contacts on a walk in the woods for three days without any way to refresh them, other than spit (mine of course). This was back in the day when contacts had to be taken out and cleaned every day. When I was able to take them out it felt like my whole eye was coming out.

Since then, I have restricted myself to glasses only while in the field, with a spare as backup. I also invested in a near-indestructable pair of titanium-framed glasses since the military-issue glasses broke too often (you look butt-ugly in them as well). The "Hi-Speed" glasses are acceptable for use, IMO, in the military because of their stronger/more flexible construction.

For civilians, get titanium with plastic lenses or a pair of sports glasses. Sure, plastic scratches easier than glass, but it doesn't break as easy either.

Ideally, fix your eyes with laser surgery and free yourself from depending on corrective lenses.
 
I too have the same issues with glasses. I carry a spare pair of glasses and also precription sunglasses with me. Its a pain in the neck, but definitly better than flying blind. I have found the new titanium frames to be GREAT!! Flexible, light, not as hot as plastic. Between poly carbonate lenses and the titanium frames lofe wearing glasses has been made a lot easier.

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Lee

LIfe is too important to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde
 
I used to wear glasses. One eye was almost blind. I got a piece of shrapnel in one eye in VN.... that was the good one!

I went to an eye doc several years ago and she declared that I'd had "traumatic RK" the steel had sliced the eye just enough to correct my vision in that eye.

I had her do the other eye. Now I use glasses to read but I can watch an Eagle fart a mile away. I have trouble threading a needle without glasses but in the woods I make "VC" glasses and I can do just about anything.

Ron

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Learn Life Extension at:

http://www.survival.com ]
 
I wear disposable contacts. For either military duty or just in the woods, I start out with a new pair in, I also take one or more additional pairs (don't need cases or solutions), and a pair of glasses.

I don't wear the Army's glasses anymore--even though they're free. My wife called them "birth control glasses!" I couldn't get near her with them on. 'nough said.

Bruce Woodbury
 
Never... I aspire to walk off a mountain by accident one day. *L*

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When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.

 
A few years back before I had RK, I had really bad eye sight. After stepping on my glasses one too many times in the middle of nowhere I decided I'd never go on another wilderness trip again without a second pair of glasses. Talk about how to ruin a trip!

My sight is still not 20/20,(it's better than it was) so I still bring a second pair whenever I'm out for any length of time.

Karen

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Hoods Woods
http://www.survival.com
 
Karen,

What is 'RK'?

Also, what could I use to avoid fogging of the glasses and make them more water repellent (rain dropps running down, not sticking to it)? I am thinking of some solution not necessarily restricted to survival (example: talon would make it more repellent but might blur vision slightly...).

Furthermore, has somebody got some experience with glasses similar to the ones worn by skiers on top of prescription glasses? I am talking about the ones used by Rommel's Africa Corps and also in the Desert Storm.

Any input is welcome.
Thanks,

HM

 
Rk is short for "Radial Keratotomy" (sp)? Ron and I both had the procedure. They use a very sharp diamond to cut and flatten the outer layer of your eye to improve your sight. They can never guarantee that you'll have 20/20 vision, but they can really improve it tremendously. It worked great for us. I still wear glasses to read, but can go without them and get along fine if I have to. My favorite part, besides being able to see better was that they gave me a whole 2 days worth of demerol. Yeah....
smile.gif


We had that done a few years ago. Now another popular method of correcting vision is with a laser instead of the diamond. The doctors I've talked to claim it's more accurate than using the diamond. If your vision is really bad - I would strongly recommend either of these procedures. It's really a miracle that they can correct vision like this.

As far as fog on your glasses goes - there's a anti-fogging lense cleaner that I've only seen in snow ski shops that was developed to put on snow goggles to stop the snow, rain from sticking to the lenses and to stop fog from forming on the inside of the goggles. I can tell you it works great! I can't remember the exact name of it - but if you go into any place where they sell ski stuff - just ask the sunglass/goggle clerk for "anti-fogg" cleaner for your goggles. Any good ski shop should have it. It will work on glasses too.

Karen

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Hoods Woods
http://www.survival.com
 
Hi Karen,

Thank you very much for the detailed and quick response. I'll look around in the area for the anti-fog coating stuff.
Thanks again,

HM
 
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