contacts or glasses???

[MEB]

A question for the visually impaired....

What do you do do on long backpacking trips, say a week or a month or more??? So far my overnighters have been at the most 2 nights so I have always brought both along with me and so far its been no big deal. But I'm wondering if it would be a big pain in the butt to deal with both on longer trips....I currenlty wear just the daily lenses that need to come out every night. I'm curious if any of you go with the extended contacts and if so how do they hold up??? Or would you just say the heck with bothering with the contacts and just wear your glasses???

thanks

-MEB

ps...I've considered the laser surgury to get them fixed but I'm just too squeemish for that!

 

[Mongoose]

I don't wear glasses while hiking anymore. They are a pain to keep clean, they are hard to wear under sunglasses or ski goggles, they get fogged/iced up in the winter... I wear one day disposable contacts now. It's hard to keep things clean in the woods so instead I throw the contact into the trash at the end of the day and put a new one in the next day.

Extended contacts have the problem of creating a possible eye infection which is why I don't use them. Most optometrists won't even prescribe them to me if I wanted them (I only have vision in one eye). The overnight contacts don't let the surface of your eye heal overnight. The problem with contacts in the woods is cleaning your hands before you take them out. Be sure to bring some good antibacterial soap before you touch your eye.

 

[cbcbd]

My longest backpack has been a week.
I have been wearing contacts for 15 years, glasses for 19. I
never liked dealing with glasses and was very happy to get contacts... so to me wearing my day contacts during long hikes is no problem, as long as I can keep my contact-handling fingers clean or at least acceptable. I still carry my glasses for night time (I am dangerously blind without them) or just in case of emergencies (also another pair of contacts).

As a contact user I use a small amount of contact solution, so one little bottle will last me weeks, one big bottle will last me months.
I could not imagine wearing glasses while active - the loss of peripheral vision, my sweat getting on the lenses, rain getting on the lenses, having to constantly clean them, greater possibility of breaking them - many of the reasons why I never liked glasses in the first place.

 

[Sugarloafer]

This is a good topic. I normally wear progressive bi-focals with Transitions lenses (work etc.) and I also wear them hiking, regardless of the distance and have no problems. However, I do wear contacts (just the distance prescription) when I ski, because the OTG ski goggles just don't seem to work for me. This necessitates me carrying reading glasses with me when I'm skiing. While hiking, I just don't want to deal with cleaning, reading glasses etc., so I just wear my glasses. I know lots of folks who have had Lasik surgery and swear by it, which is what I'll probably do when I'm done writing college tuition checks for my kids !!

 

[JohnL]

I use contacts exclusively even on extended backpacking or camping trips. Glasses are such a pain (personal opinion). Certainly you need to be more fastidious about hand cleanliness with the contacts. I put them in and take them out every night. Take a couple extra pairs just in case.

JohnL

 

[chomp]

I wear daily contacts but I soak them at night and get a couple of weeks out of them. In general, I wear them until my eyes start to hurt. You would be shocked (SHOCKED!) to know that chemically, there is VERY little difference between dailys, weeklys and monthlys. My uncle is an eye doc and he told me about a class action lawsuit against one of the big companies because there were selling three kinds of contacts... and there were all the same.

Anyway, as for backpacking, I took daily contacts with me on the AT. And I would get a couple of weeks out of each set. I always carried a few spares just in case. Its not really that much of a pain unless it is very cold out, because then your fingers don't work too well and you end up poking yourself in the eye a lot.

I would REALLY stay away from the extended wear contacts. I have heard nothing but bad things about them, and I personally had a very bad experience wearing them on a week-long backpack in Wyoming. Fortunately, I brought along my regular contacts as well. Here is the proof:

http://gallery.backcountry.net/chompwindriver/agf

One thing you could try is the new Orthocaratonology (sp - snafu), or just Ortho-K. I wore these with good results, but in the end my eyes were a bit too dry. They are hard contacts and you wear them at night. In the AM, you pull them out and your eyes are "re-molded" for the day. Some people can get a few days of good vision before they have to put them back in again. And while Ortho-K vision has its drawbacks for indoor/office situtations, it works great outside. (LONG story, but talk to you doc for a full explination ).

Hope this helps!

 

[Ridgewalker]

When hiking I use contacts for the hike and switch to glasses in camp on en route to home. As one said glasses can fog up easily and having contacts reduces fogging. The longest I've been on trail was for ten days. I was backpacking out in New Mexico in the Sangre de Christo Mountains. The trip was located at Philmont Scout Ranch. During this trip I was wary of the high altitudes and my contacts. One afternoon the contacts dried out and was obliged to remove them. So for anyone going up in hig altitudes do take plenty of liquid for the contacts. While backpacking I take the contact case, spare set of lenses, and a small bottle of solution. These are kept in a baggy, because the bottle tends to leak and is a smellable in bear country. Anyone here use a bottle that does not leak?

 

[Halite]

I will wear contacts or glasses as my primary eyewear, depending on the trip and my mood, and usually carry the other as a backup.

I've managed to have issues with both. One time, I wore contacts and thought I had packed my glasses as a backup. But when I woke up early the next morning to hike to a sunrise view, I discovered that I had packed neither my glasses, nor a mirror to put in my contacts. Hiking in the dark without corrective eyewear in the Catskills, I was doing a fine Magoo impression . I've also had a branch fling my glasses off my face into the snow on a bushwack--once again as it was getting dark--making it almost impossible to find my frameless specs.

So I definitely bring backup now, wear a keeper cord with my glasses, try to remember a mirror for the contacts and still wonder if I should get lasik. Or try Giggy's solution

 

[cbcbd]

I discovered that I had packed neither my glasses, nor a mirror to put in my contacts.

A long time ago I learned to put contacts without using a mirror.
Put contact on finger; look down; look at finger; bring finger closer, keep looking at finger, bring closer and closer to eye until BAM! Contact!
After that I never understood why it was taught to use a mirror when you can just look at your finger and have dead-on aim.

At the same time I also started putting 1-2 drops of solution in the lenses as I was putting the contact on - it cleans it out a bit and gives your eyeball a refreshing feeling when you put it on.

 

[GlennS]

I gave up on glasses. One November day on a very cold and windy trip to Eisenhower, one of my lenses fell out. I looked down to find the lens that fell out and when I looked up, the other lens got hit by blowing ice and completely froze over. Mr. Magoo had nothing on me. To top it off, my overpants fell down around my knees. I was in a real fix as I was very nearsighted, was holding the lens that fell in one hand, pulling up my pants with the other and struggling to stay on my feet in the high winds. Thankfully, I was with good people who helped me through my issues.

I decided there and then to overcome my fears and get the laser correction. I went from not being able to see any of the letters on the chart to reading to the 20/20 line. Needless to say, I have been very happy with the outcome.

 

[SilentCal]

I use Ciba Vision Night and Day. I can usually get a month out of them without taking them out. I will sometimes pull them out for a night and let them soak overnight and then just pop them back in. Usually, before I head up to the Whites for more than a week, I toss my old pair out and put in a fresh pair. I'm lucky though. They are not for everyone. I had to try out several different brands before I settled into this one. I most often lose them while either swimming, in the shower or when I am sweating a lot. Head sweat is my biggest worry for losing them while hiking but I've only lost them once while doing so.

If I did a trip for a week, I would be comfortable with two spares pairs in my first aid kit. If you bring your glasses, make sure you have a hard case for them. I would wear my contacts over glasses simply because your peripheral vision is so much better.

 

[DougPaul]

Sounds like I am in the minority...

I just wear glasses with plastic lenses all the time. While they can ice, they have protected my eyes from wind, chemical splashes, dust, tree branches, etc. I can frequently avoid using my goggles when others use them.

Doug

 

[Mike P.]

The way I perspire, glasses don't work. I'm in contacts, I just need a small mirror to put them in, none for taking them out. I wear weekly or biweekly but my eyes don't gunk them up much so I often go a couple of months at a time, taking them out each night. I can get by with very small multi-purpose & a bit bigger saline.

(I'm not an ultra-light type guy.) Glasses for night time & the drive home.

 

[Clown]

I wear contacts most of the time, but for backpacking trips so far, I have worn my glasses. I have a hard time taking them out/in while using a tiny mirror. I really hate when my glasses fog up, but I have been in a few situations, below 0 or high winds that I am glad I didn't have contacts in.

 

[daxs]

I wear glasses exclusively. Can't stand the hard lenses and can't correct my vision well enough with soft lenses. I am too near sighted for LASIK or PRK. My eye doc also refuses to prescribe the extended wear. says the lenses need to come out every night. I've learned to deal with fogging issues by using an antifog solution I use in my dive mask and by layering and delayering so as not to overheat. My glasses usually fog when I am too hot. I also changed the type of hat I wear in the winter. Unless its unbeleiveably cold, I wear one of those OR sombrero hats. And in the rain, I wear a hat with a brim. Its not ideal but most of the time it works.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I don't like the idea of putting things in my eyes, so I don't wear contacts. I'll wear my glasses, and when they fog too much, I simply put them in my pocket.

It sometimes works out pretty good. When the snow is fresh and deep, my glasses fog up from working so hard. When I take them off, I can't see well enough to lead the way, so it gets me out of trailbreaking.

I suckered Timmus into breaking trail almost all the way up redfield by taking off my glasses and telling her that I couldn't see where the path went.... And she fell for it! uhhhh... Don't tell her I said that.

 

[McRat]

When I got my stick-in-the-eye corneal abrasions on Waumbek in March of 2005, Pete Hickey was there to sympathize. I told him, "It's OK, I got another."

He interjected, "DON'T SAY THAT. I said the same thing and then I scratched the other". He proceded to tell me the story of his walk out and subsequent doctor visit. After hearing his story, I felt much better about the prospect of my eye healing.

If anyone asks what purpose our axe-wielding friend has served in this world (aside from his hiking adventures and single-handedly advancing research in the bearded sciences), he made a guy who just took a stick in the eye LAUGH about the experience - and warned me to keep moving less the adrenaline wear out. Thanks Pete! It was, as you know, excellent advice.

That aside, for those like us who require prescription lenses, but aren't keen or willing on contacts - I think found a great option.

Adidas eyewear. I've ordered a pair of Adidas Evil-Eye sunglasses. It is a sunglass with attachable strap, rx-able inserts, and interchagable lenses from clear to serious darkness. Given my now legendary verbosity, I suppose you can look forward to a gear review sometime soon.

http://www.adidas.com/eyewear/homesite/index.asp Click on 'outdoor'

Even if they'd look ridiculous with clear lenses and RX inserts - I'd rather not scratch my eyes again. It's been thirteen months and today I woke up in pain again thanks to recurring corneal erosion syndrome. When you have to ask your co-workers to drive you in, you'll know what I mean...

 

[Lawn Sale]

Like Doug, Pete, and Mr McRat, I only have glasses at the moment. I used to wear contacts, but they found I built up severe calcium deposits in one eye, so they'd bother me at the end of the day and require a stiff cleaning. But, that was years ago and I haven't tried any of the new ones that are out.

I also used to have a problem with them folding up and getting lost in my eye, which really sucked. Swimming, sports, and high winds were murder on my eyes with the contacts.

While I hate glasses, I'm blind without them, so they are necessary evil. I also find I don't need goggles most of the time, and didn't even own any until this year. The glasses do fog often, but I have been trying a few anti-fog products and will let people know when I find the magic one.

I bring a spare set of glasses, prescription sunglasses to be exact, while hiking. I keep them in a bulletproof case that floats, so I know they're OK. For anything on the water I wear some floatable croakies, so there is no possibiity of losing them under the water.

I was just about to have my eyes tested and was going to revisit the contact issue again. I am also going to order some Julbo prescription glacier glasses for next winter.

 

[Sugarloafer]

I am also going to order some Julbo prescription glacier glasses for next winter.

I've seen these on some website (forget right now which one) and they looked pretty good. Anyone here have any experience with them ?

 

[sli74]

I own a pair of non-prescription Julbo glasses and I love them, they are very comfortable and fit real well. Someone on our Rainier team last year was talking about getting the prescription pair, might have been Yvonne, maybe whoever that was will chime in.

sli74