Has anyone done a thru-hike that wears contacts?

[HukeLeater]

First off, my eye sight is awful. my contacts are -3.5 (so you can compare my blindness to yours if you wear contacts)
I just want to hear stories of people that have worn contacts while doing a thru-hike.
I wear daily contacts (throw away a pair every night) I'm wondering if I should invest in contacts that you can wear for up to two weeks at a time w/o having to take them out. I have taken multiple trips for 4-5 days at a time and putting my contacts in isn't that big of a deal but if I plan on hiking for about 6 months strait I can see it being a problem. I took a three day trip in freezing temperatures and the contacts actually froze, which really sucked.

As of now I plan on taking a few weeks worth of contacts and mailing out packages periodically to pick up in towns.

I am just wondering if anyone has stories of what they wish they did with their contact situation while hiking the trail.

PS-I have never worn glasses before and do not plan to

Thanks in advance!

[Hikes in Rain]

-3.5?? Geez, you have eagle eyes! Mine is -7.5; I'm free to make whatever I want of the world beyond a few inches!

Sure, lots of people hike with contacts. As you know, all it takes is hand washing. If you can manage it for many four or five day trips, as you say (and I certainly believe you, since I do it, too), then you certainly can keep it up for a thru. Carry your prescription, carry a spare pair of lenses (or more), consider carrying glasses as a triple redundancy backup. I know, glasses suck. I grew up in them.

Regarding hand washing, I like to use a little wash basin I made from the bottom half of a plastic gallon jug. My cook kit fits inside it, so it doesn't take up extra space, it's close enough to weightless as to make no difference, and can be used to gather water at a slow spring, so it's mufti-purpose.

And cold contacts will wake you up faster than a cup of strong coffee with a double shot of espresso! Frozen? Brr! I bring mine into the bag with me when it's that cold.

[HukeLeater]

Wow, -7.5? I thought I was blind haha.
And thank you for the reply, it makes me feel a lot better about having to wear contacts.
And cold contacts do wake me up quick, its actually a good feeling in some sort of way.
Thanks again, I appreciate it!

[BCPete]

My wife & I both wear contacts and always have during our backpacking trips ... anything from 2 to 10 days.

We hike in northern BC & Alaska ... sometimes with temps going down to -10C (which I think is about 10F). We've never had our contact solution freeze up. We have a kit bag that we store the personal products in, and that always in the tent with us. Enough heat is usually generated inside the tent that we've never had a problem with freezing. I can't imagine having this problem when we do our AT thru in 2015. Even if it did get cold enough in the tent, the simple solution is to put that kit bag in one of our sleeping bags - problem solved.

We have daily wear contacts that we both use up to two to three weeks per pair - then we toss them. We don't wear them at night. They hold up fine as long as your hands are reasonably clean when taking them out or putting them in.

Our only planned deviation for the AT (over what we do for our backpack trips up here) is that we'll probably carry at least 3 months worth of contacts instead of just one backup pair in our first aid kit. Of course, we have our glasses along for the evening & early morning camp hours - so that's our redundancy system. We don't plan on mail dropping contacts more than just 1x on the AT - we'll carry the extras b/c they really don't have any real weight to them - and they are just too vital to the hiking that we are willing to add this small extra weight for the duration of the thru-hike.

[Hikes in Rain]

I loved in Alaska for seven years back in the '70's. Wore contacts there, as well. (In fact, I'm more comfortable hiking without my pants than without my contacts.) Subzero temps and air dryer than a desert did give me some issues with comfortable wear.

[Hikes in Rain]

Um, I LIVED up there, too.

[Sugarfoot]

I was -9.25 and wore extended wear contacts until I had LASIK surgery 12 years ago. A mail drop didn't come and I went into the Presidentials without a spare pair. The wind was bad and I had to resort to using spit to clean them. That's what persuaded me to have the surgery. Even though you don't wear glasses, consider having a pair with you, just in case.

[Pumba]

Regarding hand washing, I like to use a little wash basin I made from the bottom half of a plastic gallon jug. My cook kit fits inside it, so it doesn't take up extra space, it's close enough to weightless as to make no difference, and can be used to gather water at a slow spring, so it's mufti-purpose.

+1

I would suggest bringing several pairs. I've not done a through, but when I go on multi-night trips, I carry several pairs plus eyeglasses. It's nice to take the contacts out at the end of the day and give your eyes the rest, and yet still be able to see.

[Homosassa]

I wear Cooper Vision 30 day pro clear disposable. I don't touch them for any reason but take re-wetting drops. I was always afraid to not clean them but found that the less I mess with them the better they felt. I would check with your optometrist first but I have had great results with 30 day disposable lenses.

[Different Socks]

I did my PCT/CDT/CT and many other long hikes with contacts. Always carried abottle of cleaning fluid, always took them out every night, and carried glasses to wear when contacts not in. Doing a hike with contacts is no problem. Just carry a large signal mirror to use for putting in/taking out.

[Firefighter503]

I always wear contacts when I backpack - glasses while hiking doesn't work for me. I just wore my contacts on the trail, and when I went into town and was able to wash my hands well, I woud give my eyes a rest for a couple of hours, or a day. Skip the mirror too IMO, if you have been wearing them for any length of time - no need.

[JybbaGirl]

I wore the 30 day extended wear contacts and used re-wetting drops each morning when I woke up to give them a fresher feeling. Each pair usually lasted 35-40 days and I carried 5 spare pairs of contacts with me (enough for the whole hike) plus my glasses. Contacts are light enough that I never noticed the extra weight and I didn't bother carrying solution, just the eye drops.