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View Full Version : Eyeglasses vs. rain/humidity etc.



2009ThruHiker
11-22-2005, 15:27
My wife and I did some rain hiking training yesterday and learned that with her glasses, this could become a significant problem... rain on the glasses, glasses fogging up, etc. Contacts are not an option and I'd imagine a wide brim hat directing the water elsewhere might help... but what are some other experiences with thru hikers who wore glasses on the trail?

Seeker
11-22-2005, 15:45
not a thru-hiker, but former soldier with LOTS of extended field time in all weather conditions... a hat definitely helps. since i live in LA now, with it's sun and bugs, i use my old desert floopy hat. i'm not really keen on rainjacket hoods, and my floppy hat will bend down enough to wear it when i have to. other folks find that a ball cap works well, even with the rain jacket hood up. like i said, YMMV, and the sun on my neck is more uncomfortable to me than any rain that might work its way under my hat and rainjacket... foggy glasses... sometimes, you just can't do anything about it... at certain humidity levels, you're just going to fog up... there are de-fogging sprays/wipes/solutions used for divers' masks you can ask for in a dive shop that might work if you just can't live with it... i have never made the switch to plastic lenses, but wear safety glass lenses... just about indestructable, and you can even wipe mud off them with your dirty fingers and not scratch anything... up the scale, 'nice'-wise, is using a t-shirt hem, followed by toilet paper... they all work, and don't hurt the glass. damned heavy though, but worth it to me. i made a little fleece bag for them that stays in my hammock 'attic', even when i fold it up... they're always there at night so i can find them.

Mouse
11-22-2005, 16:03
I resorted to an old diving trick. Coat the lenses with saliva, then rinse. Some mysterious chemical in it inhibits fogging. Maybe not as effective as commercial products, but always available.

Just Jeff
11-22-2005, 16:40
Rain-X works great on windshields...anyone ever tried it on glasses?

SKCM
11-22-2005, 22:13
I asked about Rain-x and the eye doc about jumped out of his skin! He said rain-x "maybe" alright if you have safety glass and care little about the finish on the glasses... BUT, he stressed the BUT, rain-x is not to be used on plastic. :eek:

I found that "cat crap" works great. It is a product skiers use for thier goggles to keep the water off and keeps the goggles from fogging.... works great for me.

SKCM

Whistler
11-22-2005, 23:54
I think we had a pretty good thread on this a while back. For me, it's not much trouble, assuming I have a baseball cap and just use my fingers to wipe off the lenses if it gets really bad.
-Mark

Kerosene
11-23-2005, 11:26
I also rely on a baseball cap with a plastic brim (Mountain Hardwear) to keep the rain off my polycarbonate glasses. I've used the saliva trick before, but I've never felt the need to go with Cat Crap or one of the other commercial products, possibly because I do most of my hiking in the spring or fall. I do use those products for my goggles when downhill skiing.