what about glasses or contacts

[SiuWonfung]

okay, forget about brushing teeth, i'm sorry I mentioned it. but for my part, i don't have any cavities.
but should i bother with glasses or contact lenses while hiking the AT or should i leave them at home?

[Bloodroot]

Probably depends on how bad you feel your eyesight is without them. I'm hyperoptic, so really no need for them unless I am reading.

[Palmer]

I wear bifocals on the trail. When I was younger, I wore contacts. My daughters wear contacts, so I guess it's something that you do when you're young. Of course, we're only out for weekends. I'd worry about eye infections if we were out for longer periods of time.

I plan to get lasik surgery before my thru hike, but I'll still need reading glasses.

[baseballswthrt]

I don't wear my glasses while hiking, but like to have them available for extensive map reading. I suspect that for that purpose, I could buy a pair of cheap reading glasses that are lightweight and small.

When I hike, I don't like the way my glasses feel on my sweaty face! I don't carry sunglasses either since I'm always in a tunnel!

[chknfngrs]

I try not to wear my glasses when I hike b/c I tend to overheat easily. I also neglect to put in my contacts b/c I'm lazy at times. See, I don't really need either to see, except I HATE it when I miss the bear scurrying up the hillside or the snake slithering past, unbeknownst to me....

[Kerosene]

I can't imagine dealing with my contacts on the trail. I rely on my eyeglasses (soon to be bi-focals :() and wear a ballcap to keep the rain off my lenses.

[Moose2001]

I guess it all depends on how blind you are. If I didn't wear my glasses, I'd probably bump into every tree along the trail. They are a pain to wear but highly necessary. YMMV!!

[Dharma]

I wore daily-disposables and it worked out well. If you go the disposable route, you'll need to bounce or mail drop your extra contacts. I bounced, so I carried two weeks of contacts at a time.

Saline? We don't need no stinkin' saline!!! Just carry a little bottle of rewetting drops. I carried a spare since they were small.

My morning routine: Take a Wet Ones Antibacterial Singles wipe and clean a few finger tips (put the wipe back in the package so you can use it again). I would rinse my fingers with a little water cause I don't like the fragrence on the wet ones getting on my contacts. Put a drop of rewetting solution on the contacts. Put them in my eyes.

I got disposables because I didn't want to deal with losing or damaging a lens or carrying a bottle of saline solution. Disposables do give you more trash to carry, but ultimatey weighs less than saline.

And, hey, brush your teeth!

[art to linda]

I'm so blind that I couldn't find my feet without my glasses let alone the trail, plan on bringing a back-up pair just in case. Wait till you hit the tri focal stage, now that's fun :D

[NotYet]

I can't see the big "E" on the eye chart, so I took my contacts on my thru-hike! I had a tiny bottle of saline, my rewetting drops and a contact case. I use the two-week lenses that you can sleep in and I'd keep my rewetting drops in my pocket to use liberally throughout the day and night. I'd clean the contacts every few days. I also had a pair of glasses with me so that I could give my eyes a rest in town or during the evening (and for days my contacts just wouldn't go in!). I have a hard time hiking with glasses on because I get very sweaty and overheated. My glasses sit very close to my face due to my features, so my glasses always seem fogged up (a ball cap makes the fog even worse on me!). I sent extra contacts, saline, etc. in my mail drops. P.S. My optometrist gave me tons of samples of saline, etc. so that I could more easily carry what I needed. Lasix...yeah, I'd love that!!!!! Maybe one day! :sun

[RockyTrail]

I have no trouble hiking with contacts. I have the "throw away every 2 weeks" variety and I take them off every night. Yes I have to carry glasses and an 8 oz bottle of storage solution but that's the price you pay for 20/10 excellent vision (and no foggy glasses on your face).
I've hiked over 2 weeks on one 8oz bottle of ReNu. Carry plenty of spare contacts, they don't weigh anything.

A lot of people freak out over using contacts in the woods, but like many things you can get used to it, it's nothing compared to what some other people have to do with various medical conditions.

[A-Train]

Depends what you are used to at home. I always wear glasses and never bought contacts so i went with glasses on trail. Figured it'd be nice not worrying about replacing contact stuff etc. One big downfall to glasses is they get wet really easy. In 03' it was wet all the time and it was frustrating at first having to wipe them down every 5 minutes. Eventually i'd put them away and hike blind so to speak. I got used to it or didn't, but I guess I dealt with it. Wasn't gonna take me off the trail :)

[swamp dawg]

I keep a pair of reading glasses in my pack for maps and shelter registers. I may, depending on the time of year, put a pair of sunglasses to help with the glare. Life is good on the trail......Swamp Dawg

[grrickar]

I wear disposable contacts and have for many, many years now. Glasses are problematic to me because they can get lost or broken easily on the trail. They also are prone to fogging, and are a nuisance in the rain.

I have camped, whitewater kayaked and hiked for years with contacts. You will need to take a small bottle for saline, and a small case to carry them in. I take mine out each night, but some types I understand you can leave in for longer periods of time.

Carry cleaner for your hands, so you don't get an eye infection. If you use disposables, carry an extra pair in case you drop one or tear one. I keep an extra pair in my pack and one in my life vest when boating.

[Haiku]

My biggest problem with glasses was that they fogged up every time I climbed a mountain and it was above 70 degrees. At times it was so humid that I had to take off my glasses, since I could see better without them on than with them - and that's saying something. I wished I'd had contacts at those points, but since I have a stigmatism that makes it hard to focus while wearing contacts, I would have been dizzy from looking up and down from the trail.

Haiku.

[CanoeBlue]

I always carry an extra pair - "spare body parts" on the gear list.

[Simrose]

I wasn't going to weigh in on this topic since I wasn't planning on taking my glasses or contacts ... but I just picked up a six month supply of Focus "Night & Day" contacts for the first time, and all six months, in the boxes, fit in one hand and weigh a whole ounce and a half. These are the only ones (according to my eye doc) FDA approved to be left in for 30 days at a time. Now I'm considering taking them to prevent those eye-strain headaches from reading guide books, maps, and registers.

"Talk to your doctor and see if they're right for you" even though they're FDA approved, it may not always be recommended ... blah blah blah (no, I do not work for CIBA). But they seem like a great option!

[Peaks]

okay, forget about brushing teeth, i'm sorry I mentioned it. but for my part, i don't have any cavities.
but should i bother with glasses or contact lenses while hiking the AT or should i leave them at home?

The short answer is that some people wear glasses, others wear contacts, and others don't bring glasses or contacts. It's a personal choice, with no one right answer.

[Pooja Blue]

I wear rigid gas perms. I don't like wearing eyeglasses so I only brought glasses to use at night. My glasses didn't survive the thruhike, but my contacts made it through just fine. Contacts also allowed me to wear sunglasses. I had to make sure I had a small container of water in my sleeping bag with me at night for washing them in the morning when it was cold, otherwise I got frostbite on my thumb and finger from washing them in icewater in the mornings.

[RedneckRye]

Because I've worn glasses for longer than I can remember (I just called my dad, he said since I was 3), hiking with them doesn't seem like any thing out of the ordinary. The only "glasses specific" gear that I carry is a tiny screwdriver to tighten them up every week or so and a bandanna to keep them clean. Synthetic materials just don't cut it for cleaning glasses. When it is raining, a ball hat or an OR Sombrero help alot.

[flyfisher]

Like Palmer, I plan to get corneal surgery before doing much more hiking. I probably will do so this winter.

Walking in the rain and fog with glasses is a pain. I have enough correction (7 diopters) that going without glasses is not practical. My 50 year old eyes will need reading glasses for sure, but the good news is that I will be able to start a fire with the lens!

I have worn contacts, and I think that it would be possible to wear contacts and keep them clean. The necessity to be dirty on the trail, IMHO, is overrated.

[minnesotasmith]

They are simpler to operate, for one thing; that means hikers with glasses have more time for hiking (or time to cook, eat, sleep, socialize with other hikers, write journal entries, etc.) than do contacts-wearers. You don't have a risk of infecting your eyes using glasses. Hiking means that you are in a location where sanitation is not only more difficult, you are farther away from medical attention should you need it.

Additionally, contacts are often more expensive than glasses, so a choice of contacts over glasses can mean that either the date your through-hike gets started has to be pushed back, or you have to go with sacrifices elsewhere in your gear or food budgets.

Glasses also offer some eye protection useful while hiking, such as against wind-blown sand and silt, branches brushing against and injuring your eyes while hiking, etc. Contacts, OTOH, can actually increase vulnerability of eyes to injury. Hard contacts can shatter when struck, while both hard and soft contacts can trap splashed liquids behind them, increasing chemical burn severity. This last is why industrial plants often ban contacts from being worn by their workers, a rule with which I agree.

I wear glasses (have for over 30 years), and have tried contacts. I will use only glasses while hiking, thank you.

[neo]

i cant see with out glasses:sun neo

[Jack Tarlin]

All excellent advice, here's some more things to think about:

Make sure you have a copy of your prescription with you, in case your glasses need to be repaired or more likely, REPLACED, while en route. It's amazing how many people break or more likely lose their glasses during their trip, but don't have the current prescription with them, or can't remember the name of the store or opticians where they got them in order to get their prescription info. Having your scrip on your person can save you days if you need to get new glasses; this is VERY important if, like me, you're blind as a bat without them.

Also, invest a buck or two on one of those tiny little repair kits; you can find them in any dollar store or drugstore. They weigh next to nothing and can be very useful. Likewise, you might want to carry a couple of extra-small size safety pins; they are very useful for short-term eyeglass repair if you find yourself missing one of those tiny screws. And a HARD glasses case is a good idea so they don't get squished, smashed, or sat on, which happens more often that you might think. (Glasses get smashed or broken all the time in shelters....people take them off just before going to bed and they get stepped on, a pack falls on 'em, etc. Bring a hardened case).

And finally, keep in mind that glasses, especially sunglasses, are one of the most frequently lost items while on a thru-hike. If you hang them from your T-Shirt or pack, you WILL lose them. Likewise, they're very frequently left on rocks, logs, water sources, or other places where you might stop and take a break. ALWAYS get up, turn around, and do an "idiot check" after you get up and prepare to hit the Trail, it's amazing what you might have forgotten or dropped. This includes not only sunglasses, but such things as cameras, Data Books, maps, journals, clothing items, hiking poles, etc. But glasses are at the top of the list.

[Deadeye]

My 'deadeye' has been surgically repaired and I can now see without corrective lenses, at least in that eye, BUT... I can't count how many times I've been whacked in the face by limbs (on those rare occasions when I'm hiking with someone else, but more often when bushwhacking) :datz and had my eyes protected by my glasses. Take it from someone who has had the proverbial stick in the eye - if you can tolerate glasses, for corrective purposes or just for safety, wear 'em.:sun

[Tin Man]

I wear disposable contacts when I hike as personal preference to avoid previously mentioned issues with fogging and rain. I leave them in 24 hours and only carry re-wetting drops. I also enjoy the greater peripheral vision offered by contacts. I may change my thinking now that I need reading glasses. On my last section hike I had backup distance eyeglasses AND reading glasses. I kept the reading glasses with my maps for obvious reasons. However, I think one pair of progressive lens eyeglasses would be easier if I could tolerate the drawbacks mentioned earlier. I would still carry a spare set of eyeglasses as a precaution. When I attempt my thru hike one day, I will probably slip the spare eyeglasses in my bounce box.

[minnesotasmith]

1) You may be overdressed;

2) buy and use Rain-X (available for a couple of bucks in various sizes in Wal-Marts everywhere).

Stay with the glasses while hiking.

[Icicle]

I am planning on taking both.

I will wear glasses hiking, but I prefer not to if it's raining.

I use disposables and my doctor has told me that if you keep them clean you can actually wear them for a week (they are daily disposables) before disposing of them, as long as you take them out every night.

Anyone know if my prescription for my glasses from the UK would be honored in the USA?

[orangebug]

I'd wonder if your British Rx isn't measured in a metric fashion, rather than the diopters and such used here. If the optician wanted to make money from you, they would fill the glasses. If the optician wanted to make more money from you, they would declare that out of country Rx's aren't legal, and make you use their optometrist for a new Rx.

I'm just wondering if I've ever seen any sort of same day optician in the trail towns I've been to. Maybe the SuperWalMart in Franklin, NC...

[Icicle]

They are measured the same, my vision hasn't changed much since I moved to the UK from Florida.

I hope they will honor it! It only costs me about $17.00 for a eye doctor appointment here in the UK and I know they charge a fortune in the USA.

I will bring it to me anywayand just take care with my glasses.

[Jaybird]

okay, forget about brushing teeth, i'm sorry I mentioned it. but for my part, i don't have any cavities.
but should i bother with glasses or contact lenses while hiking the AT or should i leave them at home?


Yo SiuWongung!

i've seen many hikers with glasses on...many more with SUNGLASSES, etc.
havent seen too many with the contac lens, etc.,etc.

i, personally, leave my glasses @ home & wear a near clear lens prtective eye wear...to keep the gnats, bugs & the "NO-see-ums"...out of the eyeballs! :D