what to do about eyewear?

[leaftye]

Anyone have experience with prescription sunglasses like these? It's more for when I want better coverage for my eyes. I'm trying to get Zenni to start carrying their frames. I hate the ones they have now, or at least the frame/lens combos they have.
http://dx.com/p/carshiro-cycling-rid...n-black-215126
http://dx.com/p/carshiro-1205-cyclin...n-black-215274

sku_215126_5.jpg
sku_215274_5.jpg

[shakey_snake]

I keep my contacts in for months at a time.

[leaftye]

Okay, forget Zenni. I'm hating them right now. Either they're morons or indifferent.

Anyhow, it looks like 39dollarglasses can put lenses in anything, so I'll give them a shot. It's more than I want to pay, but maybe I'll find a better price while I'm waiting for my frames to arrive from China.
https://www.39dollarglasses.com/prod...own_frame.html

[S'more]

Daily disposables, with glasses for backup. I need (and want) to be able to see. My glasses don't give me the sun protection, so I also use good sunglasses with my contacts. Sleep with the packages so they wont freeze.

[WalksInDark]

I use photo chromatic (light darkening) real GLASS eyeglasses on a croakie. I also put my lenses into a pair of Ray Bay wire rim frames so that I can either bend them back into shape and/or easily buy replacement lenses.

While real glass lenses are heavier than plastic lenses...they are much harder to scratch or pop out of the frames.

Last word to the wise: if you wear bifocals, be sure to keep the lower lens significantly lower than your normal use lenses. Otherwise, you will be tripping on a regular basis as your vision switches between the upper and lower lens elements.

[Durtydan]

absolutely go with option 3. contacts are annoying but aside from spending thousands to get laser surgery, you're stuck with em. my eyes are awful also and pretty sensitive so it's good to wear contacts for days and glasses at night, but that can be annoying to wash your hands everyday thoroughly enough to take them out and put them in, so what I did was asked my eye dr who found me pairs that aren't long term, but something like 2 week lenses that I can sleep in but it's not really recommended everyday as it hurts so I go 2-3 days mainly with contacts then a day with glasses.

in your case, if you can handle sleeping in them for a night or 2, maybe you can do 2 days on, 1 day off or take them out sooner if you must. I completely agree that glasses on the trail can be annoying sometimes but I also have complaints about contacts and what it does to my eyes but I'll take that over glasses anyday.
ever go to duck under a hanging tree on the trail, have them fall off causing you to go totally blind, and try to find them and pick them up with your heavy bag on that you're too afraid to put down in fear of crushing them? yeah I didn't like it either lol. contacts it is for me, glasses are a good nighttime use/backup item.

+1 for UL signal mirror. works like a charm

[leaftye]

So after all that grief with Zenni, they added the frame and lens combo I was asking for. So now I have the other frame coming from DX and the Zenni glasses w/prescription too.

I previously bought photochromic glasses from them for about $30, and they're nice, but I wanted something with more coverage, especially when I'm on snow.

[fins1838]

glasses. ez shpeezie

[RockDoc]

On my last 500 mile section hike (VA) the first thing that happened was that my glasses fell apart. I splinted it together but it was a royal pain, until I bought some cheap reading glasses at Walmart in Waynesboro, and then got my previous pair of prescription glasses mailed to me which I picked up at Pearisburg. All this while doing fairly big miles (20-25) for an old guy.
In the future I would travel with a spare set.

[leaftye]

I didn't realize sunglasses AND eyeglasses were such a monopoly.

[rocketsocks]

I didn't realize sunglasses AND eyeglasses were such a monopoly.

Nor did Eye....thanks for that, very interesting in deed....passing this on. I hate Monopoly

[stillatit]

After years of wearing contacts when hiking or skiing, I had to go back to glasses as the contacts did irreparable damage to my eyes. Now I suffer from permanently dry eyes & have to put drops in throughout the day and a gel in at night. Earlier I just had "sensitive eyes" to quote you (when wearing contacts). I just did over 2 months on the trail and took an old pair of glasses in case they broke, and, of course, they did. I also took backups so I was okay.

Be careful of overwearing contacts if you have sensitive eyes, lest you wind up like me and (1) can never wear contacts again and (2) must do this drop/gel thing for rest of your life.

[Cherokee Bill]

I hiked with glasses the whole time and had the lenses pop out once. Need to bring your prescription in case something happens.

Great suggestion (bring a copy of your Rx)

[redseal]

Off the trail, I wear contacts. On the trail, I typically wear glasses for trips less than 1 week. For trips greater than 1 week, I use extended wear contacts. In this case, I use Air Optix Night and Day. I can wear them for about 40 days straight without any issues. Not sure if you have tried these.

[Drybones]

I hike with glasses. Clean bandana for cleaning. New scratch resistant lenses are way less fragile, and new spring frames do not bend out of shape. Ball cap for rainy days.

On my face during the day, in my shoe at night.

This is exactly what I did last year, it was very hot with a lot of rain, glasses fogged so bad I could see very little much of the time. When I got home I had eye surgery, only need glasses now for reading, sure was more enjoyable this year without the eyewear.

[MuddyWaters]

Great suggestion (bring a copy of your Rx)

an optometrist can measure your prescription from your existing glasses.

Not a bad idea, but not totally necessary either.

I used to break glasses all the time, until I started wearing flexon frames.
I havent broken a pair since, and I often sleep with mine on.

expect cheap frames to fatigue and break eventually.

[Jack Tarlin]

I've worn glasses all my life. Some of this may have been covered above, but if you plan to hike with glasses:

1. Most folks don't carry two pair, but by all means have a back-up pair ready and waiting at home if you need it sent to you in a hurry.
2. Carry your current prescription with you as well as contact info for your optician in case you need something done fast.
3. Carry a small eyeglass repair kit and a small tube of crazy glue for emergency field repairs. This is especially important, if, like me,
you absolutely need eyeglasses to function.
4. Carry a hard eyeglass case and use it religiously, especially in shelters, hostels, etc., where it is very easy for someone to sit on; put
a pack on top of, or otherwise damage or destroy your glasses. Eyeglass damage is usually done by other people.
5. Glasses are among the most frequently lost items on the Trail. When not on your head, keep them in their case, and keep the case
in your pack. Taping your name and contact info in the case somewhere is also a good idea.
6. Croakies or some sort of neck cord is probably a good idea, too, especially in areas where you'll be fording big or fast-current streams.
7. The Trail is rough on eyewear. Make sure to get the toughest, most scratch-resistant lenses you can afford.
8. Glasses fogging up on you, or glasses becoming unusable in heavy rain happens all the time. Carry a clean bandana or TP in a small
Ziplock and put it in a pocket or accessible pack pouch so you can easily get at it when necessary.
9. If you presently wear rimless or other delicate glasses, I'd suggest you get new ones with a stronger frame before you start hiking.

[perdidochas]

Anyone out there thru or section hike with glasses or contacts. Ideally I would have switched to extended wear contacts that one can wear 24/7 but my eyes are pretty sensitive... even wearing daily contacts more than 16 hours a day for a few days in a row irritates my eyes. I tried a few different brands out this fall but contacts are something I just can't wear in long stretches.
This means I have few options;

1) bring daily contacts on the trail and need to remove and put in contacts every morning and night (not a very sanity option)... along with bringing saline solution and a contact case.
2) rely on my glasses. wear my new frames. deal with getting them dirty all time from sweat/fog/ect, risk breaking them, and also carry a my old frames as back up and a case (i have really bad vision can't go with out back ups).
3) bring contacts and contact accessories, wear those regularly and also bring glasses/case along as a back up.

In past canoeing and hiking trips I went with contacts. Putting them in and taking out were tedious. but those where only 7-10 day trips not 5+ months. I really doubt option #1 is viable. Any suggestions?

I can't imagine wearing contacts on the trail, or more specifically, taking them out and putting them back in on a daily basis. I think of contacts as a vanity thing anyway. Don't need that on the trail.

[Chris10]

Hi, just did a section hike last week, and though I'm a full time contact lens wearer, I went with wearing my glasses and had no major issues, and would go with my glasses again. The only real issue I had wearing the glasses was trying to clean them with out having any cotton cloth with me, and I brought along the extra weight of contacts, case, an extra pair of contacts, and 4 oz of solution without ever using them!

[Maui Rhino]

Although not a total solution, using an anti-fog gel for diving masks really helps to reduce and control fogging of your glasses. I've used Body Glove Fog Away on my glasses for a couple years now with good results.