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Hunting Southwest Colorado Sept. 22-28. Drop camp at 8000 ft & up. Would you recommend wearing glasses or disposable contacts & why?
I wear glasses for about 11 months of the year and then in September, I put in my contacts for all my hunts. I have several problems with glasses and hunting. To name a few they are looking through binoculars are difficult, looking through peep site is difficult, and they seam to fog up on you when you really don't want them too and if it rains, they get drippy wet and are hard to see through. Those are my main reasons to go with contacts. I just use my regular contacts and take them out at night when sleeping, then put them back in in the morning.
Neither because both are a pain in the a$$...especially if the weather gets crappy.
My distance vision is crap...but I can still shoot out to 90 yards on my target range effectively. I wear corrective lenses for driving (and golf).
I have my binos strapped to my chest if I need to see details.
My average shot on elk is under 20 yards...if you can't see the spot you want to hit at that distance (or that area in the "blur")...then you probably will have to bring one or the other.
Best of Luck, Jeff
Kind of depends on your prescription....
For that kind of activity, though, if your Rx allows, DAILY disposables are nice. That way you don't have to mess with solution, a case, etc.
Depending on brand, etc. they wind up being about $1 per eye per day, so not too bad price-wise.
We were just backpacking for a week in that same area, and that is what both my wife and daughter wore.
Whatever your used to wearing....but bring a long a spare in case you need them! Vision is important and your eyes are usually used to one or the other. I prefer contacts but bring an extra pair in case on is damamged or lost.
The one time I hunted Colorado we were camped at 10,500' and about 6-10 miles in. I had my optometrist give me the kind of contacts I could sleep in. I took along 2 extra sets anyway and enough cleaning solution and rewetting drops to last the 5 day hunt. I would wake up, put drops in my eyes and I was good to go. The contacts and solution weighed next to nothing and took up very little space.
Before I had lasik done, I always hunted in contacts. As mentioned above, get ones that you can sleep in. It's not fun waking up at 4am and sticking a freezing cold contact in your eye with dirty camp fingers. Bring a spare set, and plenty of rewetting drops- especially if you are in a windy area.
I would go contacts over glasses. When you hike, you sweat. That means glasses constantly sliding down your nose all day.
I wear Accuview Oaysis daily wear contacts. I rinse of my hands and pop them in after eating my oatmeal in the morning. I hunt all day with the contacts. When I get back to the tent, I throw them away, put on my glasses and make my Mountain House dinner. My eyes stay comfortable and I don't have the inconvenience of hunting with glasses. I have a better sight picture with my peep and pins, therefore, I shoot better. I am not bothered with distorted vision that comes with fog, rain or condensation. This typically would happen at the worst possible time.
It depends on what you need them for. I wear reading glasses but can't/won't learn to shoot with them on. I was having problems at distances -esp 40 plus yards. The pin would blow up and cover the target. At closer distances I'd get a double pin. I just picked up a Verifier peep with a #6 lens. It cleared up all my sighting issues.
Why would you not just take both? Contacts weigh like nothing. I where my contacts but carry glasses just in case a problem arises. Three years ago I had a reaction to my contact solution and ended up in the emergency room. I now use disposable contacts on my hunts.
I cant shoot with glasses on, I go with contacts while hunting.
I have hunted with contacts and glasses and preferred contacts. However, the best money I ever spent on myself was having Lasik surgery. I was skeptical for years until a few co-workers had it done. It has been fantastic. My ONLY complaint after 10 years is the fact that my eyes are more sensitive to sunlight. I need to wear my sunglasses quite often. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.
MY glasses have saved my eyes many times from branches and such. there is no clean place in the woods to wash my hands and clean contacts. all I need to clean my glasses is a lens wipe, which do well cleaning optics to.
I would bring both, but wore my contacts when hunting. That was before I got LASIK. Best decision I ever made for my enjoyment of shooting, hunting, the outdoors, and life in general. It is seriously life-changing. My only regret was not doing it 20 years sooner.
Thanks guys! I had lasik back in '99 & my eyes have regressed a bit to where I need glasses to see well at a distance. I can still pass the drivers exam without them but barely. I have glasses & just got fitted for contacts. I will bring both. We will be at a base camp with water for cleaning.
If you are used to the glasses then that is what I would wear. I've been wearing contacts for about 20 years. I always just take them and have my glasses in the truck or base camp as backup. If you want the contacts (they do provide you with better peripheral, etc.) at least you will be at a drop camp and not spiked in. I hate having to deal with my contacts at spike camp.
I wear glasses, dry high altitude air sucks with contacts but I'll caveat that with I have to wear toric lenses which might not be as comfortable as regular lenses. Plus trying to keep clean fingers to put them in can be problematic camping. I'm lucky I can see pretty well without my glasses if worse comes to worse.
Oh man....this topic has been a real learning curve for me.
Started out in law school with 20/15 vision -- better than perfect. 9 months later, was down to a -1.25 prescription from all that computer time. Being my first year with contacts, I asked my doctor to give me something I could wear in the woods for "7-8 nights at a stint." I started with the Oasys Acuvue 1 month lens. It worked great. I would use eye drops every day, every night, wake up in the middle of the night and drop in some more and then during the day, if necessary, take them out to let my eyes breathe. That only worked for one season.
My prescription then dropped to -2.25 a little later. So I packed a bottle of solution, two cases (the flat cases not the tube vertical cases), and an extra set of contacts. The biggest problem is putting them in, in the dark and keeping them clean. So I would wake up, use a small mirror with my head lamp balanced on my knee. Each contact got two drops of lubricant before they went in. Sometimes it took a few tries but the better job I did in the morning, the more comfortable my day was.
I never packed my glasses on bivy hunts. This did cost me a hunt when I walked out with 1 contact. Not awesome. So I made sure to always pack at least one extra pair of contacts. Daily contacts work great for keeping solution and dirt out of your contacts.
I'm now down to -3.25 (ya, 14 hrs in front of a computer will do that). I hope my eyes will start to slow their change and I can get lasik.
I had issues getting the contacts in when cold (okay, it was a muzzleloader hunt and the temp was -18F). Lasik is much better.
My sleeping bag has a little pocket at the top....if you put the contacts in there over night they are not cold or frozen and it is not a problem. Baby wipe hands, use a little solution on finger and lens...insert. Just like at home with running water and the works. Bed time you do the same routing except take them out. No issues....good vision...see lots of animals!
Disposable contacts. I have monthly wear contacts and pack a little solution and a case. I also pack a spare pair. I also pack glasses.
Why? Contacts don't fog and I can see better with them.
If your corneal physiololgy is cleared then Z Barebow has the best mousetrap
Glasses are a bit of a pain. They get streaky, foggy, etc, but I don't have to put them directly on my eye so that's what I use.
After 30 years of glasses, I made the switch to contact this spring. 3 week learning curve but overall a vast improvement.
We shall see this fall though.
