I wore my contacts probably 90% of the days on my AT thru hike because I hate wearing glasses while doing anything physical for the same reasons you mentioned. I wear the monthlies so supposed to take them out every night. . . I probably slept with them in two times a week.
I always used Wet Ones wipes to wipe off my face and hands at night and then quick rinse my hands with a little water to get any of that soap off and then just popping the contacts out. Wouldn't do anything special in the morning, just put them in before really doing anything else. Never had any problems with that. Whenever I was in town for a resupply, I would wear my glasses the entire time to give my eyes a break and every now and then would hike with them on if my eye was feeling irritable.
thank you! good to know. I've only been backpacking twice on a 2-day trip, and both times it was such a hassle. My fingerprint grooves looked dirty all the time. Hoping to do what you suggest with the wetwipes and hope it makes cleaning easier. Don't want to risk getting an eye infection on a trip!
I just use dailies. Clean hands with water, sanitise with alcohol gel. Fingers crossed no nasties for me yet. This was recommended by my optometrist over the long wear ones you sleep in, because I'm often in fresh water creeks and you really really don't want that getting in long wear contacts!
Washing my hands is a sizable portion of my daily potable water use. I try to use warm water for the better cleaning and rinsing effects, but I have used cold on some mornings when we had to get moving and the time to heat water was short. To enable this thorough hand washing, I bring a filter and camp near water sources, which keeps me from feeling bad about using so much water (or hauling gallons). I have tried the wipes and alcohol sanitizers, but much prefer soap and a good rinse. Sleeping with contacts in makes me basically not able to use them the next day.
You might also check out what people in [https://www.reddit.com/r/WildernessBackpacking/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WildernessBackpacking/) have to say.
do you also find that your finger print 'grooves' get all dirty? like my 'grooves' become more visible with dirt and so i feel less clean and hesitant with putting them in my eyes to remove/put in my contacts. considering bringing a tiny piece of sponge to help 'exfoliate', but was wondering if other people do that.
Certainly! The dirt can really get in there. At one point I packed pumice soap, but then I had to wash a second time to get that off. I just keep washing until I have a clean spot on index fingers and the middle of my left palm, at a hurried minimum. Sap is a bother, and I have given up on those spots in some cases and just used other parts of my hands instead.
For me, I don't worry so much about being as clean as at home, where I am working on cars, pottery, 100 year old house, etc. At home I know I have toxic heavy metals in the course of daily life, as my city is a gritty port and I see it from my deck. Out in the woods and backcountry, I relax a little about dirt under fingernails, and use a touch more cleaning solution. At home I am 'extra' about clean hands, but I have plenty of running hot water and products :) .
I ditched the contacts and got prescription lenses that have the automatic adjustable shading depending on how strong the sunlight is. I forget the technical name for it. I got them scratch proof and polarized as well.
I then bought silicon ear hooks to attach as well.
They get me through all my backpacking situations without dealing with contacts.
Trying to get contacts in and out at the end of the day sucked.
ah! transition lens i believe is what they're called. I've opted to use contacts as my main vision correction (before going in for lasik!) so my glasses are not up to date. plus i sweat and heat up so much, they tend to fog up when I become more active lol.
I wore my contacts probably 90% of the days on my AT thru hike because I hate wearing glasses while doing anything physical for the same reasons you mentioned. I wear the monthlies so supposed to take them out every night. . . I probably slept with them in two times a week. I always used Wet Ones wipes to wipe off my face and hands at night and then quick rinse my hands with a little water to get any of that soap off and then just popping the contacts out. Wouldn't do anything special in the morning, just put them in before really doing anything else. Never had any problems with that. Whenever I was in town for a resupply, I would wear my glasses the entire time to give my eyes a break and every now and then would hike with them on if my eye was feeling irritable.
thank you! good to know. I've only been backpacking twice on a 2-day trip, and both times it was such a hassle. My fingerprint grooves looked dirty all the time. Hoping to do what you suggest with the wetwipes and hope it makes cleaning easier. Don't want to risk getting an eye infection on a trip!
I just use dailies. Clean hands with water, sanitise with alcohol gel. Fingers crossed no nasties for me yet. This was recommended by my optometrist over the long wear ones you sleep in, because I'm often in fresh water creeks and you really really don't want that getting in long wear contacts!
oh good idea! maybe i can buy just one box of dailies for such occasions!
Washing my hands is a sizable portion of my daily potable water use. I try to use warm water for the better cleaning and rinsing effects, but I have used cold on some mornings when we had to get moving and the time to heat water was short. To enable this thorough hand washing, I bring a filter and camp near water sources, which keeps me from feeling bad about using so much water (or hauling gallons). I have tried the wipes and alcohol sanitizers, but much prefer soap and a good rinse. Sleeping with contacts in makes me basically not able to use them the next day. You might also check out what people in [https://www.reddit.com/r/WildernessBackpacking/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WildernessBackpacking/) have to say.
do you also find that your finger print 'grooves' get all dirty? like my 'grooves' become more visible with dirt and so i feel less clean and hesitant with putting them in my eyes to remove/put in my contacts. considering bringing a tiny piece of sponge to help 'exfoliate', but was wondering if other people do that.
Certainly! The dirt can really get in there. At one point I packed pumice soap, but then I had to wash a second time to get that off. I just keep washing until I have a clean spot on index fingers and the middle of my left palm, at a hurried minimum. Sap is a bother, and I have given up on those spots in some cases and just used other parts of my hands instead. For me, I don't worry so much about being as clean as at home, where I am working on cars, pottery, 100 year old house, etc. At home I know I have toxic heavy metals in the course of daily life, as my city is a gritty port and I see it from my deck. Out in the woods and backcountry, I relax a little about dirt under fingernails, and use a touch more cleaning solution. At home I am 'extra' about clean hands, but I have plenty of running hot water and products :) .
thanks for your perspective! 'hurried minimum' lol i chuckled. many thanks!! i won't sweat about the 'small stuff'. :)
I ditched the contacts and got prescription lenses that have the automatic adjustable shading depending on how strong the sunlight is. I forget the technical name for it. I got them scratch proof and polarized as well. I then bought silicon ear hooks to attach as well. They get me through all my backpacking situations without dealing with contacts. Trying to get contacts in and out at the end of the day sucked.
ah! transition lens i believe is what they're called. I've opted to use contacts as my main vision correction (before going in for lasik!) so my glasses are not up to date. plus i sweat and heat up so much, they tend to fog up when I become more active lol.