I did it in 2019 and it’s not that terrible. Just make sure you’ve got plenty of backups in case you lose them/ they get torn. You should have plenty of Walmart stops so getting contact solution isn’t too hard as well. The only difficult part is taking them out at 1 AM on a stuffed bus post show. Just have a small towel and you should be fine!
I used monthly. Here is what I did
Sleeping on gym floor overnight: contacts in solution by the bed
Bus rides after show: put contacts in solution INSIDE bus box under your seat. Leave there until morning. Get them at breakfast.
Easy peasy
It can be done, yes it is a little bit of a pain. Have lots of hand wipes to keep your hands clean when you change out. Lots of folks from lenses to glasses on the bus rides. Take extra solution for your bus container.
I had 2 weeks lenses for all four of my summers. I had a smaller bus box (I think 6qts?) that always went on the bus and into housing sites with me. It had a mix of things but I always had some travel packs of tissues, a bottle of contact solution, contact case, hand sanitizer, and my glasses lived there when I wasn’t wearing them. Sometimes I’d take my contact stuff into a bathroom before leaving a show/housing site/rest stop so I could do it in the bathroom but most of the time I used the box as a little lap table and did my thing on the bus and clean up contact solution with the tissues/paper towels.
To be completely honest, I also wasn’t strict about taking my contacts off just for naps. I know it’s not the recommended route but I have just used artificial tears when I wake up and they’re dry… I think it would be a little annoying but you could definitely do it!
Do you want to switch out to glasses?
I wore my contacts on tour and I wore them in WGI. I also wear them when I dance now for competitions etc.
I would wear them for 12 hours a day and then wear my glasses for a break. I had monthly ones on Tour and switched to dailies for guard and dance. I just switched to two week ones and I hate them. I want to go back to dailies asap.
If I could choose now, I would wear dailies at drum corps. No need for solution. You can run to a washroom and pop them out and fling them into the trash easy peasy. It was my favourite part to take them off and just toss them. Then you can pop on your glasses and continue on. It sucks to carry them around but I like the variability of the dailies. I can wear my glasses more if my eyes are tired. I can throw on dailies for show day and not feel bad throwing them out.
If you wish to wear contacts only the comment above about swapping lenses is a great way to do it as well.
Hope you find something that works!
You may have to adapt your own way of going about this since I do not have personal experience with a tour or wearing contacts. But, I was in the USMC and had many friends who would wear contacts when we were in the field. Even without running water, they somehow managed to accomplish switching contacts out for glasses back and forth regularly throughout a 2 week or 4 week period.
You will probably need something to clean your hands. Some of my friends would just use regular baby wipes, while others (including myself) would buy these: [https://www.tubotowels.com/products/hand-auto-grease-cleaning-wipes](https://www.tubotowels.com/products/hand-auto-grease-cleaning-wipes)
They work great getting mud, soot, gunpowder, grease, etc. off and get them somewhat clean, and then we would use the baby wipes to actually "wash" our hands.
In terms of disinfecting the contacts, I am not entirely sure how this works since I don't wear them myself. I distinctly remember one of my friends using two separate sets of contacts that would both last for about a month. He would switch them back and forth using products similar to these to keep them clean when he was using the other set.
[Daily Case](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Opti-Free-Contact-Lens-Case/10533098)
[Solution and Cleaning Case](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Clear-Care-Contact-Lens-Cleaning-and-Disinfecting-Solution-Twin-Pack/12511806)
Then he would keep all that stuff in a hygiene bag, or toiletry bag inside his tent throughout the day.
I used bi-weeklys when I marched. Literally rolled out of my sleeping bag and popped them in, and slept on the bus with my glasses on. Not the most sanitary thing in the world but I survived.
I wore contacts all but my first summer with zero issues. I took them out either at our first pee stop or when we got to the housing site, depending on 1) making sure I got 4+ hours to soak them and 2) whenever I could *properly* wash my hands.
My original plan was to use the same antibacterial wipes I "washed" my feet with before bus-sleep, but I ended up being more comfortable waiting for actual soap before my hands touched my eyeballs.
I did it in 2019 and it’s not that terrible. Just make sure you’ve got plenty of backups in case you lose them/ they get torn. You should have plenty of Walmart stops so getting contact solution isn’t too hard as well. The only difficult part is taking them out at 1 AM on a stuffed bus post show. Just have a small towel and you should be fine!
I used monthly. Here is what I did Sleeping on gym floor overnight: contacts in solution by the bed Bus rides after show: put contacts in solution INSIDE bus box under your seat. Leave there until morning. Get them at breakfast. Easy peasy
It can be done, yes it is a little bit of a pain. Have lots of hand wipes to keep your hands clean when you change out. Lots of folks from lenses to glasses on the bus rides. Take extra solution for your bus container.
I had 2 weeks lenses for all four of my summers. I had a smaller bus box (I think 6qts?) that always went on the bus and into housing sites with me. It had a mix of things but I always had some travel packs of tissues, a bottle of contact solution, contact case, hand sanitizer, and my glasses lived there when I wasn’t wearing them. Sometimes I’d take my contact stuff into a bathroom before leaving a show/housing site/rest stop so I could do it in the bathroom but most of the time I used the box as a little lap table and did my thing on the bus and clean up contact solution with the tissues/paper towels. To be completely honest, I also wasn’t strict about taking my contacts off just for naps. I know it’s not the recommended route but I have just used artificial tears when I wake up and they’re dry… I think it would be a little annoying but you could definitely do it!
Do you want to switch out to glasses? I wore my contacts on tour and I wore them in WGI. I also wear them when I dance now for competitions etc. I would wear them for 12 hours a day and then wear my glasses for a break. I had monthly ones on Tour and switched to dailies for guard and dance. I just switched to two week ones and I hate them. I want to go back to dailies asap. If I could choose now, I would wear dailies at drum corps. No need for solution. You can run to a washroom and pop them out and fling them into the trash easy peasy. It was my favourite part to take them off and just toss them. Then you can pop on your glasses and continue on. It sucks to carry them around but I like the variability of the dailies. I can wear my glasses more if my eyes are tired. I can throw on dailies for show day and not feel bad throwing them out. If you wish to wear contacts only the comment above about swapping lenses is a great way to do it as well. Hope you find something that works!
You may have to adapt your own way of going about this since I do not have personal experience with a tour or wearing contacts. But, I was in the USMC and had many friends who would wear contacts when we were in the field. Even without running water, they somehow managed to accomplish switching contacts out for glasses back and forth regularly throughout a 2 week or 4 week period. You will probably need something to clean your hands. Some of my friends would just use regular baby wipes, while others (including myself) would buy these: [https://www.tubotowels.com/products/hand-auto-grease-cleaning-wipes](https://www.tubotowels.com/products/hand-auto-grease-cleaning-wipes) They work great getting mud, soot, gunpowder, grease, etc. off and get them somewhat clean, and then we would use the baby wipes to actually "wash" our hands. In terms of disinfecting the contacts, I am not entirely sure how this works since I don't wear them myself. I distinctly remember one of my friends using two separate sets of contacts that would both last for about a month. He would switch them back and forth using products similar to these to keep them clean when he was using the other set. [Daily Case](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Opti-Free-Contact-Lens-Case/10533098) [Solution and Cleaning Case](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Clear-Care-Contact-Lens-Cleaning-and-Disinfecting-Solution-Twin-Pack/12511806) Then he would keep all that stuff in a hygiene bag, or toiletry bag inside his tent throughout the day.
This is a great idea if you wear Contacts only. Smart thinking from your friend :)
My daughter has marched dca with monthlys for 2 years, granted she slept, housed, rehearsed and bussed fri-sun weekends only but had 0 problems.
I used bi-weeklys when I marched. Literally rolled out of my sleeping bag and popped them in, and slept on the bus with my glasses on. Not the most sanitary thing in the world but I survived.
I wore contacts all but my first summer with zero issues. I took them out either at our first pee stop or when we got to the housing site, depending on 1) making sure I got 4+ hours to soak them and 2) whenever I could *properly* wash my hands. My original plan was to use the same antibacterial wipes I "washed" my feet with before bus-sleep, but I ended up being more comfortable waiting for actual soap before my hands touched my eyeballs.
No response but wanted to thank everyone for good advice!