Discussion: Glasses, goggles, contacts?

Curious what other orienteers out there with vision worse than 20/20 are doing about eyesight during races.

Do you just take your glasses off and run vision-impaired? Do you use contacts on race day? Do you have prescription goggles? What's your method?

So far my method has been running with glasses since I've never worn contacts and don't even know if prescription goggles are out there. Its hasn't been too bad to run with them on, except for a rainy event once. Still, it would be nice to not have another accessory attached to my body to have to contend with, or it would be nice to have a larger field of crystal-clear view with prescription goggles.

If prescription sports glasses / goggles are available, any recommendations where to get them?

I have really bad vision and I wear contacts whenever I am training (-9.5 in the right eye and -8.0 in the left eye). Running in glasses would be a big risk because if they got knocked off my face, I might not be able to find them, because without corrective aid I am basically half-blind. However, with contacts, although it is possible that I get some dirt in my eye or get hit with a branch so that the contact must be taken out (which has happened to me a couple of times), it seems highly unlikely that this would happen to both eyes at the same time, so it feels safer. Besides this, glasses just cannot quite compare to the luxury of having peripheral vision!

However, some people do not like contacts (a personal preference) and they either do without or wear prescription sports glasses. You can buy these from several different companies. Unfortunately I do not have any links or names handy, but I'm sure other people will.

I can't wear contacts. Some physiolog. thing with my eyes. Without my glasses I can't read the map. Running in bifocals takes some getting used to.

Anyway, I'm in the market for some new Rx sport sun glasses. Any recommendations appreciated. I'd like something with interchangeable lenses.

I was very comfortable with my "glasses only" life until a meet a couple years ago on a hot, humid, (very) rainy day. I got confused (OK, lost) in a large area with some heavy vegetation and could not even see my compass, let alone the best route out. I think it was a Score-O and I managed only 1 control after the 20 minute mark (out of 60 minutes). I went and got contacts the next week and have been very happy using them for meets since that time. I really only wear them for running and orienteering, so I don't go through them that quickly. I have had no issues with them getting knocked out.

Good luck finding something that works for you!

Not inexpensive, but I've been very happy with my Rudy Project sunglasses for orienteering. I wear them with a prescription insert, but recently they've started making the interchangeable lenses RX-able which is what I'll do when I need to update my prescription. I use a yellow lense when running in terrain as it helps to brighten the shadows quite a bit.

I wear contacts, but have been experimenting lately with safety glasses to prevent my eyeballs from getting gouged out by sticks. I tried orange tinted sunglasses which made the controls stand out, but also prevented me from seeing areas of sparse trees on the map. What seemed to work at the US Champs were a pair of Ektelon Strobe racquetball glasses with vented untinted lenses. I also wore a head band to keep the sweat off the glasses.

I have had both contact lenses knocked out at the same time - the lightest touch from a spruce tree. That left me half-blind; I managed to find the next control and after that, luckily, was a first aid post on a main road. As they were doing a run back to the Assembly area they gave me a lift, I put in my spare lenses, got a lift back and continued on. I didn't finish last!

Anyway that was a long time ago and they were hard lenses; I now have soft and haven't had any brushed out over many years. Personally I would explore laser surgery if your eyes can be corrected by that method. Glasses are hopeless.

I wear contact lenses and clear glasses to protect my eyes from branches. Currently, I'm using clear sport glasses with reading lenses. These days I struggle to read the detail on the map without some sort of magnification and I prefer the reading lenses to a thumb magnifier. If it rains a lot, I go without the glasses.

I have had a soft contact wiped from my eye twice during O meets. First time was many years ago when I was running behing Hammer on a wet rainy day. He reached out and pushed a very flexible conifer branch out of his way, then let it go. Honestly I don't think he even knew I was behind him. It whipped back and wiped my right lens clean out of my eye. With what seemed like 0% chance of finding it, I just continued on, though much slower with impaired vision. Hammer was beside himself with embarassment when I told him about it later, but it really wasn't his fault.

The 2nd time was last spring at the HVO Surebridge meet. Somewhere way out in the vast "middle of nowhere" I was all alone and a nice flexible conifer branch wiped one of my contacts out of my eye with nobody even there to help it. This one I actually found, which left me with the difficult predicament of what to do with it. It seemed there were only 2 places I could reasonably carry it without either damaging it or losing it. In my mouth or back in my eye. On the Surebridge map you really need all the vision you can get just to make sense out of the map. The contact was filthy but I had to get it back into my eye, so I cleaned it off as best I could in my mouth and put it back in my eye.

Attackpoint sucks. That's twice in no more than a week's time I've divulged something fairly disgusting here. :-)

Maybe someone should start a thread where everyone reveals the most disgusting thing they've ever had to resort to while orienteering...

If the problem is age-related focussing (you can't see the map close-up) then non-prescription glasses are cheap and easy to use. There are specs with a dished top so you can look over them for distance vision. There are full specs with a bifocal insert. As well or instead, you can get a swing-away magnifier that you wear on your compass thumb.

If the problem is more complex then the solution is more complex:-))

I've done well over 1000 courses wearing glasses (including a few reasonably successful ones), so it's certainly possible. They present the biggest problem in the rain, and there have been a few times when I had to either take them off or leave them at an aid station (my correction is only -1.50, so I can still orienteer somewhat without them). Rain-X helps in wet conditions, and I haven't had trouble since I started using it. This is not to say that contacts aren't a better answer, I just haven't ever had the motivation to learn how to deal with them.

I had my optometrist make me a special pair of orienteering glasses, basically bifocals, with a big diopter for reading the map at my normal arm's distance, and then the other correction for distance. He put them in a frame with cable straps that go around the ears, and they have never been torn off by branches. However, they can steam up and rain is a real pain. I used to wear contacts, but I wasn't able to adapt to one eye being used for reading the map and the other eye for distance, and my standard correction did not provide enough magnification to read the map.

Monovision contacts are the way to go, at least for me. reading in one eye, far vision in the other. They take a little getting used to, but I wear them all the time now, even at work. They make reading the computer screen a lot easier as well.

In a dozen years of orienteering I've only lost one contact.

I have heard someone uses contacts and frames without lenses to protect contacts from getting hit by a branch. No lenses, no fogging.

i've worn glasses for decades, orienteering with bifocals for 15 years, had them snatched off my face only twice, easily found. the bifocal aspect is a drag, looking down at map & up at trail while in motion can be a problem, rain also gets in the mix. recommend croakies or another strap-like thingy to keep them on yer head, & i have also seen a glasses-wearer with a streamer of fluorescent orange ribbon attached, in case of loss. i've also seen clip-on sunglasses & flip-up magnifiers for those who need them, especially on 1:15,000 maps.
an advantage to eyeglasses is that they will protect you from the hazards mentioned below, like getting a pine branch in the eye.

Contacts can be sold as daily disposables which should not be very expensive if you are only using them for racing (many people choose this option for their everyday use and they are still affordable).

I got contacts just for orienteering as glasses were being annoying, trying to fall off, fogging up..

Still not an expert getting them in/out as I only use them for orienteering, but definitely worth it, for not fogging up + peripheral vision! (As Suzanne noted, really not expensive if you only use them for racing!)

Tried contacts several times - just can't use them. I've used glasses for my entire 32 year orienteering career, leaving them off if it was raining.

The new system I've used since Easter this year is great and can even be worn in the rain - it's Adidas running glasses with a 'performance insert' (jargon for prescription lens - mine are multi-focal - which clip inside the main lens). I have 3 main lens - orange for orienteering, sunglass, and clear. They're great for biking, driving, running, everything. They don't fog up, and rain doesn't form drops on the lens, it just runs off. (More correctly, it does form drops for the first few seconds when it starts raining, but then runs off and you can see very clearly.)

Here's the link to my glasses:
http://www.adidas.com/eyewear/catalogue/index.asp?...

I am one of those that wears gradient bifocals with transition lens. I can see the detail on the map and have good distance vision. I will wear a crocky to hold them on if I get wacked by a branch. If it is raining I take a second to remove my glasses and spit on the inside of the lens to cut the fogging ( same as you do with a scuba mask ). Plus I would never run thru the woods without some form of eye protection.

Like Kat up above, my eyes are in the -9 range, and contacts are the only solution. I try to wear some sunglasses to protect my eyes (eyes are also more sensitive to bright light). Having passed 40, the reading vision is also going... I've gone to a thumb compass that has a magnifier and like the combination.

Fossil - on the same Surebridge weekend, I had a lens pop out and catch on the sunglasses. The only solution is to push it back in as fast as possible before it dries out, grubby hands and all;-)

Fossil says above: " actually found, which left me with the difficult predicament of what to do with it. It seemed there were only 2 places I could reasonably carry it without either damaging it or losing it. In my mouth or back in my eye. The contact was filthy but I had to get it back into my eye, so I cleaned it off."

Long ago I had contacts & 'cleaning' them in my mouth (before O) was routine. Didn't cause blindness:)

For orienteering, I've suffered with glasses thru the yrs when rain or fogginess (with temp diffs.). I admire the contact lens making of one eye far, one near to get around this - Gagarin & Crawford have found winning solutions. I can see all manner of detail under my glasses. However, returning them to place to see terrain in rain etc. is a constant query as to why I have not found my optimal solution over all these yrs...:)

I don't wear contacts, but the mouth thing sounds pretty scary. Couldn't you carry an extra pair in your key pocket with a wipe for your fingers? (Assuming the one-wear type.)

It may be a perception thing - if one pops out one in 10 or 20 times orienteering, it would be more of a bother. Now "routine" doesn't sound that good to me either...-)

One of my lenses is custom, so no, it isn't practical to carry another.

The process is probably a bit cleaner than might otherwise be thought - if the lense lands well. Most often it simply pops out and is resting on your face, glasses or hand with the outside (curved) touching the surface. If you transfer it to your finger quickly / efficiently and pop it right back in, it's come in contact with all of 2 surfaces. (admittedly at least one of which is not clean) But the part that touches is not against your eye when you place it back in, and you eyelid does its thing and brushes any debris off and out.

Getting something under it is rare, different and often painful...

Consider how much gets in your eye normally - dust, pollen, leaves and twigs (either raking them or running through them;-). The eye works very well - It's not like you're jamming crud into an open wound... (hmmm - I do get scratched regularly and those are more open to the elements - and that's hardly ever a problem either)

Anybody seen these bifocal safety glasses?
Bifocal safety glasses

I use Monovision contacts, but still find fine detail on maps hard to read. I used a swing-away magnifier on my compass, but lost it this summer.

Any suggestions as to what magnification is the Official Orienteering Recommendation? They go from 1X to 3X in 0.5 increments.

The 1x to 3x isn't magnification, it's diopters. My recommendation would be to take a map to a place that has a reading glass kiosk, like a pharmacy or a Wal-Mart, and to try various strengths to see what you like.

The units on diopters are 1/meters. If you know the focal length in meters, diopters is the reciprocal. So +3 diopters has a focal length of 1/3 m. That doesn't necessarily mean you want +3 diopter lenses to read at 1/3 m---It's more complicated than that.

Link above?

For those folks using monovision contacts, I recommend trying bifocal contacts. They've gotten a lot better over the last few years. And to protect them, Spike and I each wear these reading magnifying safety glasses while orienteering.

Thanks Cedarcreek, I've fixed the link I think. And yes, it's Diopters. Thanks for the correction. I'll have to put in contacts and go to a pharmacy or my optometrist's office.

The glasses look like the ones Maprunner posted, only a lot cheaper.

I used contacts since I was 15, and with levels of -8 and -7.5, I used a mix of monthly and daily disposables depending on situation in terms of travel, ages, accommodation etc. If I lost one while orienteering I couldn't carry on very well at all and I had branches brush them out a couple of times. Slowly my eyes were 'rejecting' contacts (as the opto said, my vision would decrease slowly over the day and after exercise was really blurry)

So I had my eyes lasered, best thing I've ever done, well worth the $$, no more glasses, no contacts, no worries. Highly recommended

For $6 (US) I got a pair of bifocal safety glasses at an office supply store. They seem to be similar to some of the glasses in the link 'Bent posted. Here is the info about the pair I bought:

http://www.e-erb.com/default.aspx?page=item%20deta...

The instructions that came with some amusing instructions, including a warning - "do not use for sports or any other recreational activity" and that the "eyewear is not a substitute for using caution."

jjcote, what Rain-x product do you use? From the website, there is the 'origina'l treatment and an anti-fog treatment.
http://www.rainx.com/Products/
Has anyone else had any luck with water repelling or anti-fog treatments?

Regular Rain-X.

Only need glasses for reading so I use one contact. Brain automatically adjusts and uses the correct eye. Much better than reading glasses. If you look down you can actually see your feet. Better than glasses fogging up too. Orienteering improved enormously once I could read the map clearly, after years of slow decay and not wanting to admit the eyesight was fading. Suddenly found detail on the map I hadn't previously been able to see.

Three words-
one contact lens!

I have a lot of success with anti-fog. Use it almost all the time, although the anti-fog does not not work well if it actually gets wet. Normally I use anti-fog on the inside and regular Rain-X on the outside but in rainy conditions Rain-X on both sides may be better.

I forgot my antifog at an event in Ottawa on the weekend and so ran without my prescription sports glasses (i have trouble wearing contacts). Besides being a bit blind I forgot how much I need eyewear to protect my eyes from branches. Granted these woods were a bit thick in places but I am surprised there aren't more serious eye injuries in orienteering.

is rain-X for glass lenses only? is it suitable for plastic lenses? will it rain at the NAOC this year?

I've used rain-X on plastic lenses - just make sure you use a soft cloth that won't scratch the lens. That said, I used rain-X last weekend when it was mid-70's F temperature-wise and extremely humid, and my glasses were useless after 3 controls (~15-20 min). I don't know what to use to keep them from fogging up from exertion (rain-X would work fine if it were just raining. :-) ). Maybe I'll have to investigate contacts for astigmatism next time....

Will it rain -- probably, but we'll hope not. It has rained at late-September CNYO A-meets before.

I just had an eye exam yesterday (my main Rx hasn't changed much, but now I need bifocals for reading). One thing the doctor mentioned that I haven't heard discussed before is that the normal age-related farsightedness is made much worse in low light conditions (e.g., forest). While he admitted he knew nothing about the sport, he thought I might want to try using my headlamp during the day as an alternative to using glasses (my reading Rx is +1.00, so it's pretty mild at this point - I've never used glasses during O up till now).

I know all about the low light problem. There have been times while orienteering when I have had to run to clearings to get enough light to read the map.

Back in February I ended up getting some of these with bifocal, high impact resistent, high viz yellow lenses:

http://www.safevision.net/shooting/Blink_lead.html

I use them for orienteering, cycling, and adventure racing. At night as well as daytime.

Using a headlamp during the daytime is an interesting idea.

listen to Fly'n, i did and got laser surgery about a year ago... best way to spend $6000. the change to your life is worth a lot more than that.

'Bent and I bought the $10 glasses with magnifier inserts at the link he posted above, and they've worked really well - but it does take some getting used to. In my first event, I made the mistake of looking down as I walked across some large broken rocks, and my perspective was messed up because I was looking through the magnified portion of the glasses. BOOM, I landed on my bad knee. But now that I know not to do that, it's all good!

My eyes can't tolerate contact lenses anymore, so I'm currently wearing BBB Powerview cycling sunglasses with prescription inserts. I usually wear a baseball hat for sun-shade that also works passably to keep rain off my glasses on the odd times that's needed.

I would far prefer to use contact lenses, but this is a pretty good, low cost solution and I'm happy with them as general sunglasses as well.

Those Powerviews look quite fragile.

I haven't had any problems with them. I've sat on, dropped and kicked mine (and been knocked off my bike by a car while wearing them) and they're still fine, if a little scratched in places. They also stay on my face much better than regular glasses.