Re: [Paddlewise] Paddling Eyewear

From: Michael Daly <michaeldaly_at_rogers.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 01:28:52 -0400
On 17 Oct 2003 at 12:32, Peter Treby wrote:

> you use disposable contacts for rough water paddling, and you have to
> roll, isn't there a risk of the contacts washing out? I usually open
> my eyes underwater to roll.

I agree with Duane on not opening eyes underwater.  I rarely do and I 
find that I can work well with them closed.  If you ask me about what 
went wrong when I blow a weird roll in practice, I can usually "see" 
everything in my memory as if I had my eyes open.  Ditto all the 
stuff on deck - spare paddle, release loop on skirt, etc - I know 
where they are (always in the same place) and can "see" them with my 
eyes closed.  This is no doubt related to how much I practice.

> Carrying tethered specs as a backup would
> be good. 

Always.  Though with disposables, (one day type, that is), it's just 
as easy to go ashore and replace one.  I've never lost one in 
paddling - in fact, I've only lost one (left eye) in 25 years of 
contact use (sports only) and that was in an inline skate race (42km 
US-Canada cross border race in the days when the border was 
relatively open).

> I have lately acquired a set of "RecSpecs", and had
> prescription tinted lenses fitted. For a picture, see
> http://www.sporteyes.com/rsgog.htm#Raptor. They are a little like ski
> goggles. An unkind friend asked to borrow them as welding goggles. So
> far, these seem pretty good. They don't seem to get torn off your head
> in surf as easily as sunglasses with arms, and the ventilation is OK.

With astigmatism getting worse with age and no one-day contacts 
available that have astigmatism correction (only two-week type) 
coupled with the need for bifocals, I'm considering getting something 
like this for normal paddling and using contacts only for wet 
practice.  I might go with the Barz cross sport type, though.

Mike

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Received on Thu Oct 16 2003 - 22:28:52 PDT

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