When I was an active caver yonks ago my eyes were spiffing. Now I  wear daily disposable contact lenses. I could get by without them underground but would not be able to see close up well.  Does anyone use lenses underground or have advice. I am thinking as a few very easy trips with no SRT - but they may be soggy.
Ta
M 

I wear daily disposables underground and have experienced no issues at all with them.

I cave regularly whilst wearing daily disposables.  If it's a long trip then I will take a spare set in my emergency pack, along with some tissue paper so I could attempt to clean my hands. I have put one back in underground, but I had some bottled water with me so used that. I don't need to tell you about the risks of using cave water to wash your hands before sticking one in your eye! But you take your chances.

I would strongly recommend having some hand wash and a spare set in your car in case you lose one underground, otherwise you may not be able to see the types of beer on offer in the bar after!  Also, driving home becomes an issue.

One thing to note is that after doing a duck, make sure you wipe your face of excess water before opening your eyes to avoid washing one out with a load of water running down your face from your helmet. And try and avoid looking up pitches if there's a lot od drips - again, I have had one washed out looking up an aven.

However in the main I have zip diddly problems

MJenkinson said:

I cave regularly whilst wearing daily disposables.

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You dive as well, how do you cope with that?

One guy I know from Crewe CPC used to wear wrap around specs, albeit not contact lenses but still a different idea.
Can't remember why he doesn't wear them any more, I think he sat on them!?!

I just wear them diving and remember to close my eyes if my mask floods!  I have worn them in the sea as well, although oddly you can actually "bend" contacts diving them. They absorb gas in your mask which is at ambient pressure, then they can bubble and get knobbly on ascent! You just end up with a lot of glare, but I generally change them after diving.

Great advice so far. Thanks
Mary

Hi Mary, before i had laser eye surgery I always caved in contact lenses including free-diving sumps, and several day underground camps and never had any problems! Unlike glasses which steam up, fall off, get covered in water droplets etc. Enjoy your trips!

For years I wore contact lenses (daily disposable) but was forced to stop when my blood vessels started growing outwards - prolonged wear being the issue.
So I now wear glasses all the time and for caving (and contact sports) use a pair of flexible frames with plastic lenses so no worries about mashing them up!
I spray them now and again with swimming goggle-style demister and they don't normally cause any problems, but I carry an old facecloth in my over-suit pocket in case things do go all murky..
The main advantage for me is that though I am short-sighted, I can manage without them (I once bottomed Alum Pot when I forgot to pack them and didn't want to risk my everyday bins!) and for close-up work I am better without them.

I can't get daily disposables for my prescription so I use monthly ones. I wear them for every trip and have never had any real problems in the 8 or so years I've been using them. That includes using them in several less-than-ideal underground camps, but for that sort of thing I take a small bottle of lense solution, spare lenses (not needed yet!) and plenty of sealed antiseptic wipes to get my fingers clean before putting them in. I don't take anything extra with me just for day trips.

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cooleycr said:

The main advantage for me is that though I am short-sighted, I can manage without them (I once bottomed Alum Pot when I forgot to pack them and didn't want to risk my everyday bins!) and for close-up work I am better without them.

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Same here, short sighted. I need my glasses for driving but that's the only time I wear them outside work. Don't normally wear glasses for caving, when I do they can sometimes disorientate me. I did wear them going down Titan, so I could appreciate the formations, however Speedwell streamway was a nightmare, I should have taken them off! Keep thinking about trying contact lenses but they just seem like unnecessary faff to me.

My SO uses monthly wear contacts. Never an issue and he doesnt cary spare stuff. But he would just be really blurry if he lost them. Not enjoyable but doable as he can see really close, as lens are for distance.

You can get sport glasses with perscription. A person on our cave rescue unit uses those as he hates contacts underground but normal glasses are a pita. They basically have a swim goggle type design but are perscription glasses crushproof etc.

MarkS said:

I can't get daily disposables for my prescription so I use monthly ones.

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I can't get daily contacts for my prescription either (due to bad astigmatism in one eye) but I can get them on a prescription which is "good enough" so that's what I've been using for the past 9 years.

Technically you should avoid using contacts for anything where you can get them wet, to avoid infections. This is one of the reasons I like dailies as you can just chuck them away after a trip rather than worrying about what might be lurking. Also, it's because I only ever wear contacts for caving (or swimming) so monthlies seem like a waste.

I've had to cave in glasses a couple of times when I've forgotten lenses and I'm not a fan! Apart from the risk of breakages, they steam up and get muddy far too easily. I'm too blind to cave without anything. Another advantage of dailies is you can easily keep a couple of spare pairs stashed in your car/caving bag for incase you forget.

I've used them for long trips without problems; I find they don't dry out as quickly as on the surface, presumably due to moisture in the air. For really long trips/camps, I take a little bottle of eye drops and/or spare pairs. Just obviously make sure you wash your hands as well as possible before putting in any new lenses.

That's not to say monthlies aren't a viable option, but I'm very happy using dailies.

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Daily disposables here to.

Wear them for all outdoor stuff.....caving, climbing, surfing, white water play.

Never a problem. Even replace one mid rope

I used to wear gas permeable lenses - great things - tough as boots and last for up to 18 months! for caving, only problem was dry, dusty caves - not so much of a problem in Derbyshire  However my pescription changed and I ended up wearing glasses for close up work over my contact lenses  :blink:

So now I wear an old pair of glasses if I need to, usually stored above my head in my helmet if I need them  :halo:

Other wise don't bother as I'm short sighted and only wear them for driving!

Like the OP, when I wear contact lenses I lose my close up vision, it's an age thing. This makes reading surveys and driving the camera a real problem.
However, this year I have tried some daily disposable multi-focal lenses - absolutely flippin brilliant! It's like having a younger set of eyes; my distance vision is excellent and I can read with crystal clarity.
Well worth experimenting if you haven't tried them.

I've done some 9-12 hour trips with the lenses described above and the only problem I've had is the hideous dust in the bone dry caves of Cantabria (e.g. Gandara). But that has been a moment of discomfort that has eased during the remainder of the trip. I've never needed to take them out underground.
My recent 5 day trip in Picos de Europa I decided not to use contact lenses as the sharp grit that gets everywhere in that cave means it would not be practical to get my hands clean enough to put fresh lenses in. I may be being a wuss as other people in the team were definitely using contact lenses on that trip.