Using contact lens while jumping

[kerims 0]

I wanna learn the experiences of people who use contact lenses while jumping.I'm on a decision between buying lenses or changing my goggles' glasses with the optical numbered ones.Any information is appreciated.

[EDYDO 0]

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I wanna learn the experiences of people who use contact lenses while jumping.I'm on a decision between buying lenses or changing my goggles' glasses with the optical numbered ones.Any information is appreciated.

I prefer the contact lens to the goggles. I remove my goggles for landing, It gives less of the tunnel vision effect and I can see other canopies better. On occasion the goggles fog on opening. I like to be able to see with them removed.

Ed

[RandomLemming 0]

I jump a pair of goggles from SportRX. They work very well, I have perfect vision with them, and I truly, truly hate them. But I can't wear contact lenses as my eyes are too dry :(

The problems I have with goggles are mainly because I have VERY bad vision (-6.5/-6.0). So without my glasses I can't see a thing.

Goggles fog up too often on the way up, so if I wear them from the ground up, I can't see jack. If I wear my glasses on the way up, I've got my goggles flapping around my chinstrap on my lid, and at some point I have to get to the pocket in my suit, get my glasses case out, put my glasses away and then go for goggles.

This is fine in an Otter or a Pac 750, but on the floor in an islander or in a cramped Porter, it's a PITA for me and the people around me that I nudge while changing eyes. The inconvenience, I can live with and I'm sure people around me don't begrudge me the occasional bump, but I live in terror that I'm going to knock a handle or a pin.

Under canopy, I have very limited peripheral vision as the sides of the goggles are black plastic, so I look like a bobbing dog with my head going everywhere to keep an eye on things. I'm sure I'd be safer with some peripheral vision though and being able to move my eyes as well as my head.

There's also the issue on the ground - do you get your goggles off as soon as landing (because they fog up if you don't) or do you wait for everyone to land and keep as good an eye out through the fog that you can? I have to change to the glasses to see, so as a rule I land WAY off to make sure I'm not likely to be in anyone else's way, but it's not helping me get my B license here :)

As soon as I can justify 12 months away from jumping, I'm going to get laser surgery and just be done with it!

[steveorino 7]

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As soon as I can justify 12 months away from jumping, I'm going to get laser surgery and just be done with it!

12 months?? I was jumping one week after mine 6 years ago and one week after my "touch up" in February. Who told you twelve months? I'm talking about lasik. Maybe you're talking about something else?

steveOrino

[RandomLemming 0]

I was looking at Lasek. The consultant advised that I avoid all contact sports for 12 months after the surgery and said that he would definitely class skydiving as a contact sport because of the possibility of a hard landing.

[faulknerwn 36]

Do a search on here - LOTS of skydivers have had eye surgery and I doubt any lasted that long without jumping! I went 2 weeks..

W

[ChrisL 2]

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As soon as I can justify 12 months away from jumping, I'm going to get laser surgery and just be done with it!

You may benefit from my setup. Eye surgery is too expensive for me at this time, so till I can afford that here is what I do.

I wear glasses on every jump.

I have a pro-tec helmet which I painted so it doesn't look half bad.

I have a pair of Flex-Z "over the glasses" goggles which, rather than wrapping around my head under the helmet like
most people do, I have attached the goggle strap to the helmet itself on either side by adding metal snaps on each side of the helmet and on the goggle strap. Bought the snaps at home depot.

Now, I just wear my glasses the whole time. Helmet on or off on the ride up. If off I'll put it on at about 10k and then just before the door opens I just snap the goggles into place.

These goggles are completely clear and so they don't interfere with my peripheral vision nor does the pro-tec helmet.

OK, nobody will ever say that over the glasses goggles are the coolest lookin things on the DZ, but they dont look bad and this setup works great.

You can see a picture of it on my website under the "Gear" link.
Click the thumbnail for a bigger picture. The goggles aren't attached in the pic, but you can see the snap where they go on, and attached is a picture from an exit where you can make it out...

__

My mighty steed

[mangledspoon 0]

I use contact lenses and haven't had any trouble... make sure your normal goggles over the contacts are secure though, as a couple of times when I was using the dodgy student goggles, my contact lenses fell out because of too much air coming in.
It's never happened again since I got my own goggles, plus I always make sure there are no extra air holes near the nose!
I've tried wearing glasses with over-glasses goggles but I found that horrible because my glasses were loose and would move around underneath the goggles causing me to have really crap vision with bits of glasses in front of me eyes....

[BillyVance 34]

I wore contacts for probably close to a year while skydiving. I've had them pop out in freefrall, even with a helmet and face shield. That was always a pain in the ass. There is always going to be some air getting in around your goggles or helmet that dries up your lenses or causes them to pop out.

I have a pair of SportRX goggles that I use for most freefall jumps with my Factory Diver helmet, sans shield. It works well that way. I can't use those goggles when I'm doing CRW because they severely restrict my peripheral vision, so I use an old pair of glasses with a croakie to secure it around my head, and my factory diver helmet on over them. Works well too.

Then there's always the Lasik treatment if you have health insurance that will cover it.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[RandomLemming 0]

Stupid question (I'm famous for those!), but don't the snaps on the side of the helmet provide a snag point ?

I do like the look of that though - I'll look for some Flex-Z goggles when I get back from SA next month.

How windproof are they ?

[Mostly_Harmless 0]

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I wanna learn the experiences of people who use contact lenses while jumping.I'm on a decision between buying lenses or changing my goggles' glasses with the optical numbered ones.Any information is appreciated.

I switched to wearing contacts over my glasses at the begining of last season with no issues at all. I use Acuvue 2 lenses and they have never fallen out. They are a lot more comfortable then wearing glasses while jumping.

_________________________________________
www.myspace.com/termvelocity

[ChrisL 2]

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Stupid question (I'm famous for those!), but don't the snaps on the side of the helmet provide a snag point ?

Nope. I suppose its not impossible for a line to drag past the snap, but if it ever did manage to catch there (which I just cant see happening) it would just unsnap the goggles.

I stole the idea from a drozone that uses this setup for all their student helmets.

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I do like the look of that though - I'll look for some Flex-Z goggles when I get back from SA next month.

How windproof are they ?

Totally windproof assuming you set the straps properly so that they are snug to your face. Been jumping this setup for several years and never had a single problem.

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My mighty steed

[Jeth 0]

I wear contacts and have never had a problem. Mine are the 30-day ones. I am paranoid about making sure my goggles are tight, though. They do have the air vents, and that much air is fine for my eyes. But I make sure they are on very securely before every exit. I'm sure I'd be nearly blind if they came up or off and my contacts got instantly dried out.

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[pkasdorf 0]

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I wanna learn the experiences of people who use contact lenses while jumping.

I use "One Day Accuvue" since I started jumping in December 99. That makes more than seven years and 600 jumps. Only once did I lose the lens of one of my eyes and it didn't affect my landing performance. It's been three years since I use a full face Z1 but it worked fine with goggles before. My losing the lens was so uneventful that I had a hard time remembering the "incident" while replying to this post and I can't even remember which jump it was on and what helmet I was wearing!

My advice? Definitely use contacts!

HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

[ChrisL 2]

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My advice? Definitely use contacts!

Wear contacts if you can.

I cant wear contacts on the ground, let alone in the air.
My eyes are way too dry. Tried several times and several different brands over the years. They just don't work well for me.

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My mighty steed

[pkasdorf 0]

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My advice? Definitely use contacts!

Wear contacts if you can.

I cant wear contacts on the ground, let alone in the air.

Of course! My advice, and I'm sorry but I thought it was obvious, is only meant for those that are comfortable with contacts on the ground... Sorry!

HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

[peregrinerose 0]

For all of my sports oriented patients, I recommend contacts over glasses due to the improved peripheral vision. Skydiving is no different. Yes, the possibility of losing one exists, so always keep spares with you, just in case. But it should be a rare event, not a consistent thing... if it is consistent, you're in the wrong kind of lens.

There's a new contact out, Synergeyes, that I could probably jump with even with loose goggles or just sunglasses over them and not lose them. The center of the lens is a hard lens, the peripheral part of the lens is soft, so it's comfortable like a soft lens, and outstanding optics like a hard lens. I've never seen so clearly in my life as with those things in. It's not for everyone, but is a newer option that's available.

A year without jumping after LASIK seems extreme, I usually recommend 2 months.... anyone jumping a week out is playing Russian Roulette with their eyes and that's just stupid. That flap can STILL be disloated even 12 YEARS after the initial procedure, so it isn't something to take lightly. Let that bugger have a chance to heal down to a reasonable strength before jumping and chancing hitting it. Honestly, you couldn't pay me enough to have LASIK as a skydiver... I'd have PRK done. Immediately post op it hurts more and vision recovery is slower, but long term safety profile is better as there is no flap involved.

LASIK is heavily advertised because it makes a lot of surgeons a lot of money, but it isn't necessarily the only option available. It's a great procedure for the right person, but so is PRK, as well as other surgical options.

But back to contacts, wear them
Jen

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[TALONSKY 0]

I have been wearing contacts and skydiving for over 5 years and over 1000 jumps now . I have had no problems and for the last few years have been jumping with tight fitting sunglass and have had no problems. When I first started skydiving I had glasses and they were small enought to fit under my full faced helmet (which made life alot better) however: now that I have switched to contacts I would never go back.
Kirk

[mnskydiver688 0]

I wear contacts for all the sports I participate in. I hate the hassle of glasses. I don't wear my contacts any longer than I have to because my eyes are rather dry too. I take along some extras too (I use two week contacts). I also got a pair of goggles that fit nice and tight around my face to keep any air from rushing in (Sorz goggles). Also using contacts will let you use different tinted goggles. Since I also get migraines I like to use tinted googles during the day to help keep the brightness down, but I then have clear ones for evening or sunset jumps. I use contacts when I slalom waterski and I have crashed with them in before so skydiving is no problem.

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

[Mostly_Harmless 0]

On a side note:

When I ride roller coasters (big fan) I usually wear my contacts with tight fitting sunglasses to help protect against them flying out (most coasters do about 40-80 MPH). Last year I went to take a ride on the fast roller coaster in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingda_Ka), to which I waited 6 hours to do so, and they wouldn't let you ride with anything in your pockets or on your head which ment no glasses. Surprisingly at 125 MPH my contacts stayed in and didn't fly off.

_________________________________________
www.myspace.com/termvelocity

[countzero 7]

i've worn hard contacts for 16 years. when i started jumping i used goggles now i use a full face helmet. i haven't had any issues with my contacts. i do make sure to close my face shield before boarding in case i have to wait a second on the stairs in the prop wash for others to get in the plane. and 1 time i got some dust blown in my eyes after landing which made for a tearful, blurry walk back but i always have solution with me. so a little removal and rewetting and i was good to go for the next load.

diamonds are a dawgs best friend

[Tornolf 0]

I have no problems wearing Acuvue2 contacts with a pair of sunglasses. Most of my jumps are wingsuit jumps with total speed around 100mph. (low 40s vertical, low 90s horizontal). I've never had a problem with the wind blowing behind/around the glasses and bothering my eyes.

A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world.
-TJ

[Andy9o8 0]

Consider buying 1 or 2 pairs of prescription sports goggles. I get them thru my optometrist, and I swear by them. The kind without seals around the lens frames (like what basketball players wear) are fine for belly-flying, or you can get the kind with seals around the lens frames to make them freefly-friendly.

[kerims 0]

Thanks to everyone for the detailed information.
And that is great that an eye doctor also answered this.
By this oportunity i also wanna ask something about lasik.Before reading this posts, i thougt that lasik was the best solution, because no lenses, no glasses so no problem, and saying to my firends i would go for it.But we also had some discussions with my friends about lasik.And one said "have ever seen a eye doctor who had a lasik operation to him/herself?" and what i realised was , almost all doctors i saw were with glasses.And we continued to disscus the reasons.And one said, because it is a new technique, the long time effects,(mean when u get old) are not known. So after these words i had some doubts about doing it.Your answer also cleared my mind but i wanted to learn about these claims, from a professional.

[stayhigh 2]

i have no problem with my acuvue or dailys,, but i had to tape up all the holes on my goggle..

Bernie Sanders for President 2016