Riding with contact lenses

[goog]

So, I'm not as young as I once was, and my eyesight is slowly falling off.  I have prescription glasses that i wear for driving, especially art night or in unfamiliar areas.  They still work ok, but thinking about getting another checkup to see if i can do better.

Anyone out there ride with contact lenses? If so, how do they work while riding?  I'm probably over thinking this a bit, but wanted to hear from people who prefer glasses over contacts, and why.  I've never worn contacts, so i have no idea how they do with air flow coming in at slow speeds, and with visor down, etc.  I've tried riding with my glasses, but it was really uncomfortable in my helmet.  I hope that contacts might help my vision, and not cause discomfort.

Thanks!

[OrangeDragon]

I prefer riding with contact lenses for a few reasons.

1. My glasses would fog up depending on the temperature.  No fogging issue with contact lenses.
2. Glasses, IMO, just don't have the peripheral coverage as contacts.  Plus I found the frames would also block side view as well. Maybe if I wore larger glasses and an ultra thing frame this would not be an issue.
3. Dealing with glasses and a helmet was kind of a pain and it tweaks the shape of the frame from the pressure.

[GreasySnipe]

I ride with them, OrangeDragon hit the reasons pretty good. Some drawbacks which are minimal are:
 1. If I have my visor cracked for a prolonged time, the wind dries mine out quickly and my eyes get a bit irritated. I carry a small bottle of contact re-moisturizer just incase.
 2. when refueling, I am careful not to rub or touch my eyes (with or without contacts can be bad). I wound up for 30 days in Okinawa when I was in the Navy after just rubbing my eyes and having a miniscule amount of fuel on my hands and contaminating my contacts. Normally I looked forward to Okinawa but with both eyes swollen shut and puss draining out made it not so good. ever since I have always been very careful about these things.
 
 Other than that everything else is great, there are no frames that pinch the sides of your head or glare from lenses/smudged lenses. There is also the lack of risk of dropping/damaging/losing your glasses in the middle of a ride.

[jduke]

I took it a step further than Orange and Greasy and had laser surgery. Best move I ever made.
But otherwise, their comments are spot on when I did wear glasses.

[Mhanis]

I'll second (or third?) what the others have said; I prefer riding with my contacts but I ALWAYS have contact solution with me just to put a few drops in at stops. Two things are always in my riding jackets, earplugs and contact solution. That way it doesn't matter what jacket I grab I always have those items.

Mark

[Blackout]

I had laser eye surgery about 9 years ago. Worked great.

[Autostrada Pilot]

I rode with contacts for a lot of years.  If you keep your shield down, no problem.  Think ahead of what you will do if you have an eyelash get into your eye (just pull over until you're good to continue).  I tried glasses a few times-they just never sat right with the pressure of the helmet against the side pieces (and I had very thin framed glasses).

+1 on getting laser eye surgery.  BY FAR the best use of money on this earth.

[He Man]

never heard of 5cent hookers and 10cent blow have you?  shame.

i wear contacts only, keep solution on hand and the visor down. also keep spares in your pocket, if you ride with the visor up and dont have sensitivity to dry eyes, then they will fall out atleast once, and always when you least expect it. luckily your eye will automatically use the eye with the better focus to get information it needs and youll be safe enough to pull over.

[goog]

Thanks for all the input!
I had thought of getting RK or some other eye surgery a few years back, and will probably look into it again, because that would hopefully get rid of the problem altogether.  From what I remember, there are only certain eye conditions that it would work on, so I will have to see.  But then there will be the choice of...
California SBK School, or eye surgery....?  Probably cost about the same.

In the meantime, I will look into getting contacts.
Taking my riding to the next level will be easier if I can see where I am going clearly
 

[fragile_this_side_up]

I'm blind as a fking bat. Like i can't read the speedometer on ANYTHING without my glasses. I can't use thin frames because my lenses are too thick. That being said, i have two pairs of glasses. Ones for riding, ones for everything else. When i ride, i swap them out. If the frames get tweaked, no big deal. I don't have too many issues with fogging. Only on days below 40's, and at that point a little airflow tends to help out. I have a "cheap" helmet but the opening is perfect for my glasses and they are comfortable on my head for hours at a time.

i don't think i'll ever get contacts. My ex wife had them. Got some thing in her eye and rubbed it. 10 hours later, we were in the ER and her entire cornea was scratched. Had to sit in a closet with the lights off for like 2 days while she healed. Then again, she was pretty dumb. Smartest thing she ever did was decide to leave me, but that's a story for a whole nother thread..  

Good luck! There are definite times that I wish i didn't have to wear glasses..

[Dochunt]

I debated the same thing for years.
Then finally had Lasix surgery done about 7 years ago.
Best move I ever made.
Don't need glasses of any kind.

[eric]

I've never worn my glasses, only contacts, when riding. For me, wearing contacts offers far better peripheral vision, less distortion, etc, all around. With sunglasses, even riding with the visor up has never been a problem. I would keep some eyedrop solution and a spare pair of contacts handy at all times though.

[Privateer]

when i'm on an all day ride i wear contacts.  I don't wear my glasses when I commute/around town - I can see good enough to function, I just can read street signs.  not as important when I commute - more important when I'm out somewhere out of town.

I did find with contacts I can't crack my shield while moving, so there's that to consider.  dries my eyes out really bad.  I suppose if I got some sunglasses with clear lenses that would solve it, but just doesn't happen that much.

[DesmoDiva]

I have been riding with glasses for 10+ years.  Never with contacts.

I don't find it that annoying, but I don't know any different.

I have always brought my helmet when looking at new frames to make sure they fit.   

I wear Rx Oakley for sunglasses.  They fit close to my face and wrap around the side to provide good peripheral vision.  I can't wear polarized lens under my face shield, it causes this trippy rainbow effect on when looking at glass surfaces.

The one thing that bothers me the most is my glasses fogging up, even more so now that I installed a pin-lock face shield.