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It's a good idea, isn't it?

 

I just got back from night caching, and for that I wear wraparound sport sunglasses where I've swapped in clear lenses. Some day I'll be really glad I've done that.

 

BTW, headlamps are great for night caching (as opposed to flashlights) because a headlamp will nicely illuminate all the branches that are aiming for your face.

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Does anyone ever use some sort of eye protection when caching in dense brush? Seems to me that it would be prudent to protect against the sneaky thorned vine or similar hazard.

 

Rule number one when caching with others - Never walk close behind as their passing branch will slap you in the face.

 

Write it down.

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Don't walk behind rude people in the forest. Or people that have never been to a forest.

 

They won't hold the branches and vines to the side and wait for you to grab them.

 

The headlamp previously mentioned is a great idea. Although I cut mine to keep tied around my hand, because I found that it won't quite illuminate where you need it to when you get to GZ, no matter how you contort your neck. Of course, for this problem you could always bring along a smaller flashlight.. My modification happened during a late night last-minute caching run. I don't tend to think things through at 3:00 A.M... <_<

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Does anyone ever use some sort of eye protection when caching in dense brush? Seems to me that it would be prudent to protect against the sneaky thorned vine or similar hazard.

 

Rule number one when caching with others - Never walk close behind as their passing branch will slap you in the face.

 

Write it down.

Ha! You beat me to it!

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Now that I need glasses for reading, I mostly use those.

I will wear wrap-around safety glasses if I go for those bison-in-a-pine-tree hides (gotta be a decent hike to it) - the reason I now need glasses.

Anyone who ever had to go to the ER with a cup over a pine needle stuck in the eye will probably think to use a pair.

Safety coordinator at work, sometimes get on a mission (usually after somebody screwed up on the job) and I'll leave safety glasses or ear plugs in a hide. Someone must use them, as (via emails) they're usually gone pretty quick.

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Is it a regional thing? Here, it is considered rude if you don't hold the branches for the next person behind you.. we always walk close together. :huh:

I'm going to post this question. I'm curious who does which.

 

From years hunting when I was younger to doing this now our habits are to walk closer together and stand on or hold offending branches out of the way until the next person has them so they don't get smacked by them. Being closer together makes the standing on/walking over situation go much smoother and quicker.

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I wear glasses away, but I do think its a good idea. There have been a few times that the tip end of a branch hit the lens of my glasses which I'm sure would have poked my eye. And one time I turned my head and the pointy part of the branch almost knocked the glasses off of my face. Most of these close calls happened at night while looking in and around bushes and smaller trees.

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Does anyone ever use some sort of eye protection when caching in dense brush? Seems to me that it would be prudent to protect against the sneaky thorned vine or similar hazard.

 

Rule number one when caching with others - Never walk close behind as their passing branch will slap you in the face.

 

Write it down.

 

+1 indeed. Kinda, sorta, akin to driving too close to the guy in front of ya. Whose fault when he brakes hard (for ANY reason)?

 

Don't walk behind rude people in the forest. Or people that have never been to a forest.

 

Hahahaha -- refer to "rule #1". If you are too close, you are asking for it. Rudeness has nothing to do with it, it's gonna happen.

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Took a pine needle in the eye at night a few weeks back and was two hours from home, had to pretty much drive with one eye as the affected eye wouldn't stay open and watered for over an hour, saw a doc two days later and discovered that I had a fungus that was infecting the eye. Had to be on drops for 5 days, so the answer now is, yes....safety glasses I wear when hiking day or night. Most can be purchased for under $5 a pair.

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Thanks for starting this topic as I was planning to do it myself. Yes I often wear safety glasses while in the woods. I bought a pair for both myself and my wife at the local big box for less than three dollars each. Wearing safety glasses is second nature for me because I am in the trades. My wife has to be reminded more than once to put hers on.

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I wear uv rated safety sunglasses all the time, but I keep a clear set of safety glasses in my geocaching pack for cloudy days as well as gloves for reaching into dark holes or under things where caches tend to get hidden.

 

Thanks for starting this topic as I was planning to do it myself. Yes I often wear safety glasses while in the woods. I bought a pair for both myself and my wife at the local big box for less than three dollars each. Wearing safety glasses is second nature for me because I am in the trades. My wife has to be reminded more than once to put hers on.

 

It takes awhile to create good safety habits. :anibad:

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Is it a regional thing? Here, it is considered rude if you don't hold the branches for the next person behind you.. we always walk close together. :huh:

I'm going to post this question. I'm curious who does which.

 

I am not sure about it being a regional thing, or even a rudeness one - more an inexperience thing when people don't think what they are doing through properly... I have been out many times with groups who don't spend much time outdoors, so don't even consider the branch whipping back until someone gets clocked by one.

 

As for how to solve the problem, either bunch up close or spread out - close together you can 'pass' the branches back so the person behind can stop them and not get hit. Spread out you leave enough space so that when the branch does whip back, it misses you, then you shove past it yourself.

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My Cautionary Tale:

I got hit in the eye a three or four year ago at a MOGA competition event. I looked down at the GPS and just as I looked up another cacher inadvertently released a branch and I got hit in the eye. My vision in both eyes darkened momentarily, then was blurry. I couldn't get them to focus. A couple of cachers took me to the emergency room and after putting some dye into my eye and a thorough examination determined that it was thankfully only a corneal abrasion. I've learned my lesson and don't follow as closely anymore and wear eye protection for night caches. Peoria Bill

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Yes, I always wear some type of eye protection. I worked for over 13 years as a vocational rehab. counselor working with industrially injured workers. I saw some very nasty accidents including some which resulted in lost or impairment of vision.

 

Yep, learning from someone else's mistakes is ever so much less painful than the other way around. :anibad:

 

I've been fortunate enough to meet and train with folks like Tony Crow and Charlie Morecraft (just met him last Wednesday) who are real good at getting folks to see (pardon the pun for Tony) what happens when personal safety is taken too lightly.

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Hahahaha -- refer to "rule #1". If you are too close, you are asking for it. Rudeness has nothing to do with it, it's gonna happen.

 

Song Lyrics:

I got a gal with just one eye

No depth of field but sweet as pie

And I just don’t careo

If her vision is in stereo

To me she’ll always be the tops

My sweet little cyclops

 

She’s the one-eye, one-eye, one-eye, one-eye

She’s the one-eye, one I love

 

Now you might wonder what she’s thinkin’

‘Cause it looks like she is winkin’

In arguments I yell and cry

But she just can’t see the other side

It’s worse than it looks, says her mother

‘Cause she’s blind in one, blond in the other

 

She’s the one-eye, one-eye, one-eye, one-eye

She’s the one-eye, one I love

 

Now how it happened, she just won’t spill

Was it scissor sprint or William Tell?

Well the eye got put out and was never found

Gone to take a look around

My Columbo cutie, Popeye punkin’

Sammy Junior, Sandy Duncan

 

She's the one-eye, one-eye, one-eye, one-ey

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I think eye protection is necessary, I've had sticks jammed straight into my eyes before and couldn't see much beyond a blur.

 

Well, I couldn't see much beyond a blur anyway, at least, until i got glasses. Now I can see everything, and have something conveniently taking the brunt of every stick.

 

However, if you don't have glasses your probably better off losing your eyesight, because wearing protective glasses in the woods just looks and is quite ridiculous if you don't have eyesight issues.

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I've been a competitive shooter for years and eye/ear protection is mandatory. Didn't really think about it while geocaching until I was looking through a thicket and noticed a pine needle poking a few inched from my eye.

 

I now wear an old pair of shooting glasses while caching. If they can stop a .22 bullet I think they'll do OK in the woods. :)

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they can stop a .22 bullet

Well, cock my hammer...

Shooting glasses (safety glasses, if you will) are to stop/deflect gasses and particulates. I don't know of any that will STOP a .22 bullet.

 

Don't get me wrong -- I would LOVE to be proved wrong on this one. I do hope there is such a thing. But a direct hit from even a .22 is hefty force (especially for something that is balancing on your nose).

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Hahahaha -- refer to "rule #1". If you are too close, you are asking for it. Rudeness has nothing to do with it, it's gonna happen.

 

Song Lyrics:

I got a gal with just one eye

No depth of field but sweet as pie

And I just don’t careo

If her vision is in stereo

To me she’ll always be the tops

My sweet little cyclops

 

She’s the one-eye, one-eye, one-eye, one-eye

She’s the one-eye, one I love

 

I knew that song but forgot who did it...had to look it up. Heywood Banks, funny song.

 

I was doing some work on a house in Buffalo last weekend and forgot to put my safety glasses in the box of tools I brought. I sent my wife to a big box hardware store to pick up some other things and she brought back a 3-pack of safety glasses that cost about $8 for all of them. They wouldn't stop a .22 bullet but they were comfortable enough to wear all day. There are lots of other brands available for about $2 a pair. At that price they'd make a pretty good swag item for larger caches in the woods.

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they can stop a .22 bullet

 

Don't get me wrong -- I would LOVE to be proved wrong on this one. I do hope there is such a thing.

like these?

 

Okay. I was skeptical too. Under what conditions is now what I'm wondering. Lab conditions is what I'm thinking. :unsure:

 

Stopping a bullet that travels a supersonic speed as a .22 does is a very LARGE claim for a manufacturer of safety glasses to make. You know, physics being what they are..... :rolleyes:

 

Lead shot and small caliber backscatter are easily stopped by most safety glasses. They will sometimes be embedded in the eyewear. But muzzle velocity from a .22, feh. Show me the proof. :mellow:

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Lead shot and small caliber backscatter are easily stopped by most safety glasses. They will sometimes be embedded in the eyewear. But muzzle velocity from a .22, feh. Show me the proof. :mellow:

 

I'm thinking along the same lines. If the bullet was at the end of it's arc path with most of it's kinetic energy dispersed. MAYBE the marketing department can get away with making this claim....MAYBE.

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Plus, the lenses are literally bullet proof, crafted of Diamond Vision Lens material that has been proven to stop a .22 caliber round.

 

I still have my doubts. The quote from the catalog advertisement is above. My high-lighted portion indicates that they are made from material that will stop a .22 bullet. It DOES NOT say that the glasses will.

 

It does state later in the ad, that they will deflect shot -- notice, it still does not say that they will STOP shot -- and shot has far less kinetic energy than does a .22 bullet (even at the extent of its' trajectory).

 

They are probably very good glasses, but one should be careful about reading into just what an advertisement says.

 

Back on-topic -- I'm pretty sure that they'll stop a limb from poking out an eyeball.

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Lead shot and small caliber backscatter are easily stopped by most safety glasses. They will sometimes be embedded in the eyewear. But muzzle velocity from a .22, feh. Show me the proof. :mellow:

 

I'm thinking along the same lines. If the bullet was at the end of it's arc path with most of it's kinetic energy dispersed. MAYBE the marketing department can get away with making this claim....MAYBE.

Buy a pair and shoot them, see if they work as claimed.

As another poster has said, I wear glasses to see with and I've yet to find any safty glasses that work with them. I do pay extra to get safty lenses in them for extra protection. Full face shield might be better, I once jumped a small creek looking only where my feet would land and was speared in the cheek by a branch, piece of wood a quarter inch thich was wedged an inch deep between the outer and inner skin of my right cheek, having it removed hurt more than punching it in.

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Full face shield might be better, I once jumped a small creek looking only where my feet would land and was speared in the cheek by a branch, piece of wood a quarter inch thich was wedged an inch deep between the outer and inner skin of my right cheek, having it removed hurt more than punching it in.

Ouch!

 

From your avatar I was afraid it was going to be your eye... :P

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As another poster has said, I wear glasses to see with and I've yet to find any safty glasses that work with them. I do pay extra to get safty lenses in them for extra protection.

BTW, you can get RX inserts for that MIL-Spec pair I posted the image of above. But they don't protect the cheeks:/
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