Using contact lens while jumping

[peregrinerose 0]

The doc I work with had LASIK done, she's delighted with her results.

I won't do it for several reasons... at a -5.00 I see great up close without glasses, I'll love that when I'm 40. Glasses/contacts are not a big deal to me. I make my living with my eyes and see no reason to take the risk of surgery when I'm happy with how things are now. But that's just me.

I do pre/post op care for LASIK and other refractive procedures. For the right patients, it's a wonderful thing! I'm picky about the surgeons I refer to and the patients that I recommend get it. I'm more interested in keeping everyone happy and healthy than taking your money, so I have no problem letting someone know if they aren't a great candidate and why I feel that way. Some don't like it and go doctor hopping til they find someone that will tell them what they want to hear. Others appreciate it.

The best person to ask is really your eye doc.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[NewGuy2005 53]

Someone may have already suggested this, but you doctor can give you a trial pair of disposable contacts to try for free.

I jump with mine without any problems. I don't tape up the vents in my goggles, either. It's never been a problem at all.

[3331 137]

1995 in Honolulu Hawaii I was introduced to the Bausch & Lomb (Polymacon) Soflens 38 also known as Optima FW. I only wear contact lens for sport's and don't over wear them. Mom always said I looked better in glasses, girlfriends have disagreed.

Last year I was introduced to the CIBA (Lotrafilcon) night & Day soft lens and Systane eye drops. I carry a small container of the eye drops in my jump suit. The CIBA lens are much better in clear vision and fit. I use the mono vision set up with the left eye being dominent for far away and the right for close up with no problems. My distant vision with the CIBA lens is 20/10.

The best goggles I've found are SportRX G103

I have yet to find one Ophthalmologist MD who advocates LASIK. Skydives I know who have had LASIK had mild myopia to start with. Without corrective lens my vision is 20/400. There is some close up work I can do very well

I'm diffinetly going to check on Synergeyes

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[RandomLemming 0]

The G102s are OK if your vision is only slightly poor, but if you're like me, you're stuck with the G103. These are flat across the front instead of curved so you lose a lot of peripheral vision.

I don't think there is anyone other than SportRx who do a goggle in my prescription though, so I don't have a lot of choice :(

[sagan 0]

Consider this with contacts: if you lost one or both for whatever reason during a jump could you still be safe? Could you track away from people, pull, deal, with a mal, land, etc? If you can't or wouldn't feel comfortable doing that I wouldn't wear contacts.

I personally wear contacts and I generally have one pop out every now and again (on openings generally). I haven't had an issue landing or dealing with canopy issues without out them so I feel confident wearing them. If that wasn't the case I'd probably stick an old pair of glasses into the jump suit ;)

-Patrick

[Nickkk 0]

I wear contacts and have found that the cheap plastic flex z goggles work best for me.

What do you do when someone throws a big planet at you?
Throw your pilot chute in defense!

[DougH 270]

Quote

Consider this with contacts: if you lost one or both for whatever reason during a jump could you still be safe? Could you track away from people, pull, deal, with a mal, land, etc? If you can't or wouldn't feel comfortable doing that I wouldn't wear contacts.

You can loses glasses too. I lost a pair of over the glasses goggles and a set of persciption lenses $$$ at around 30 jumps when I went to turn and track. Luckily I have ok vision without them.

I don't think you are any more likely to lose contacts with a good set of goggles, or a fullface then you are glasses or perscription goggles.

Why do you think your contacts are poping out? Sometimes mine don't even want to come out with my fingers!!

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[sagan 0]

Same reason they do with other things: dryness, not seating properly initially, blinking them out, etc, etc. If you have astigmatism (spelling?) then it's more likely to happen as the contacts are shaped in a particular way. If you say lay down with your head on the side (packing?) then they can move out of place enough to make them susceptible to popping out.

This past weekend for example on 3 consecutive jumps my right contact popped out on opening, it was old and when I put in a fresh one and there was no more issue.

-Patrick

[peregrinerose 0]

Toric (astigmatism) lenses are no more or less likely to pop out than spherical ones. Lenses usually fall out due to: Poor fit, dryness, mechanical stimulus (hitting your eye with your goggles for example), or some combination of the above.

Wearing old lenses means they have lots of deposits... you tend to get a low grade allergy to deposits, which dries your eyes out. If your eyes are already dry, then drier on a jump, they are more likely to fall out than a new contact.

I solved the problem by wearing one day contacts most of the time.... clear vision, no dryness or allergy problems (with the 2 newer versions of the daily lenses anyway), and if I lose one it doesn't matter, I always have a lot of spares around.

Someone else mentioned Focus Night and Day, it's a good lens. A similar lens with even better optics is Purevision (And this is available in a bifocal lens, which is a million times better from a depth perception standpoint than monovision!)

There are lots of good lenses out there. I wish there was one 'best' to recommend to everyone, that would make my job a lot easier, but realistically there are probably 5-6 different lenses I fit most frequently depending on the needs, health, and prescription of the patient.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[sagan 0]

Quote

Poor fit

Sorry this is what I was alluding to. Not all astigmatism can apparently corrected (in non-custom contacts) and so the lens may not fit as well. That at least is the case for me as it was explained to me.

-Patrick

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

Quote

Consider this with contacts: if you lost one or both for whatever reason during a jump could you still be safe? Could you track away from people, pull, deal, with a mal, land, etc? If you can't or wouldn't feel comfortable doing that I wouldn't wear contacts.

You can loses glasses too. I lost a pair of over the glasses goggles and a set of persciption lenses $$$ at around 30 jumps when I went to turn and track. Luckily I have ok vision without them.

I don't think you are any more likely to lose contacts with a good set of goggles, or a fullface then you are glasses or perscription goggles.

Contact (or dependent glasses) users can put an old pair in their jumpsuit pocket.

A student during my training period had an eventful jump where she lost contacts and had a cutaway, and then fly off into the distance and landed hard on a ditch, breaking or badly bruising her foot. To add insult, no backup lens within 150 miles.

OTOH, my vision was only -2.25 before I did lasik, so if mine blew off, I'd be relatively fine.

[Squeak 17]

Quote

Quote

Quote

.

OTOH, my vision was only -2.25 before I did lasik, so if mine blew off, I'd be relatively fine.

If mine blew off I'dbe yelling for the ambulance before i landed
I have almost zero depthperceptionwith out me specs

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[peregrinerose 0]

Quote

Sorry this is what I was alluding to. Not all astigmatism can apparently corrected (in non-custom contacts) and so the lens may not fit as well. That at least is the case for me as it was explained to me.

A poor fit is a health issue, so there's no reason for a poor fit as it can affect eye health. It sounded as though you were referring more to the rotation of the lens.... some lenses are more stable on some eyes than others. If yours have a tendency to spin, there are plenty of other brands out there to try, some newer contacts included. If this is a vision issue with you, then an RGP or Synergeyes lens may be an even better option than a soft lens.

If a fit is not right, it can cause health concerns with the cornea (unintentional corneal molding, insufficient tear exchange, etc.), and a poor fit is not acceptable. There's more to a contact lens fit than vision.

Astigmatism does not mean a fit will be poor... everyone has some degree of astigmatism. All it means is that the eye is not perfectly spherical. Biology isn't perfect, so nobody's eye is completely spherical. The right lens just has to match the right cornea, that's all

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[schwansa 0]

I havent' had any problems in the air so far. Although I have had my contacts fly out on occasion when i sneeze..looks very odd

[TALONSKY 0]

Quote

Same reason they do with other things: dryness, not seating properly initially, blinking them out, etc, etc. If you have astigmatism (spelling?) then it's more likely to happen as the contacts are shaped in a particular way. If you say lay down with your head on the side (packing?) then they can move out of place enough to make them susceptible to popping out.

This past weekend for example on 3 consecutive jumps my right contact popped out on opening, it was old and when I put in a fresh one and there was no more issue.

Wow, if I was you I would as others have said check that they fit correctly. I have over 1000 jumps using contacts and have never had an issue at all with them popping out. I have for the last 500 jumps been using only tight fitting sunglasses and I have never had an issue.
Kirk

[chrismgtis 0]

Quote

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

No problems with contacts whatsoever on about 35 jumps that I've worn them on. The one big problem I did have with vision was when I tried to jump with glasses. Personally I would recommend using contacts if at all possible, instead of glasses (if you have that choice).

Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033
Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

[GreatGigInThSky 0]

Quote

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.

I wear Acuvue and have never had an issue with my contacts no matter which goggles I have on.

I have often thought about removing my goggles once under canopy but have always thought this is where I would have a wind in my eyes issue. But after reading this reply, I want to try. Does anyone else on here wear contacts and remove their goggles under canopy with success? Thanks!

Failure is not falling down, but refusing to get up.
- A Chinese Proverb

[peregrinerose 0]

Under canopy you are not going to experience much by way of wind (at least at your jump numbers and flying an appropriately sized canopy... swooping is another story!), so the contacts won't be a problem.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[DougH 270]

Quote

Does anyone else on here wear contacts and remove their goggles under canopy with success? Thanks!

I have done a handful of hop and pops without my goggles or full face, but I would rather fly with them. I don't fly a hot rod, a 170 at about 1.2, but after hard dives and turns the built up speed starts to bother my lenses.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[Orange1 0]

Quote

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 have really bad eyesight (laughed at the other "bad" one) and find that glasses just don't give me the vision contacts do. I wear Acuvue 2 and have successfully jumped with both goggles (the cheap ones, tight, for about 70 jumps) and a Z1 (for about 40 jumps and 2hrs in the tunnel) and have had no problems yet. But I always make sure I have a pare pair of lenses with me at the DZ.

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[peregrinerose 0]

The higher the Rx the better you will see with contacts compared to glasses. With glasses, the optical center of the lens is where the best vision is. As you move your eyes around, you are in and out of the optical center of the lens, which distorts vision to some degree (certain lens materials are better than others for this... polycarbonate sucks from a distortion standpoint, hyper high index plastics with Anti-reflective coat are the best).

With a contact lens, the optical center of the lens always moves with your eye, so you don't deal with the distortion issue like with glasses.

Though if you are corrected to 20/20 WITH your contacts, your eyes are nowhere near 'BAD'. My specialty is low vision rehab... my patients will never see 20/20, or even be legal to drive, no matter what glasses or contacts they have on their heads. THEY have bad eyes.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[FallingDuck 0]

I've done all of my jumps with soft contacts and theres never been a problem. One got a little loose during a tracking jump, but there has never been any big problems. I even did one jump without goggles. Go for it.