How Duck tape saved my day

This weekend I went swimming with the kids.
After dressing, one of the kids bumped into my glasses/spectacles?.

As a result, one of the "legs" broke off at the place of the "hinge", where

the screw is (I hope the description is somewhat clear as I don't know the

correct english words).

The glass in my spectacles is "plastic" in stead of glass. The main

disadvantage is: it scratches quite easily BUT it doesn't break (as easy)

when falling (which is quite usefull with kids around).
The good thing: the fall on the floor did not trash the "lenses".

In my car I had a flat roll of duck tape.
With a strip of 3 cm long by the widht (4 cm?) of the tape, I was able to

repair my glasses quite reliably.

Luckily I was able to repair my glasses.
Driving my car without it is quite dangerous as my vision is to bad without

them.

Lessons learned:
1. even a small patch of duck tape can do miracles.
+ I plan on adding duck tape to my psk & possibly my wallet to
+ I should have known better: since Doug includes a small roll
of duc tape in his "Doug Ritter designed Pocket Survival Pak"
this must be very usefull!
2. I do have sunglasses with prescription glass in them in my car
and also my old glasses (less "magnification" than my current ones)
+ But at night, my sunglasses would be less than ideal,
so will my older glasses (I'm not seeing optimal with them).
+ I'll have to reconsider my "glasses-strategy"
+ When I can't reach my car, I have no backups
3. My glasses are essential in normal life, they will be even more essential

in a survival situation.

Questions:
- What redundacy-strategy do other people with glasses & contactlenses

have? Other considerations about glasses are welcome.

Greetings
Tranx

I know, a strange loginname. Had little inspiration when creating it. Now I

have to live with it.

They make really thin fold up glasses that are normally for reading (far-sighted people). I had a pair of my near-sighted prescription lenses put in them. They are really too small to wear all the time, but if you break your glasses they will work long enough to get you around and they are small enough to stick in your pocket. I keep them in my laptop bag that I carry around, I also have a spair pair in my desk, sunglasses in my truck, and a spare in my shooting bag (though those are polycarb lenses that are setup to match my eye position when shooting, so they are a little funky to walk around in). <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I tend to have a pair of prescription sunglasses in my bag in a hard sided case which also can serve as a backup pair of glasses.

Also, get fited for contacts and keep a pair of the disposable lens in your bag. They don't take up much space, but are a complete spare. Make sure you protect them so the plastic "foil" doesn't get punctured. One approach is to tape them foil sides together. The only downside of this is that you need clean hands to be able to put them in.

On the duct tape front, a while back my wife's shoe busted open while we were at a park. A quick wrap with duct tape from by bag insured minimum hassle.

-john

Was at a shooting course this weekend and my mag pouch lost 2 screws. Just went to the car and got the 100 MPH tape out and fixed it right up. Didn't look real nice, but I finished the course. Made up a bunch of flat rolls on the "junk" credit cards I get in the mail. Stashed them in the BOBs, FAKs and even in my weapon maint bag.

Dave

I only used glasses for driving, and I keep a spare pair in the boot of my car.

For some reason I've never felt a need to use duct tape.

"For some reason I've never felt a need to use duct tape."

NEVER? EVER??? FOR ANYTHING?????

! ! ! ! ! ! WOW ! ! ! ! ! !

I've used it to make a dress form, fix the door rack of the refrigerator, hold ten-foot lengths of pipe to the side of my little car (to get it home from the hardware store), repair old books, attach sheet insulation to the chicken house, patch an umbrella, hold the batteries in the back of a calculator, fasten tarps, hold the red piece of plastic in the car's taillight, and who knows what else. And I've hardly gotten started!

I've thought that it would be good for babysitting, but I haven't tried that yet. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Sue

It surprises me too. I don't know whether it's because I just don't think of it, or whether I genuinely don't need it.

Amen to the babysitting tape Susan <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

And since it is spelled " DUCK" tape, maybe I can use it to tape the rear end of annoying birds flying around my home so they dont pollute the area with waste that is possibly carrying bird flu viruses !!!
<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

tranx, this is a good subject

Hope you are not offended by my remark, I am only joking.
I am really nervous about bird flu, and need to laugh about it to relive my aching nerves

Don't let fear of bird flu control your life.

Back in 1976, a few soldiers on a base came down with what was diagnosed as Swine Flu. One of the soldiers died.

The government panicked, expecting a pandemic. The media helped with the fear mongering. A vaccine was created (live virus, I believe), and people stood in line to get it. About a quarter of the American population received it, IIRC. The vaccine caused a paralysis condition in some people, called Guillain-Barre syndrome, and the vaccine was said to be the cause of about 25 deaths. As far as I heard, only the one person (the soldier) was killed by the actual disease.

Sometimes the fear of something is worse than the something itself. Just keep in mind that some people and businesses make a lot of money playing off people's fears. Like the media.

Sue

Yes but, there has already been a pandemic of a bird flu ... ever read about the 1918 Influenza Pandemic.

I hope it doesnt jump, but we should be prepared nevertheless.

Since I reply to several posts at once, I just replied to the last post.

Paul810
I like your idea about the thin fold up glasses. Might be the most allround (edc) solution if the "field of view" is large enough for me.

JohnN
I will do some research about disposable lenses (are they sold one at a time; how long do they stay good; ...). They seem the best edc-backup-alternative due to their size. I never wore lenses, so I might better try it sooner then later.

Susan
since I started having duc(k)(t)-tape around (at home & in the car), I find myself using it more and more. I'm not yet as addicted as you. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

PS: is it "duck tape" or "duct tape"? Is "duck tape" a tradmark and "duct tape" the "general name"?

Chisel
quote: "I am really nervous about bird flu, and need to laugh about it to relive my aching nerves"
=> no problem at all. Life would not be much fun without a laugh every now and then, make it every day. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
I'm keeping my ears and ears open concerning brid flu.
I'm most concerned about my kids e.g. "finding a sick bird in the garden and "taking care of it".


Thanks for the usefull info. Sorry it took some time for replies, but I have been quite busy this week.

Greetings
Tranx

I know, a strange loginname. Had little inspiration when creating it. Now I have to live with it.