Whether you are hiking, hunting, plinking, stump shooting, or foraging, there is one common enemy that plagues all of us woodsman. Stickers, briars, brambles, pokes, and prods get the best of us from time to time: ranging from holes in your knit sweater, to snags on your favorite raincoat, and even scrapes and scratches on your arms, legs and body. Lucky, for us, all the items mentioned above are repairable and replaceable. They are there to protect us from bumps, bruises, and abrasions. However, our most important asset, not just in the woods, but in life is often left unprotected and un-thought about.
I’m talking about eyes.
I can’t count the number of times I have been poked in, near, and around my eyes. Close calls and near misses are one of the things that let me know that the Creator is looking over me. Without my eyesight, I would be lost and my way of life would be forever changed. These thoughts and experiences have led me to wonder why we tend to neglect our most valuable possession. Most of us take our eyesight for granted and live life with the philosophy “Yeah, it happens, but it will never happen to me”…. until it does. I’m not writing this to scare you all into staying at home in front of the TV, rather I am challenging you to think about taking proper safety precautions in the woods. Protecting your eyesight in the woods is as easy as stopping at your nearest hardware store and picking up a pair of clear safety glasses. It’ll only cost you a couple of bucks. These glasses weigh next to nothing and take up little to no space in your pack when not in use, so this is a viable option even for you ultralight guys.
I can think of many scenarios when I could benefit from having a cheap pair of safety glasses in my kit. From stumbling into the deer stand before dawn and out after sunset, to casting a fly in windy conditions, and even hustling through the woods hastily getting from point A to point B. You can even benefit by wearing these glasses when using your axe or saw at camp; wood chips are nasty little buggers. Again, I have had sawdust in my eyes more times than I could possibly count.
You may not think of eyes as fragile instruments, but they are, and if they get damaged severely enough, your eyesight can be extremely limited or lost altogether. With these thoughts in mind I highly recommend picking up a pair of safety glasses and toss them in your pack. You will find yourself reaching for them all the time when they are close hand.