Light weight eyeglass protection?

[Dale Wambaugh]

Anybody have good solutions to hard shell protection for eyeglasses? I’ve come across neoprene and padded nylon cases, and most of the plastic cases are on the Tupperware end of the scale–tough but heavy. Seems there’s an oportunity for titanium tins or something of the sort. What’s in your pack?

[Mitchell Keil]

Don’t know where you live but REI carries a line of hard shell cases. They are not bulletproof, but they are very durable and protective — and light. They are made by California Optical. They zip closed, and the one I have has a plastic clip so I put it over a belt or strap on my pack. I have used mine for more than 5 years and it has protected my eyeglasses very well, indeed.

I have a friend who made one out of pvc pipe which he softened into an oval. Then he covered it with some fuzzy cloth and put that into a silnylon ditty bag. Talk about bullet proof! He showed me how he could jump up and down on it and it would not damage his glasses. I would call this an extreme aoproach.

[J R]

You COULD take some thin plastic, like from a gallon milk jug, cut it to fit in a basic “taco shape” wrap to provide the “hard” element to the case.

Cut a matching peice of fleece, and glue it to the plastic. This is the inner padding layer.

Cut a 3rd peice of silnylon, big enough to wrap completly around the glasses, fleece, and plastic “taco”.

use of silseam or something to glue the silnylon to the plastic, and sew in a zipper.

Done.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Good idea on the milk jug plastic. An Aloksak or a small stuff sack would be a quick and dirty solution for the outer cover.

[EndoftheTrail]

Hard doesn’t mean rigid!

If you pack really tight, the “taco” described above will give only a false sense of security. Your glasses can get bent up (if not crushed) anyway.

But a rigidly hard case is heavy. A better way might be to leave one pack pocket (say the top one) fairly loose — and store your glasses there — wrapped and rubber band with a piece of bubble wrap.

[J R]

“If you pack really tight, the “taco” described above will give only a false sense of security.”

Hmmmm

Ok.

Yeah… if you pack REALLY tight, and you pack your glasses down into the mass of really-tightly-packed-things, your glasses might still get damaged. True enough. I dont recall saying it was “bomb-proof”. I do recall that it would provide a soft padded layer with a firming layer of semi rigid plastic… those two dont quite add up to bomb proof, so Im not sure where anyone would get a “false sense of security”.

However, if someone were smart enough to NOT cram their glasses down into their pack, and – ohhhh I dont know – “leave one pack pocket (say the top one) fairly loose — and store your glasses there” it might work out pretty well!

Compairing one type of glasses case under one type of pressure vs a completly different type of case under a completly different type of pressure is really “apples and oranges”.

I think the key points here are “If you pack really tight… Your glasses can get bent up (if not crushed) anyway” and “A better way might be to leave one pack pocket (say the top one) fairly loose and store your glasses there.”

[paul johnson]

I pack two pair of spare glasses in small soft cases in a ziplock and then surrounded by other soft gear in a small BMW spinnStuff sack. Have never had a problem. I’m a self-confessed klutz and sometimes pull “bone-head” manuevers when I don’t think before acting, however a little care and common sense have served well and I’ve never bent or broken a pair of glasses packing them as I do. How hard is everyone cramming things into their pack, that they feel a hard case is required? My two shekels.

[EndoftheTrail]

I guess what I am saying, is that a taco shell won’t protect glasses in a tightly packed backpack. On the other hand, if the glasses are stored in a loosely packed pocket (where they should be), then a taco shell is uneccesary — a piece of bubble wrap and a rubber band will serve just as well.

Different opinions from different people. That’s all.

[paul johnson]

Ben, never thought of trying bubble-wrap and I’ve got plenty in the basement. I’ll have to keep that in mind. Thanks for the suggestion.

[J R]

“How hard is everyone cramming things into their pack, that they feel a hard case is required?”

To be honest, Ive never *needed* anything more than the glasses bag/lens wipe thing that comes with some sports sunglasses, but I never really cram the heck out of my pack. The idea of hauling a fabric brick never appealled to me :D

[Eric West]

I’m not sure how you would source one of these, but I use the carrying case that comes with the detachable face plate for a car stereo:

http://eric.euonym.org/at/img/jvc_case.jpg

It weighs 1.8oz, but works brilliantly.

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