contact lenses in the army

jazu

My eyesight is quite bad, but i wear purevision lenses, they are amazing, i dont have trouble with lenses like infections and irritation, so its like having perfect eyesight. The allow oxygen into the eye, and they can be worn day and night for a month. I have been in desert heat freezing cold, windy and dusty enviroments without problens, i can even open my eyes underwater. Ive worn them for 9 years without one single problem, so much so that i forget i have bad eyesight. I also see 20/15 with them which is better than 20/20. and i think they block the shine from the sun, they are certianly block uv light. aclense.com, 6 month supply for $100 or so

I know that the british and american militarys dont allow lenses to be worn on deployment, and from what i can gather the foreign legion does, the legions requirement is actually -10 in dioptres, which is very high.

But my question is about the irish armys policy, have lense wearers in liberia and chad and other overseas missions been allowed to wear contact lenses? or do they have to wear glasses

arybvtcw0eolkf

jazu wrote: »

But my question is about the irish armys policy, have lense wearers in liberia and chad and other overseas missions been allowed to wear contact lenses?

There are no problems wearing contact lenses here or oversea's.

However if your wondering about a career in the Defence Forces your eyesight test is done without glasses or lenses.

jazu

is it not the case that they test your eyes without lenses or glasses, then test yours eyes corrected with glasses or lenses?

Disco Volante

As a serving soldier who wears glasses I can tell you I was just tested with my uncorrected vision! Also just a point to note if you are going to do any welding don't wear lenses or else you might never get them out again!

jazu

I have welded years ago, nothing to do with contact lenses, your eyes are covered.
Ive had a look at all the us armys reasons that i could find for not allowing them, and its bollox, its an obsolete policy, modern lenses like purevision are amazing, literly no drawbacks, and ive worn them for 9 years

Liber8or

jazu wrote: »

I have welded years ago, nothing to do with contact lenses, your eyes are covered.
Ive had a look at all the us armys reasons that i could find for not allowing them, and its bollox, its an obsolete policy, modern lenses like purevision are amazing, literly no drawbacks, and ive worn them for 9 years

I also wear lenses, but be honest with yourself and admit there have been times where the lens slips or falls out or becomes irritable. Playing sport sometimes does this to me and I have to sideline myself while I try to adjust the lens. Now, think about being in a dangerous situation or on an important duty and such an incident occurs, effectively you become a problem to yourself and those around you.

I know how unlikely these things can be, but they must be taken into consideration by the Defense Forces...

OS119

jazu wrote: »

I have welded years ago, nothing to do with contact lenses, your eyes are covered.
Ive had a look at all the us armys reasons that i could find for not allowing them, and its bollox, its an obsolete policy, modern lenses like purevision are amazing, literly no drawbacks, and ive worn them for 9 years

sorry, you've never worn them while living at a Forward Operating Base for 6 months in the desert, a place where the nothing goes in or out but by helicopter, where every bloke on the base relies absolutely on every other bloke doing his job perfectly in order to survive, where nothing gets on that helicopter but fuel, food, water and ammunition, and the only thing that gets out is blokes who've had their legs blown off.

militaries have a very good reson for deciding that soldiers need to be able to do their jobs without help in the most difficult circumstances - and thats because soldiers often have to work in those circumstances, and have to do so at the end of a very long, multi-national, multi-lingual supply chain that doesn't do personal requests, misses deliveries and doesn't have the time to make sure that Private X gets his regular deliveries of contact lenses.

its unfortunate, but if you can't be relied upon to do your job in those circumstances, then you can't do the job.

ChunkyLover_53

You'll be fine young fella I wore daily disposable lenes in Chad for 4 months & had no bother. Just brought 6 months supply just in case we had to extend & I brought 3 mini bottles of rewetting drops, 1 for my tent, 1 in my first aid kit & 1 in my battle vest.

if you do the initial entry eye exam you must take out your lenes for that on as your vision must be uncorrected from for entry test. Any eye test I ever did after that i had my contacts in for it and as long as your corrected vision is above the minimum standard you'll pass it.

I never went anywhere without my specs though even if I wasn't going out on overnights as you just can never tell if you'll get stranded due to a breakdown or some other unforseen event.

jazu

OS119 wrote: »

sorry, you've never worn them while living at a Forward Operating Base for 6 months in the desert, a place where the nothing goes in or out but by helicopter, where every bloke on the base relies absolutely on every other bloke doing his job perfectly in order to survive, where nothing gets on that helicopter but fuel, food, water and ammunition, and the only thing that gets out is blokes who've had their legs blown off.

militaries have a very good reson for deciding that soldiers need to be able to do their jobs without help in the most difficult circumstances - and thats because soldiers often have to work in those circumstances, and have to do so at the end of a very long, multi-national, multi-lingual supply chain that doesn't do personal requests, misses deliveries and doesn't have the time to make sure that Private X gets his regular deliveries of contact lenses.

its unfortunate, but if you can't be relied upon to do your job in those circumstances, then you can't do the job.

I wear purevision contact lenses, not regular hard or soft.
I have never met another person who wears them, they dont come, i can open my eyes under water and i used to work crushing barley with heavy dust particles flying at my face for hours.
I ve put them to the test and they are not a problem.
I was simply asking about regulations.
Purevision are the best lenses available

Disco Volante

jazu wrote: »

I wear purevision contact lenses, not regular hard or soft.
I have never met another person who wears them, they dont come, i can open my eyes under water and i used to work crushing barley with heavy dust particles flying at my face for hours.
I ve put them to the test and they are not a problem.
I was simply asking about regulations.
Purevision are the best lenses available

You are like a sales pitch for those lenses! Just take note of what chunky said. He has first hand experience and gave you some tips!

concussion

Disco Volante wrote: »

You are like a sales pitch for those lenses! Just take note of what chunky said. He has first hand experience and gave you some tips!

As has OS119...

otmmyboy2

Slightly off topic but if you only have vision in one eye does that disqualify you from either the pdf or the reserves?

SIRREX

otmmyboy2 wrote: »

Slightly off topic but if you only have vision in one eye does that disqualify you from either the pdf or the reserves?

Afraid so

Manic Moran

Ive had a look at all the us armys reasons that i could find for not allowing them, and its bollox, its an obsolete policy, modern lenses like purevision are amazing, literly no drawbacks, and ive worn them for 9 years

Out of interest, how long can you wear a single set of contacts without removing, re-lubricating, or doing any other sort of maintenance or adjustment to them?

Removing your pro-mask in a contaminated environment because your eyes are a little irritated is frowned upon, and can be fatal. I would lay money that the 'in between maintenance' time periods are far longer for conventional lenses than they are for contacts. CBRN is still taken very seriously in the US military. I would presume that Chunky was not provided a full set of CBRN equipment in Chad: When I was in Afghanistan earlier this year, we had issued to each soldier two complete JSLISTS sets, and a spare cannister for our masks, in addition to the detectors and whatnot.

I have never met another person who wears them, they dont come, i can open my eyes under water and i used to work crushing barley with heavy dust particles flying at my face for hours.

It's not the heavy dust particles that would worry me, it's what we call the 'moon dust', the really small, almost atomised dust that we find in Iraq particularly that would be of more note.

NTM

jazu

Manic Moran wrote: »

Out of interest, how long can you wear a single set of contacts without removing, re-lubricating, or doing any other sort of maintenance or adjustment to them?


NTM

one month, no lubricating, there designed to be put in your eye and left in without removing or lubricating the at all.
There are some people of who get dry eye, but if you dont get dry eye you dont touch them at all

spideog7

It was my understanding that you couldn't get into the PDF if you wore glasses. Or is there just a certain level of eye sight that you have to have (anyone have a figure for that) ? I can't do anything without my glass (can barely walk on rough ground would be tripping over stuff).

It wasn't me!

spideog7 wrote: »

It was my understanding that you couldn't get into the PDF if you wore glasses. Or is there just a certain level of eye sight that you have to have (anyone have a figure for that) ? I can't do anything without my glass (can barely walk on rough ground would be tripping over stuff).

Your eyesight has to be 6/18 or better uncorrected in both eyes, with one corrected to no less than 6/6 and one to 6/9. That's from memory, but fairly sure it's correct. Surgical correction also renders you ineligible for service, bizarrely.

concussion

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Your eyesight has to be 6/18 or better uncorrected in both eyes, with one corrected to no less than 6/6 and one to 6/9. That's from memory, but fairly sure it's correct. Surgical correction also renders you ineligible for service, bizarrely.

Those are the minimum requirements for Cadets and correspond to Grade 1 on an acuity scale. Grade 3 is the minimum required for general entry and while I don't know the exact figures, I know that a dioptere of -3.75 is on the lower end of a Grade 3.

It wasn't me!

concussion wrote: »

Those are the minimum requirements for Cadets and correspond to Grade 1 on an acuity scale. Grade 3 is the minimum required for general entry and while I don't know the exact figures, I know that a dioptere of -3.75 is on the lower end of a Grade 3.

Interesting. I'd still be eligible for general service in that case...

concussion

I'd advise ringing the relevant Manpower Office to be certain, my figures aren't accurate by any means!

It wasn't me!

concussion wrote: »

I'd advise ringing the relevant Manpower Office to be certain, my figures aren't accurate by any means!

The General Services booklet on military.ie doesn't seem to be downloading properly as a PDF for me at the moment. Would be interesting to see the requirements in terms of vision on a Snellen scale, as I have a rough idea of my acuity. Of course, if they ever review their requirements in future, and should I get surgical correction, I could apply for the commission from the ranks.

spideog7

I'm around -7... should probably be eligible for disability :P

concussion

The requirements aren't in the GS handbook unfortunately.

Wicklowrider

OS119 wrote: »

sorry, you've never worn them while living at a Forward Operating Base for 6 months in the desert, a place where the nothing goes in or out but by helicopter, where every bloke on the base relies absolutely on every other bloke doing his job perfectly in order to survive, where nothing gets on that helicopter but fuel, food, water and ammunition, and the only thing that gets out is blokes who've had their legs blown off.

militaries have a very good reson for deciding that soldiers need to be able to do their jobs without help in the most difficult circumstances - and thats because soldiers often have to work in those circumstances, and have to do so at the end of a very long, multi-national, multi-lingual supply chain that doesn't do personal requests, misses deliveries and doesn't have the time to make sure that Private X gets his regular deliveries of contact lenses.

its unfortunate, but if you can't be relied upon to do your job in those circumstances, then you can't do the job.

Carry glasses just in case?
I wore lenses but carried glasses in very hard case in combat jacket. Then I got the laser op. If the op is an option I'd reccomend it.

Manic Moran

Carry glasses just in case?

We're already carrying everything but the kitchen sink, I'm not sure I want to carry a set of glasses around with me as well.

Besides, eye protection is now pretty much mandatory wear in the US Army. Those sunglasses all the US troops wear are rated to stop shrapnel, if there was any piece of PPE I would religiously wear, it was the glasses.

Near as I can tell, that's the best argument in favour of lenses that's out there, you won't need to worry about getting prescription ballistic lenses made (though in fairness, the Army system is pretty good at it), but I have also seen some inserts which clip behind the standard ballistic lens.

NTM

Wicklowrider

Manic Moran wrote: »

We're already carrying everything but the kitchen sink, I'm not sure I want to carry a set of glasses around with me as well.

Besides, eye protection is now pretty much mandatory wear in the US Army. Those sunglasses all the US troops wear are rated to stop shrapnel, if there was any piece of PPE I would religiously wear, it was the glasses.

Near as I can tell, that's the best argument in favour of lenses that's out there, you won't need to worry about getting prescription ballistic lenses made (though in fairness, the Army system is pretty good at it), but I have also seen some inserts which clip behind the standard ballistic lens.

NTM

Must be really rough if you'd find a pair of specs hardship ( or even notice them).
The OP was asking specifically about the Irish Army?
I don't think the PDF issue eye protection especially any protective prescription lenses. Of course this could have changed since I served. I'd still recommend checking out the laser op for anyone that can have it - some of the best money I ever spent.

EDIT: origionally mentioned glasses as backup for lenses - not instead of...

It wasn't me!

Wicklowrider wrote: »

Must be really rough if you'd find a pair of specs hardship ( or even notice them).
The OP was asking specifically about the Irish Army?
I don't think the PDF issue eye protection especially any protective prescription lenses. Of course this could have changed since I served. I'd still recommend checking out the laser op for anyone that can have it - some of the best money I ever spent.

EDIT: origionally mentioned glasses as backup for lenses - not instead of...

Surgical correction is forbidden in the DF and as I understand it, it'll show up pretty easily in the medical check. Otherwise, I'd do it myself.

SIRREX

Wicklowrider wrote: »

I don't think the PDF issue eye protection especially any protective prescription lenses. Of course this could have changed since I served.

It is now quite easy to get the Operational goggles or the Respirator with prescription lenses

Manic Moran

Must be really rough if you'd find a pair of specs hardship ( or even notice them).

It's not a question of weight, it's a question of real estate. Where are you going to place something which is about the size of a rifle magazine that isn't going to get in the way of something else, which will remain secured, and won't be an issue in the various contortions one would carry out? I deliberately left space for a radio (which would still require removing a grenade pouch).

These days the combat jacket is not a great place to carry things: Body armor is de rigeur, and rather kills the pockets.

NTM

Doctor14

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Surgical correction is forbidden in the DF and as I understand it, it'll show up pretty easily in the medical check. Otherwise, I'd do it myself.

Have to disagree. Assuming the surgery goes well and you give it time to heal, certain types of surgery do not show up except to an ophthalmic surgeon who is specifically looking for it and knows what they are looking for. Medicals in the Army rarely involve more than a medic or doctor and I have never heard of an ophthalmic surgeon being involved in a medical.

Wicklowrider wrote: »

I don't think the PDF issue eye protection especially any protective prescription lenses. Of course this could have changed since I served.

PDF are now issued goggles with ballistic protective lenses as part of their basic kit. When overseas, they tend to get special issues of ballistic glasses (ESS seems to be the usual issue) but this may have changed since the goggles came on stream.

It wasn't me!

Doctor14 wrote: »

Have to disagree. Assuming the surgery goes well and you give it time to heal, certain types of surgery do not show up except to an ophthalmic surgeon who is specifically looking for it and knows what they are looking for. Medicals in the Army rarely involve more than a medic or doctor and I have never heard of an ophthalmic surgeon being involved in a medical.

Interesting. From what I heard it was something they could typically detect quite easily. Not going to do it and keep my mouth shut as I'd rather be up front about things, but it is interesting. I have scar tissue on one eye as it stands from some old injury.


PDF are now issued goggles with ballistic protective lenses as part of their basic kit. When overseas, they tend to get special issues of ballistic glasses (ESS seems to be the usual issue) but this may have changed since the goggles came on stream.[/QUOTE]

Poccington

Doctor14 wrote: »

Have to disagree. Assuming the surgery goes well and you give it time to heal, certain types of surgery do not show up except to an ophthalmic surgeon who is specifically looking for it and knows what they are looking for. Medicals in the Army rarely involve more than a medic or doctor and I have never heard of an ophthalmic surgeon being involved in a medical.

I know of people who once they were in, got the surgery done and were later found out when they went for their annual or Overseas medicals.

PDF are now issued goggles with ballistic protective lenses as part of their basic kit. When overseas, they tend to get special issues of ballistic glasses (ESS seems to be the usual issue) but this may have changed since the goggles came on stream.

We still get the glasses when going overseas, although I think they're from Bolle now.

It wasn't me!

Poccington wrote: »

I know of people who once they were in, got the surgery done and were later found out when they went for their annual or Overseas medicals.

This is something I've heard a few times too, which is why I wouldn't do it.

Wicklowrider

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Surgical correction is forbidden in the DF and as I understand it, it'll show up pretty easily in the medical check. Otherwise, I'd do it myself.

Never even thought of that -assumed because gardai are allowed it would have been OK. Just shows danger of giving advise (or taking it) on internet.

Doctor14 wrote: »

PDF are now issued goggles with ballistic protective lenses as part of their basic kit. When overseas, they tend to get special issues of ballistic glasses (ESS seems to be the usual issue) but this may have changed since the goggles came on stream.

Thats great and proper order.

Poccington wrote: »

I know of people who once they were in, got the surgery done and were later found out when they went for their annual or Overseas medicals.
We still get the glasses when going overseas, although I think they're from Bolle now.

I've had it done about 15 years ago - so by todays standards mine would be crude - but you can see the scars and I was questioned about it on the Fire Service.

Used Bolle in civvy work and thought they were excellent (didn't fog etc) Thankfully I did't find out their ballistic resistance!