So being short sighted I currently wear glasses. Its a bit of pain when kite surfing, and I was wondering if anyone goes out wearing contacts? Does it work well? Any side effects?

I wear them for wake boarding inc wipe outs , haven't had any issues so far.

hey man, im short sighted aswell. i tried contacts but found them a pain to put in if i was in a hurry to get to the beach when its blowing.
i have a second pair of glasses that i tie onto my wetsuit zip string. it works really well and i havent lost them so far, and have tried it out with some huge crashes!!!
hope this helps

as an optometrist i'd discourage everyone from using contacts in water for hygienic reasons. but on the other hand i can understand how annoying glasses are while kitting. so i'd advise using ONLY disposable contacts and dispose them after the session. DO NOT REUSE! treat your sight as good as you can!

If you only used disposable dailys, and discarded after use, what are the odds of getting something like Acanthamoeba Keratitis (I assume thats what you're referring to) in salt water?

can't tell exactly. but using the disposals will minimise the risk... also remove the contacts soon after use. but not too soon as your eyes tend to be dry and the removal can be problematic. give it approx. 20 - 30 mins or use a lubricant drops to wet the eyes.
hope this helps

You can buy daily chuckouts here - www.lensesonline.co.nz/Index.aspx - cheapest that I have found in NZ, no sight of prescription is required and they are based in Orewa. I always kite with them and have not faced any issues other than occasional loss of lenses due to wipe outs. I would suggest putting them in at home or prior to getting out of the car to minimize risk of sand contamination. Also, always bring your glasses and leave them in the car in case you lose the lenses and don't have a spare.

Whoa...I wear contacts everytime I kite and have never thought about the risk to the eyes!

Do you think it would be sweet to just rinse them straight after each session?

Have had one session where I wiped out and lost one contact...I'm pretty short sighted so it made depth perception very difficult. Needless to say kiting back in and the drive home were interesting...

you should always bring your glasses dewd

agreed with deano. you should always bring your glasses.
in terms of rinsing the lenses, i wouldn't personally risk it. however the risk is lower than in lakes or pools...

You don't have to take my advice and it is at your own risk.

I believe contact lens manufacturers want you to replace lenses more often as they want to sell more. That is why you are told so many stories about contamination. If sea water is such a hygiene risk to your eyes, then give up kitesurfing and never take your eyes close to seawater again.

I wore disposable lenses for about 5 years and bodysurfed, swam, windsurfed and scuba dived with them regularly. I did not ditch them after every session in sea water and still wore them for 2 months at a time. I even opened my eyes occasionally under the seawater and never lost a lens. The lenses I used were 2-weekly lenses, but my optometrist said that they were fine for wearing 2 months at a stretch, so I did that for 5 years. I also didn't consistently uses all the special liquids and soaps and things on the lenses. I never had any problems with infections or anything like that.

I then went for Lasik laser surgery about 13 years ago. It was the best thing I could ever have done. I was quite lucky because my medical insurance at the time paid for it in full and did not cost me a cent. Never had to fuss with contacts or glasses again and my eyes are still good.

My wife went for Lasik last year. Costed us $5500 which we have almost finished paying off on a 12 month interest free loan. It is a lot of money, but worth every cent! like me, she sees perfectly. Think about it.

If my eyes ever go bad again, I will go back to disposables again and do exactly what I have done before.

Sorry dewd but that sounds really dodgy - big time. I would never take the risks with my vision that you have. Similarly, having worn a pair of daily disposable lenses for more that the prescribed time I found that they start to dry and become solid in your eye. What brand of disposables were you wearing in the 1990's? Your eye hygiene is poor; to then prescribe it others is like the blind leading the blind!

kitey, from my point of view you were lucky. also i'm very happy that i was/am not your optometrist...
regarding the greedy contact lens manufacturers, you were almost right. the real truth is, however, even more striking! the main profit from selling disposables to water sports lovers goes to the pocket of george bush jr.

Lucky or not, Lasik is the ultimate answer.

Kitey wrote:


as the previous poster (an optician) said, you were lucky -

here are some accounts of some unlucky candidates for laser eye surgery.

users.tns.net/~equity/lasiksos/

Get real, the risk of it happening to you is absolutely minute. You've probably got more chance of getting killed by your own kite than lasik going wrong. Yet you don't stop sailing.

If the risk was high, you wouldn't see long waiting lists at the eye clinics. The reason I saw some ophthalmologists at the eye clinic driving Aston Martins is because there is such high demand for it and they can afford to charge $5500 for a 20 minute procedure.

It is like anything. You can even get injured having your teeth cleaned at the dentist. Does that stop you from going to the dentist??

I know at least 10 people who had Lasik done. None of them had any side affects. The only one which wasn't a success was my sister. Her eyes did not improve enough, but she could still go back onto contact lenses and her money was refunded.

Kitey wrote:


that's 10 percent dewd

I wouldn't call that a side affect.

You can't go through life being afraid of everything mate. Grow some courage.

Kitey wrote:


maybe you could hold my hand ?