Bucket and glasses ?

[Lucky Jack]

Hey gang......completed my first troop yesterday - the annual NY Fire Dept worked with the Times Square Toys R Us to close the store for 3 hours for the wives and children of fallen firefighters (wow - what a moving experience - will post a brief description today since a lot of the Pathfinders may find it of interest).

 

And my modified Rubies looked as good as she could. Usual mods - 1/8th steel wires to really thin it out, cuts and slices, etc. Problem was after 3 hours the pain of my glasses scrunched to my face was pretty bad. I mean REALLY bad. Had to break out for 5 mins at the half-way point just to try and adjust the glasses. Gotta say - left eye still blurry so must have strained it a bit.

 

So they're an old pair - kinda small and fit fine on the sides - it's just my noggin must be too big so that the lens pushes - munches - crushes them to my face. I've got a decent sized noggin - about 7 1/4 or a bit larger. Not a fan of contacts so that's out. If I have to bite the bullet and need to upgrade to an MLC or KS to fit my head that's fine - Christmas and my 40th are right around the corner is so Mrs. Claus may have an order to place. Biggest issue is don't want to go thru that again !

 

Thought I'd ping the crowd to see what other tree huggers find themselves crashing into trees with greater frequency due to poor bucket fit and glasses !

 

Thanks gang.

[Darth Lakota]

hmm not sure... im guessing the other lids will have more room than the rubies does .. but i wouldnt know for sure.

 

If its any consolation to you I didnt even notice that you disapeared for a while to do that. You must have been speedy gonzales. lol

[Spectre5549]

Hey congratulations on the first troop! I'll look forward to reading your post later.

 

I'm not liking how you say that your left eye is a little blurry now from the strain, I'd say get your eyes checked up if it doesn't go back to normal in a few days.

 

I'm one of those in the contacts boat, but I know what you mean about the glasses in the face. Tried it with my KS bucket and wasn't too happy about it. (might be the way I put my padding inside, there's lots of room for me)

 

You said your glasses are an older pair, so maybe it's a good time to get a new pair. If the old ones are still fine, getting a pair only for trooping inside the bucket might be an option. I'd recommend Flexon frames because they are a little lighter and can bend inside your bucket without a problem. But if they have to bend too much though, double check the prescription/get the prescription changed to accommodate that bend so that your eyes won't be strained from wearing them.

 

Given how little room you have in your bucket to begin with, getting new frames that will fit properly may be difficult; so if going that route is not feasible, (probably isn't) just go ahead and upgrade your helmet.

 

I'd rather you not lose your vision, that'll make dodging the trees a wee bit harder.

[loosetoon]

The Rubies lid is the smallest you can get. The KS is probably the biggest currently available, at least until this one goes into production.

 

I wear the KS and I wear glasses, and I have a huge head. They press a little bit which causes them to fog, but not bad.

 

You could also maybe get something like prescription swimmers goggles.

 

[Lucky Jack]

(Hehe - thanks Gary !)

 

Agreed on the blur - odd. My guess is that the pads onthe nose / frames were pressed to hard into my face from the bucket (helmet lense to glasses contact mostly). Probably a bit of eye strain so I'll keep an eye on it (no punn intended !) for the next day or so.

 

They are an older pair of glasses - you eyeglass wearers all know the drawer filled with a few old pair ! The prescription is still current but the frames are small - should fit into the bucket.

 

A few of our troopers were raving about the flex frames so maybe a pair of glasses for trooping is the right idea. I've tried contacts but I'm an eye poker - just kept stabbing my eye with my finger trying to get in the lenses ! Maybe I'll have to try again.

 

Otherwise, perhaps a KS or MLC bucket is a nice alternative option.

 

Thanks gang ! If anyone else has thoughts / experiences / advice feel free to post. Much appreciated !!!

[Arch27]

What you have on the inside makes a huge difference. I have a smaller head than most and find the KS small.

 

My KS has a hard hat liner and it's a tight fit. It's so tight that my forehead is against the lens usually. My nose is about where the bridge vent sits and I've had the bottom of the lens dig into my nose.

 

My MLC has 1/2" ACH/ZAP pads and there's a decent amount of space between my face and the faceplate. I can get my hand up between my face and the helmet.

[jabbasdead]

I just wear contacts now when I troop with the Rubies. If I need to wear glasses I put extra padding in my bucket which lifts it a bit and forward and let the face shield (don't know what else to call it) slide forward a bit. Looking forward nobody knows the difference and from the side you just see an slight 1/4" gap, most can't pick it out from troop photo's + it gives me slightly more ventilation

[Chex]

Yeah, def change up your bucket if you can. I have a KS and I have the 3/4 ach pads. I have to readjust sometimes to keep my brow from pressing against the lens (should have went with the 1/2 inch) but it's fine.

[Dart]

I actually have very few problems with my glasses bumping the lens. I've got a large head but I don't have a ton of padding in my KS bucket. Just enough to keep it from rotating on itself while I'm wearing it.

[Guest Traskk]

If you have the money to spend on it, you can find prescription lens inserts that are usually used inside of goggles. ou should be able to mount them inside of the helmet.

[Lucky Jack]

Great advice all - thanks so much for the feedback ! I think I'm going to try contacts again - it's been a few years since I last wore them. Put sooo much work into my bucket and have it looking pretty darn sharp so not ready to part with it after just 1 troop. Will keep you all posted !