Glasses in Men?

[Haowen]

Hullo everyone!

I'm a beginner in kendo, and I've worn a borrowed men once or twice with my glasses inside the men. I haven't had the "steaming up" problem yet since I haven't had any shiai practice yet (or kakari geiko or anything strenuous in a bogu), but I've found that it's pretty uncomfortable on the ears if the men is tied properly.

I've considered contacts but contacts aren't really comfortable with my eyes (they feel dry very quickly). So I'm just thinking of how to solve all these problems.

I'm wondering if anyone here wears corrective lenses (of any kind) and if so, how do you recommend dealing with them inside a men?

Thank you! :glasses:

[Simon Chien]

Hi Haowen,

I wear glasses in the men which I bought from web shopping. It's quite good. You can find it at KENDOSHOP.

On the other hand , if you have an old glasses ( a spare one which is old) , you may want to make your own glasses in the men by disassemble the metal bars that should be put on your ear to secure the glasses on your face and tie a elastic string in the proper length on either side of the nob of the frame of glasses. This can be done only for glasses with a frame which is shorter than the width of your face in the level of your eyes.

Hope you are with me for what was illustrated above since I am not fluent in English!

[saki_wooah]

I wore my glasses in my men for a couple of months, and decided that I've had enough of it. Later, you will have steam no your glasses, and it's very unconfortable. I decided to wear contact lenses. I tried ... 4 pairs of different lenses. Habitually, if they fell dry ver quickly, you should try another kind of material. The three first ones were really unconfortable and my eyes felt dry after 3-4 hours. Also, your eyes won't be used to contacts the first times but gradually they will adapt.
Now my glasses are half-broken because I tied up my men a bit too much. And when doing shiai, it's good to have a clear vision with contact lenses.

[David J]

I believe there are very few people who are physiologically incapable of using contact lenses, though some are psychologically incapable (eye-phobia type thing). The major issue is the water content of the lenses. I used to use some that felt very dry within a few hours, and were no good in air-con or low light. I wear glasses for everything other than kendo, when I (now) use high-water content 1-day disposables. Once you adapt to wearing them (it takes a few minutes - you are messing with your brain, after all ;)) the difference is huge. And if you steam as much as I do inside bogu, there really is no alternative.

<rei>

Dave

[mingshi]

Haowen, there was a thread in this forum on glasses before... maybe you can do a little search.

I have an update on my situation... Simply because I JUST SNAPPED MINE 2 weeks ago!!!

My sensei wears his so I thought it's okay too. I believe at least 1/3 of the Japanese high school students also wear theirs during Kendo. ....Mine is made of thin metal, and after 1 year of practice with this pair the handle part gets too tired (the area which rubs against the inside edge of the Men-gane). I thought that's the usual "dislocated" feeling, so I actually continued (plus falling off twice during the same jikeiko)... When I pulled off my Men the whole thing fell apart... I was THAT close to let the broken part into my eye and goes totally blind...

I don't believe wearing glasses has anything to do with clear vision. If you're already wearing yours long there isn't any different between seeing the frames and the Men bars (i.e. you don't really see them!!) If they steam up, just stop exhaling through your mouth!!

Although at the moment I've to wear contact lenses, it's not the perfect solution... I've to keep a tiny bottle of eye-drop around. Yes, they can get so dry! Especially when doing Kata you're not suppose to BLINK too often! Even with 1-day ones... BTW don't forget the $$$.

Things fall in my hands wouldn't last very long, especially glasses I usually have to get a new pair within1-2 years (they all snapped in various situations). That is with 11 years of glasses-wearing experience (at the moment I cannot read anything in focus beyond 30 cm, shortsighted -6.00... so don't recommand me not to wear glasses). 3 years ago my last pair of contact lenses fell out 3 times in a day and were eventually dead... Even if I got so rich, laser correction would not be the ultimate solution either. Since people with serious shortsightedness (like myself) have a bigger blindspot, which will not be cured in any operation.

Having bad eyesight is entirely my fault and this is probably what I regret for my entire life.... but I shouldn't complain too much because I'm still of the lucky bunch who's not totally blind (yet).

:glasses:

[David J]

Originally posted by mingshi
If they steam up, just stop exhaling through your mouth!!


I didnt find that this stopped mine steaming up....

How is the eyesight thing your fault Mingshi?

<rei>

Dave

[KhawMengLee]

to stop the fogging:

Put some soap in water(clear liquid soap is best), then dip your glasses in the soapy water and then let it dry. Don't wipe off the soap. If done properly there should be a clear film of soap on the lense.

Viola: instant anti fog

MENG

[mingshi]

Dave:
That's traveling to school for 6 years by 1-hour bus journey, on the way read some Chinese tight-type-setting novels and Japanese Manga. Plus mid-night computer gaming within that 6 years.

To all the potential parents,
Kick your kids outside your house and let them play with other actual human beings. Smashing the other kids with bamboo sticks can be far more healthier than pressing buttons on the Playstation console...

[saki_wooah]

Although at the moment I've to wear contact lenses, it's not the perfect solution... I've to keep a tiny bottle of eye-drop around. Yes, they can get so dry! Especially when doing Kata you're not suppose to BLINK too often! Even with 1-day ones... BTW don't forget the $$$.Although at the moment I've to wear contact lenses, it's not the perfect solution... I've to keep a tiny bottle of eye-drop around. Yes, they can get so dry! Especially when doing Kata you're not suppose to BLINK too often! Even with 1-day ones... BTW don't forget the $$$.

I asked many optical shops in order to get lenses and sometimes the price can be as big as 350$ (CAN) a year for contacts. I found a good shop with an incredible price of 120 $ a year for very good lenses. They even did the try-out for free (in other places it was 30$). I guess I was lucky.

[Henning]

Finally a post I can really relate to.
Only been practicing for two years. The first 7-8 months I used contacts, but they were getting old so I had to throw them away. Wanted to get new 1-day contacts, but I had big problems getting them onto my eyes. They were simply to soft. After having broken 6 or 7 pairs trying to put them on I decided to use my glasses instead. I have done so ever since, but it has not been a joy ride. That the glasses fog up is not the biggest problem. As long as I keep moving everything is fine. The fog only appear when I stand still. I can live with that. However - after a 1 hour practise session I don't have fog on my glasses but a "small lake". Hence I am not looking thru fog it is more like lying under water trying to look up to see what is going on over the watersurface. Pretty difficult. So I actually spend the next hour(s) of practice not seeing much. (Actually Dr. Alex Bennett made us practice blind-folded for a few minutes when he visited Norway this summer.) Interesting experience, but no fun when you have to do it for 1-2 hours.
With glasses one also has the problem with them sliding down your nose or getting askew. Not to mention that it from time to time is not only uncomfortable, but direct painfull on the ears. (this can of course probably be avoided with the glasses mentioned by Simon Chien)
I have considered a laser operation but the price here is about 4000 dollars. I might have to think about that for a while.

I know this does not answer Haowens question, but I just had to get it all out of my system.
Hope you all bear with me

[Haowen]

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions!

I purchased a vision plan with my insurance -specifically- to get a good pair of contacts for kendo. Hopefully I'll have better luck with contacts this time (fingers crossed).

:)

[Kendoboy]

try doing the same as for goggles underwater. rub spit on them, then wipe them clean. It leaves a thin (can't tell it's there) layer that will prevent fogging.

[Raiza]

As a fellow four-eyes, I'd recommend for people who want to switch to contacts for kendo is get some disposables instead of spending a heck of a lot more for a pair of regular lenses, especially if you have never used contacts before. The reason is that you're more likely to lose, break, or do other interesting things to your contact lenses than a seasoned user so you won't freak out nearly as much when something happens to them. As long as you take care of your hygiene and your lenses, the disposables can last a long time, usually double the recommended time if you wear them every day (so says the optometrist who sold them to me). I use a "two-week" kind that's lasted as long as several months with kendo-only use (2-3 times/wk).

If you have the lenses already than ignore what I just said. :p

And for the die-hards, who love their megane under their mengane, rub shampoo with a soft cloth into the lenses of the glasses prior to class. I've seen this work on a tiny packed tour bus with no defogger in rainy Scotland and it works great for my glasses too. The shampoo repels the water and keeps it off your glasses. And it also happens to have a lower gross-out factor than spit. Ewwww! :)

[Hyaku]

Originally posted by Kendoboy
try doing the same as for goggles underwater. rub spit on them, then wipe them clean. It leaves a thin (can't tell it's there) layer that will prevent fogging.
......
Used to but everyone uses toothpaste now. Rub some on the lenses and rinse. They "never" fog up.

Hyaku

[David J]

Isnt toothpaste abrasive though? Sounds like this would scratch the hell out of plastic lenses (I'm not about to test this theory....)

<rei>

Dave

[Hyaku]

Hello David

Im a diver and perhaps misunderstood your post. When you said goggles and underwater that what I was thinking of.

But this would be ok for spectacles. You can also can anti fog spray at a diving shop/supplier.

Hyaku

[KhawMengLee]

I use Barz surf goggles under mine.

http://www.sporteyes.com/barz.htm

PEACE
MENG

[Kendoboy]

Toothpaste should be fine. It's not abrasive at all. you can even use it to clean and remove tiny marks from cds! Marvelous stuff!

[Simon Chien]

Yes , toothpaste is very good to clean the glasses and avoid the fog on it. I've been using the toothpaste of Amway ( glister ) to clean both my teeth and my glasses for many years and now I clean my glasses in the men in the same way.

Here're the steps for cleaning :

1. Wash you hand
2. Put the glasses in the water to remove the dust on it
3. Get a little bit toothpaste and put it on both side of the glasses
4. use your fingers to clean the glasses with the toothpaste
5. Put the glasses in the water to wash out the toothpaste
6. Use extra soft tissue to wipe out the water on the glasses

[Matthew Lagden]

I wore contact lenses under Men for the first time thursday and experienced no problems at all - the very opposite in fact, my kendo was much better because of that one little less thing to worry about, and for those who saw my similar thread on this issue, i didn't flinch. not once!

[David J]

Originally posted by Kendoboy
Toothpaste should be fine. It's not abrasive at all. you can even use it to clean and remove tiny marks from cds! Marvelous stuff!

Errr....

Logically if it can remove tiny marks then it must be abrasive. Given that even paper tissues* can scratch plastic lenses I would be very wary of using toothpaste to clean them. On glass glasses its a different story.

<rei>

Dave

*:yes really. Less so if you have a quartz coating, but this also rubs off in time

[Denryuu]

I wear glasses too, but I haven't tried a men yet. But my sensei wears glasses under the men and I didn't see him having a problem.

[rin-chan]

I haven't had a problem with them but I also have the kind of glasses where the frames bend(FLEXON). The method with the spit works well and I use that sometimes.

[nicuma]

Finally!!!

I found it hard wearing glasses whilst training especially since my glasses are seasoned and every now and then i have to push it up coz it slides down...ive had those pair for a long time...i broke my newer ones so had to use the old ones...wasnt really holding up well...so i decided to use my newer spare ones for kendo but not eveyday use instead....soounds complicated but its not...hahahahahah....this is before i got to wearing a men....now that im wearing a men i have the problem with my glasses slighty sliding down n i cant seem to adjust it wear i feel comfortable if i have the men on....my only solution is getting those elastic bands for glasses, the ones that secure the glasses to the head...ya'll knoe what i mean rite? well thats has corrected the problem for now and i havent had any fogging issues so i guess im good to go....at least for now....

:P

i was thinking about contact lenses but i honestly have no idea about wht type to get (if there are different types)

the feedback on this thread has helped me see other situations on what might happen! thanks!!!!! :D

[mkomoto]

For those of you who wish to wear your daily-use glasses inside your men (rather than purchasing the elastic-band glasses) there is a special custom treatment you can have done at the time you are having a new men made for you:

In this treatment, the uchiwa, the cloth ring on the inside of the men that contacts your face, is sewn very tightly with many lines of stitch around the level that the stems of the glasses, the parts that reach back to your ears, pass by.

This additional clearance prevents pressure against the stems and your face, making wearing the men much more comfortable, and will prevent the stems from being bent or broken as some have commented about.

I have also put mention of this in the information pages of www.chibabogu.com, top page, right column.

This is a regular treatment that we do as a service when building custom men and it has proven to be quite successful.

Hope this is a useful contribution to this topic.

Cheers to all,

MK