Aye Up All,
I'm assuming that 'tramping' in the OP includes 'bush-crafting' in some way, shape or form, so -
How very interesting that with the exception of Leshy no one has mentioned much about first aid items regarding eye injuries (I will stand corrected if Ive missed others).
When you consider that this is a bush-craft site and think about the nature of both the environment that we are active in and the type of activities that we pursue, that is quite surprising. (Or are we all wearing safety glasses every time we bushcraft or just plain lucky so far........!)
Aside from
physical injury i.e. grit blown into the eyes; walking into a low hanging branch; hit by a flying wood chip; splattered by a coal spark or (dare I say?) frying liquid etc, the eyes are one of the fastest routes for
infection into the body.
Ive seen physical eye injuries (and suffered some of them myself) from the incidents mentioned above but just as often infection from a brush across the eyes from a branch where no obvious physical injury has taken place, as well as where an eye has been wiped with the back of a dirty hand or glove. (The infection severity usually manifests quite a while after the cause possibly because it is shrugged off (and hand wiped!) instead of being first-aid addressed straight away).
And not forgetting the effect of just the wind when youve walked or observed face-into it for a protracted period. Or that old Brian Ferry cover, when youve sat too close for too long to a not-quite-efficient fire.
Ive posted before that Ive long considered my water bottle (and other non-obvious items) a part of my
First
Aid
Kit think burns, open wounds, muck-in-the eye etc and as a doctor once said to me
The solution to pollution is dilution is what informs that practice.
So - eye bath; eye wash; eye spray; antiseptic eye drops; eye dressing; eye patch (pirates!) are all included in even my most basic nip-out-local FAK. (Oh yes and safety specs!).
Pirates eye-patch? you might be thinking - oh yes.
The next time that you see someone walk into an A&E with an eye injury, note where at least one of their hands is cupping the injured eye of course.
Consider an eye injury out in the sticks with the potential for even a short walk-out to further assistance (over gnarly terrain?) wouldnt you rather have both hands/arms available for balance? Aaaarh, too roight Jim laaad! (Think Cornish accent).
Incidentally, Ive noticed that where some people are concerned, especially youngsters - the eye spray(s) (sprayed onto the eye-lid) are often accepted more readily as a way of irrigating muck out than laying them on their side and pouring a water bottle over the eye or getting them to open the eye in an eye bath and throw their head back and forth.
Just saying like.