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I hope i'm not the last one to think of this and the following tips will be new for at least one person.

I'll keep this short..

I have been doing this in the back country for a few months now with durations up to 3 days at a home with great results.

I have been using an RGP case like this one.
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=RGP+cont ... x=91&ty=63

The reason for this that the part of the lens i end up touching is on the exterior of the lens, the part that does not end up touching my eye. my experience is that with the traditional lens cases you (or at least i do) end up touching part of the edge that goes against your eye and with dirty hands in the back country that can be a pain in the ass!

As far as hand cleaning goes... using this case means i only have to clean my index finger and my thumb.

For lens cleaning... I have just been lightly shaking the container for a minute or two to wash the solution over the lens to remove all the nasty stuff. This has been working great!

I use the same case. Since I wear disposables, I always carry an extra set in my pocket. On my first climb (25 years ago) wearing hard contact lenses, a gust of wind blew dust in both eyes, rendering me temporarily blind. Balancing on a ledge the size of a frisbee, I had to lick the chalk off my fingers so I could remove the lenses, clean them off in my mouth and reinsert them.

I remember awhile back when I wore contacts this was the case I used to store overnight and clean them in. I would use a cleansing soap and clean them in my palm and then straight into the case for a shaking and that's it. I would rinse them in the morning just before I put them in. All in all a major pain in the backside especially trying to be absolutely as clean as possible in the outdoors which is why I got laser surgery and haven't looked back (no pun intended). Yes, it's expensive but considering all the money we spend on gear and clothing it's a wise investment to consider.

I've had great success with Night & Day contacts: http://www.airoptix.com/contact-lenses/ ... aqua.shtml
They supposedly can be worn for up to 30 days continuously without removal, but in practice I've worn them for about a week at a time which is plenty.

The main problem with these is that they don't correct for astigmatism, but this shouldn't be an issue while outdoors, and I also have a pair of cheap glasses that correct my astigmatism if I have to wear them in town.

kheegster wrote:I've had great success with Night & Day contacts: http://www.airoptix.com/contact-lenses/ ... aqua.shtml
They supposedly can be worn for up to 30 days continuously without removal, but in practice I've worn them for about a week at a time which is plenty.

The main problem with these is that they don't correct for astigmatism, but this shouldn't be an issue while outdoors, and I also have a pair of cheap glasses that correct my astigmatism if I have to wear them in town.

I use AirOptix solely these days. For me, the 30 day limit is not even close to reality, I have worn a pair continuously for over 3 months, without taking them off, and ended up using the same pair a few more months after that.

But I would suggest that you try them out in normal circumstances, first. My eyes seem to adjust exceptionally well to contact lenses, but some of my friends cannot wear even those lenses for more than a day.

I have been using them for at least 4 years now, and my eyes have periodically been checked by a doctor. He was a bit horrified about the length of time I keep using them, but since both the lenses and my eyes seem to have no problem, he told me not to worry.

Even still, I always keep an extra pair in my backpack.

Clear care is great, but I don't use it in the backcountry. You have to let them sit for 6 hours before putting them in so all the solution reacts, otherwise they sting like a bitch. If you are at camp for at least that amount of time you'd be fine of course, but if you are climbing and getting a good alpine start, you may not have that luxury. So I mostly use the traditional solution in the flat lens cases now, and put them in my sleeping bag so they don't freeze like this one time... And I feel compelled to carry a little bottle of hand sanitizer now when I backpack/climb, just so I can deal with my contacts with clean hands.

Someday I will get the laser surgery. Someday.

Can't take the grit? Bring a pair of surgeons gloves next time!

The trick to contacts is having a lint free fabric to wipe your fingers on before insertion. Most polypro is lint free but forget about cotton or wool. Also you should never clean them as recommended by rubbing them in your hand. That just makes them wear out faster. Soaking in multi-purpose solution overnight cleans them just fine.

2nd the Air Optix recommendation. Air breathable so you can wear them continuously for weeks at a time. I've gone for 2 weeks with no problem. When at home I take them out every other night, they last longer that way. Just as long as the daily wear type and they even cost less.

I love Clear Care, I have found nothing that is so easy and works so well. However, it does take a minimum of 6 hours, and that is at room temperature. I have found that even 8 hours is not enough sometimes when camping and it is cold out. That stinging is quite unpleasant when the solution has not had enough time to go neutral!