I found the ultimate way to cut weight. I go wednesday to see if I am a candidate for Lasik eye surgery. If I am; I shall have it done before xmas. result–save the weight of hiking with eyeglasses. I think there is a mastercard commercial in here somewhere.
yearly eye exam
50 bucks
new glasses; yearly
250$
Lasik exam 129$
lasik surgery 1000$
not having to carry 4 ounce eyeglasses from springer to kahtahdin
Priceless.
Big Boy
Hey, search Lasik on the forum, Bramble is an eye care specialist and has had it done. Word!; go to a reputable doctor, cost IS NOT AN OPTION, the follow up is 98% of the care. Get referals. If you’re near Ohio we have one, the best. Mail us if you want more info.
Bushwhack/Bramble
You caught me, nope. I sprained my wrist at work and was rather ragged out. This weekend is on, though. Saturday looks super, lows in the teens. Brrr. I’ll get it done. “Things you can do after Lasik;, freeze butt and see what you’re missing”.
BW
Big Boy–
I had lasik done by Lasik Plus last year and my vision was pretty bad (-5.25 both eyes). I did it for the same reasons as you. If you have a flexible spending account with your job–use it for lasik. My vision is perfect now.
Kyle
Kyle & Lisa
I got my cataract surgery but im not sure if what was removed weighed more than the lens replacement. Oh well I have to wait till I get the other one done to ditch the glasses. On your water and fuel soda bottles don’t forget to remove the wrapper and the ring under the cap.:nerd
used to be yang
BB hike nekkid, that saves a lot of weight and will give other hikers insintive to speed up to not look at yer craw or slow down and not see you…hahaha rationizing, i am just smelling the roses and not BB’s smelly butt.
I love what the AT does to yer sense of humor!
burn
We are getting ready to do it in the new year. We are using our Healthcare Flexible Reimbursment Accounts. That’s a big saver. But ours will cost close to 4000 for my wife and 3000 for me. My wife is getting the wavefront correction done. I don’t need it (no higher order aberrations).
Hey BW, does your wife has a suggestion for the laser? We have two places here in the Boulder colorado area. One uses the Ladar system, the other VISX 4. Both have done a lot of eyes. The VISX place also does cosmetic surgery, so we are kinda steering away from them Also… maybe I should email 
Gravity Man
Gravity Man
In Cinncinnati, Ohio its Dr. Brian Stahl, he rocks. He did Brambles for FREE after another doc botched it. That was cool. I noticed he has a sight now( ooh, a pun)http://www.laser4me.com/lasik/drstahl.htm
Bushwhack
Did ya one better. I had cataract surgery this year. Still need to wear glasses to read. Oh, well.
Kyle, you don’t know what bad vision is. My implanted lenses are 10.5.
Unfortunately, the surgery knocked out one of my section hikes. The bill was only 6 grand. I don’t know what the insurance company paid, but it only cost me $100 (plus new glasses).
Harry Dolphin
Ask Flipflop (AT 2003 journal) about his surgery results. His eyes are permanently screwed now, and he can’t wear contacts anymore. Be very careful, and look out for medicinal salesmen dressed up as hikers on this site.
Tha Wookie
My wife and I went to Niagara Falls, Ontario for the procedure at LasikMD. I could not recommend it more happily. It cost me $900 which included all the follow up appointments and a second operation on one eye. Dr. Taylor at LasikMD is one of the best doctors I have ever had. Being a Pennsylvanian I’m sure there are liability issues but this center is excellent and I would go there again in a skinny minute.
Shep
Shep
Don’t see anyone that posted that looked like a medical salesman. Anecdotal evidence is not a substitute for scientific research. Even if a procedure was sucessful 100000 out of 1, done enough times, someone will have anecdotal evidence that the procedure doesn’t work.
Do your own research, look at the statistics, and decide if the risk is worth the benefit. This will be very individual.
Gravity Man
Gravity Man
got an appt for next wednesday the 17th to have zyoptic surgery on my eyes in niagara falls canada. apparently my retinas are thin; so I elected to go for better laser in case there was a problem; then I could have it fixed. Im really pysched; yet nervous. either I will be big boy without glasses hiking next year or I will be big blind boy. either way; im still hiking. LOL. I guess either way; it will be without glasses too.
Big Boy
It can be done. A friend and I took another friend who’s blind on a weekend hike a couple of years ago. It went a bit slow, but he did pretty well. He only ran into one tree and his only fall was when he sat down on a bench with his pack and tried to lean back thinking that the pack would rest on the bench. It didn’t.
He set up and took down his own tent, used his hiking poles to miss most of the trees and crossed three creeks by walking across fallen trees. My other friend took point with a bell on his pack, and I brought up the rear providing verbal adjustments when he strayed off the path a bit. (On the second day he got tired of hearing me say “a step left”, “a step right” and advised me that he didn’t need minor adjustments. It was shortly after that that he uh, cough walked smack into a tree that was right by the path.)
Ardsgaine