What Happens If You Survive The Apocalypse But Only Have One Pair Of Contacts?

Have you ever seen the The Twilight Zone episode called "Time Enough At Last"?

It's about a guy who just wants uninterrupted time to read, which he finally finds in a post-apocalyptic world reduced to rubble by an H-bomb.

Faced with nothing but time and stacks of book to read the man feels like his life is finally perfect, until he ends up stumbling and shattering his only pair of prescription glasses.

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As a nearsighted fellow this episode has always made me wonder what I would do about vision correction after the apocalypse, and apparently it triggered something in Mental Floss' Nick Greene too.

After the flames finally stop raining down and the world has settled into an ashen plain of sorrow I come to a startling realization: My glasses are at home and I’m wearing monthly disposable contact lenses.

I would be at a competitive disadvantage should I ever have to enter "survival mode" without the aid of glasses or contacts. Even the smallest and weakest of children who happen to be blessed with normal eyesight would leap above me on the food chain. I would be susceptible to naturally occurring apocalyptic hurdles and booby traps —a comically obvious net placed on the ground could very easily be my downfall.

He explored the quest for vision correction in a post-apocalyptic world at length, including how long a pair of contacts would last, how to clean them in a filthy world without fresh water, and how long those new pairs waiting to be plundered would last.

Well well well, looks like I'm in business. A pair of factory-fresh lenses will last around three years, so I should be okay until civilization is rebuilt. When that time comes, I can visit my optometrist for a long-overdue checkup.

Read What If You Survive The Apocalypse And Only Have One Pair Of Contacts? at Mental Floss