Christmas gifts for a hunter with dry eyes

A good Christmas gift for a hunter with dry eyes is gear that keeps cold wind off their face and makes long sits easier on the eyes: a face mask or gaiter, clear or lightly tinted shooting glasses, a brimmed cap, lens wipes for binoculars, and a small bottle of lubricating drops for an inside chest pocket. Bundle a few in a stocking or a blaze-orange gift bag.

Why hunters’ eyes take a beating

Hunting asks the eyes to work hard in rough air. A dawn sit in a tree stand or blind means hours in cold, often moving air, staring at a tree line or through optics and blinking less than usual. Cold air holds little moisture, and wind keeps pulling it off the surface of the eye. Then the hunter climbs into a heated truck cab or a cabin with a woodstove. Our usage guide, dry eyes on a hunting trip, covers the field routine in detail; this page is about gifts that support it.

Gifts that block the wind

• A fleece or merino face mask or neck gaiter that pulls up under the eyes. Look for a breathing port or mesh panel so it doesn’t fog glasses.
• Wraparound shooting glasses with clear or amber lenses. Clear suits the dim light before legal shooting time; amber adds contrast on gray mornings.
• A brimmed cap in camo or blaze that fits under a hood and shades low sun.
• Shoot-through mesh or window covers for a ground blind, which cut the draft through open windows.

Hunting rules on blaze orange differ by state and season, so ask what they already wear before adding color to their kit.

Gifts for glassing and long sits

• Lens pens or anti-fog wipes for binoculars, scopes and glasses, so they aren’t straining through smudges.
• A binocular harness that keeps optics on the chest and quick to raise, which makes it easier to lower them and rest the eyes between scans.
• A heated seat cushion or hand muff, so staying still in the cold is less of a fight.
• An optics cleaning kit for the truck if they already own the basics.

A bottle for the inside pocket

Quell is a preservative-free lubricating eye drop designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, and cold, moving air speeding up evaporation is exactly the hunter’s problem. The bottle holds .33 fl oz (10 mL), small enough to ride in an inside chest pocket next to a phone, which is also where it belongs on a cold morning. The label’s storage line is Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F), and a pack hanging in a November tree stand drops below that.

Its Drug Facts panel lists the Uses as “For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye” and the directions as “Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye.” Anyone giving it should know the warning on the label: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. The full panel is on the Drug Facts page.

Stocking stuffers for hunters

• Hand and toe warmers for the boots and gloves.
• Fragrance-free hand wipes for cleaning up before touching the face in the field.
• A small microfiber cloth for glasses and binocular lenses.
• A headlamp with a dim low-light mode for the walk in before dawn.
• Lip balm and fragrance-free sunscreen for late-season snow glare.

Hunters who wear contacts or use other drops

If the person you’re shopping for wears contact lenses or already uses prescription drops, the Quell label doesn’t give directions for either. A pharmacist or their eye doctor is the person to ask before adding a new drop, and the wind-blocking gear above makes a fine gift on its own.

Ordering in time for Christmas

Quell ships from Brentwood, Tennessee, to addresses in the United States, including hunting cabins with a street address that receives packages. Check out as a guest and ship straight to the hunter, or to yourself to wrap it. Shipping is $10.00, or free on 3 or more bottles, which makes it easy to cover a whole hunting party. We don’t promise delivery dates, and December is the busiest stretch of the year for shipping, so order early in the month.

If the bottle stays sealed and they’d rather not use it, it can be refunded within 30 days of delivery without being sent back. How to send Quell as a gift explains how to keep the receipt out of their inbox.

If their eyes hurt after a hunt

Dry, gritty eyes after a cold weekend in the woods are common, but pain, a change in vision, or symptoms that hang on are reasons to see an eye doctor rather than wait for a gift to arrive. The label is explicit: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours.