Christmas gifts for a pilot with dry eyes

Good Christmas gifts for a pilot with dry eyes make long flights and layovers more comfortable: a sleep mask, a travel humidifier for hotel rooms, a sturdy water bottle, good sunglasses, and a bottle of lubricating eye drops if they want one. Before giving Quell, check its egg or bird allergy caution, and let the pilot decide with their aviation medical examiner whether any medicine fits their rules.

Why pilots talk about dry eyes

Air at cruising altitude holds very little water, and the air circulated through a cockpit or cabin reflects that. Add the steady flow from overhead and side vents, hours of scanning instruments and screens, and early report times after short nights, and a pilot’s eyes can feel gritty by the end of a trip. Blinking spreads tears across the eye; long stretches of concentration cut blinking down. Our guide to dry eyes on a plane explains why cabin air feels the way it does.

None of that needs a gift to fix, but small comforts get used. The ideas below suit airline pilots, corporate and charter crews, flight instructors and weekend private pilots alike.

Christmas gifts for pilots: layover comforts

• A contoured sleep mask that doesn’t press on the eyelids, for daytime sleep in hotel rooms after a late-night flight.
• A compact, USB-powered travel humidifier. Hotel rooms are often dry, and a small unit on the nightstand adds moisture where it matters.
• A small digital hygrometer, so they can see how dry a room actually is.
• An insulated water bottle that fits a flight bag side pocket.
• Earplugs or a white-noise device for hotels near the airport.
• A quality lip balm and fragrance-free hand cream, since dry air hits more than eyes.

Our guide to dry eyes in a hotel room has more on what helps on the road.

Gifts for pilots in the cockpit

Gear that goes in the cockpit is personal, and many pilots have strong opinions. If you’re not sure, a gift card from a pilot supply shop lets them choose. Safer picks for most people:

• A sunglasses case that clips to a flight bag, since a good pair is easily crushed.
• A microfiber cleaning kit for sunglasses and headset ear seals.
• A small zippered pouch to keep personal items, like eye drops and lip balm, together and easy to find.
• A logbook cover or a framed print of a favorite airplane.

Leave actual flight equipment, sunglasses with specific lens requirements and anything that mounts in the airplane to the pilot.

Eye drops as part of the gift

Quell is a preservative-free lubricating eye drop. It’s designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, which is the problem dry, moving air creates. Its Uses line reads: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. The bottle is .33 fl oz (10 mL), small enough for a flight bag or a shirt pocket, and below TSA’s 3.4-ounce limit for liquids in carry-on bags.

First, though, the most important line on the label: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. If the person you’re buying for has an egg or bird allergy, or you don’t know, ask before you buy. More detail is in egg or bird allergy? Read this before Quell.

Pilots also answer to medical standards that most gift recipients don’t. Whether any over-the-counter medicine is acceptable while flying is a question for the pilot and their aviation medical examiner, along with any policy their employer applies. Don’t assume; what a passenger can use freely is still the pilot’s call to make. Our guide to eye drops for pilots and flight crews covers what to ask.

Using it the way the label says

If the pilot decides to use it, the directions are short: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. The handling line matters in a cramped cockpit where a cap can roll under a seat: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. The milky look surprises people, so mention it in a card: The eye drops have a naturally milky-brown appearance. This is normal and does not indicate a problem with the product.

Storage matters for anyone whose bag sits in a cold cargo hold, an unheated crew room or a hot car in the employee lot: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A flight bag that stays with the pilot is a better home than checked luggage. The stop-use line is worth knowing too: 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.

Ordering in time for Christmas

We ship from Brentwood, Tennessee, to US addresses only and don’t promise a delivery date, so order well ahead of the holiday, especially if the pilot is on a trip schedule and won’t be home to receive it. Checkout has no gift wrap or gift message, so the box arrives plain and you can wrap it yourself. Shipping is $10.00, and 3 or more bottles ship free, which can work if you’re buying for a whole crew.

If the gift isn’t wanted, unopened bottles can be refunded within 30 days of delivery without sending them back. Our guide to sending Quell as a gift covers shipping to someone else’s address, and you can order from the home page.