Dry eyes on a winter camping trip

Winter camping dries the eyes from several directions at once: cold, dry air outside, a heater warming a small tent, wind on the trail and smoke from the fire. Wear glasses or goggles in the wind, sit upwind of the campfire, keep heater output off your face, and carry eye drops inside your jacket so they don’t get too cold. Pain or vision changes need a doctor once you’re back.

Why winter camping is hard on your eyes

Cold air holds very little water. When it’s below freezing, the outdoor air can feel crisp and damp while carrying almost no moisture at all. Your tear film, a thin layer of oil, water and mucus over each eye, loses water to that air steadily, and wind speeds the process. Then you crawl into a tent and warm that same air with a heater, which lowers its relative humidity even further. Eyes get a dry blast outside and a dry bake inside.

Add the glare off snow, hours of squinting into the sun, and a fire you sit beside every evening, and it’s easy to end a weekend with eyes that feel gritty and tired.

Tent heater for camping: keep it off your face

Whether you use a propane heater, a wood stove in a hot tent or a battery-powered unit, its job is to warm air, and warm air pulls water from the eyes. A few habits make a difference:

• Point the heater toward your feet or the center of the tent, never at your head while you sleep or read.
• Follow the heater maker’s instructions on ventilation, clearance and whether it’s rated for use inside a tent, every time.
• Turn it down once the tent is comfortable rather than running it on high.
• Hang a damp towel or leave a pot of water near a stove only if the manufacturer’s instructions allow it.

If you’re waking up with sticky, scratchy eyes, the heater placement is the first thing to change. Dry eyes from a space heater covers the same problem at home.

Campfire smoke and dry, stinging eyes

Smoke irritates the eyes directly, and it tends to follow whoever is sitting downwind. On a cold night, people crowd in close for warmth, which makes it worse.

• Check the wind before you choose a seat, and move when it shifts.
• Burn dry, seasoned wood; wet or green wood smokes more.
• Step back from the fire for a few minutes if your eyes start to sting and water.
• Don’t rub your eyes with smoky, sooty hands.

A lubricating drop isn’t a fix for smoke blowing in your face. Distance is. If an ember or ash gets in your eye and doesn’t rinse out, or if it hurts, get medical help rather than reaching for a bottle.

Snow camping tips for wind and glare

Snowshoeing or skiing into a site means hours of wind and reflected light. Wraparound sunglasses or goggles block both. Goggles are worth packing even if you don’t usually ski, because a ridge-top gust of blowing snow is hard to face with bare eyes. Remember to blink deliberately during long, focused stretches like breaking trail or reading a map, since concentration slows the blink rate. More on the cold-weather side is in dry eyes on a winter hike, and higher camps are covered in dry air, wind and altitude.

Keeping eye drops from getting too cold

Quell’s label gives a storage range: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A winter campsite can sit well below that for days, so a bottle left in an outer pack pocket or the car at the trailhead can get colder than the label allows. Here’s where to carry it:

• During the day, in an inside jacket pocket, where body heat keeps it closer to room temperature.
• At night, in a small pouch inside your sleeping bag, alongside the water filter and phone battery many winter campers already keep there.
• In winter car camping, in the cabin with you rather than the trunk or roof box.

If a bottle does get very cold, let it warm up to the label range before you use it, and look at it first. Under Do not use, the label lists: If this product changes color. Its normal look is described this way: The eye drops have a naturally milky-brown appearance. This is normal and does not indicate a problem with the product. Our guide on whether eye drops can freeze in a cold car has more detail.

Using drops at a campsite

Clean hands are harder to come by in the backcountry. Wash with soap and water if you have it, or use hand sanitizer and let it dry completely before you touch anything near your eyes. Then follow the label: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. Keep the tip clean, as the label instructs: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. A gloved hand, a tent floor or a mitten all count as surfaces.

Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, and its Uses read: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Before buying, read the caution 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.

Winter camping tips for beginners: a short eye checklist

• Sunglasses and goggles, both, in a hard case.
• Eye drops in an inside pocket, not the pack lid.
• Hand sanitizer for before you use them.
• A heater plan that keeps warm air off your face.
• A seat upwind of the fire.
• Enough drops for the trip plus a spare at home, since you can’t order more from the trailhead. Buy Quell before you go; we ship from Brentwood, Tennessee, but promise no delivery date.

When it’s more than dry air

Once you’re home, pay attention to how your eyes recover. Dryness from a weekend in the cold usually eases back in normal indoor air. If it doesn’t, or if anything hurts, the label is direct about stopping: 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. Something stuck in the eye, a chemical splash from stove fuel, or a burn from a spark needs medical care straight away.