Eye Washing Made Easy

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

As a follow-up to the post Chaplain Tim made yesterday about the importance of being able to wash irritants out of your eyes, here is a handy little device that belongs in every prepper's bug-out bag and first aid kit. 

An Eye Wash adapter like the one shown below will screw onto any standard 500mL plastic water bottle and turns that bottle into a portable eye washing station. A flexible tube reaches to the bottom of the bottle, so all you need to do is squeeze the bottle to release two streams of water into your eye. You can only wash out one eye at a time, but this is a sacrifice made in the name of portability, although I suppose you could carry two along with two bottles and double dose as needed. 

To make mine more useful, I actually bundled the eye wash adapter with an unopened bottle of water inside a large ziploc bag for fast access and to prevent contamination of the eye cup. 

You can also adapt it to work with a hydration bladder if your drinking tube has a quick disconnect valve. Look to my post Hydration Tube Inline Hijinks for more information. 

Here is a video of it being used to wash pepper spray out of someone's eyes:

 

This eyewash adapter weighs just 2.4 ounces and costs $11.50 at Amazon with Prime shipping. Lightweight, inexpensive and essential, it deserves a place in your preps.