# You lose an eye. Eye patch? Glass eye? Other? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517 "2010-10-08T17:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/41 "2010-10-09T05:52:12Z")
I see no reason I can’t have both. And glass eyes are removable, right? so I could add other stuff. What’d be really cool though would be some electronic camera that still hooked into my optic nerve. But I could also change it to a movie viewer. I’d just add a hookup to auditory nerves, too. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/42 "2010-10-10T08:43:19Z")
A mechanical cuckoo, you know like from a cuckoo clock. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/43 "2010-10-10T15:12:40Z")
I’d have to go with the[fashion eyepatch](http://shows.ctv.ca/PushingDaisies/Bios/Swoosie-Kurtz.aspx)ala Swoosie Kurtz as Aunt Lily in Pushing Daisies. She had a different one for every outfit. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/44 "2010-10-10T15:28:51Z")
A part of me really favors the eyepatch as a low-tech and ruthlessly practical solution, one that might even be incorporated into a personal style, but I don’t htink they’d go well with glasses, which I’ll still need for the remaining eyeball, so I’d probably get stuck with a glass eye because I think that would go better with glasses. On the upside, though, I’d only have to pay for one prescription lens. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/45 "2010-10-10T15:34:45Z")
> [@limegreen](#): > > Forget realistic glass eye. I’d get one that was a cat pupil, or flames, or something awesome. My students would never act up again. 🙂 Two words: snow globe. > [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > I’d have to go with the[fashion eyepatch](http://shows.ctv.ca/PushingDaisies/Bios/Swoosie-Kurtz.aspx)ala Swoosie Kurtz as Aunt Lily in Pushing Daisies. She had a different one for every outfit. Two Swoosie Kurtz posts in as many days; who’d a thunk? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/46 "2010-10-10T15:43:49Z")
I’d want one with a light in it. And I would occasionally scratch it with a fork while dining out. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/47 "2010-10-10T19:25:29Z")
Of all the wild ideas, an LED might be the most feasible. It’s my understanding that glass eyes are more plates than the marbles one might imagine. Personally, I would go with a custom cut black eye patch. The drugstore ones are huge and look like cheap nylon. I’d have a smaller one made of leather, I think - with a simple band. Ooh, maybe alligator leather. Then my bullshit story would have an equally bullshit vengeful finale: “but I got that bastard in the end”. ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/48 "2010-10-11T00:54:35Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Assuming I can find a way to avoid infection, I’d be tempted to go au naturel at times, the better to freak people out. It’d speed up my passage through the line at McDonald’s. Sweet Baby Jesus I saw this one time and it was honestly horrifying. And I regularly cut things open as part of my fathers job. Im used to this grotesque stuff, but this irked me. Severely. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/49 "2010-10-11T01:15:25Z")
Put some damp cotton wool in the socket and grow cress or something. Get a chia pet vibe going. Terminator eye, obviously. Or a row of red LEDs, that strobe left to right like a Cylon or K.I.T.T. Keep some little springy snakes in there, under an eyepatch. Lift the patch up to make 'em pop out. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/50 "2010-10-11T08:50:02Z")
> [@limegreen](#): > > Forget realistic glass eye. I’d get one that was a cat pupil, or flames, or something awesome. My students would never act up again. 🙂 My glass eye maker would refuse to make such a thing. > [@ultrafilter](#): > > A glass eye, just so I can tap it with a pencil in meetings. Or absentmindedly scratch with a fork. Very impressive. ---
**Author:** ![J.D.G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@J.D.G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J.D.G)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/51 "2010-10-11T10:58:08Z")
I too have thought about this **way** to much for a normal healthy person. It’s pretty out there but assuming it was technically/medically possible and that I had the money, I would totally do it. I’d even consider deliberately take out one eye just to do it. I would **LOVE** a bionic eye (I don’t really care weather it looks real or robot like, just so long a it looks cool). But what makes my bionic eye super awesome is the fact that it can hook up with my occipital lobe and display images on my visual field. Much like in the _Terminator_ or the more recent TV series _Bionic Woman_, my eye would be able to analyse, recognise and measure the environment and display info about it. My ideal eyeless world also has _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ available in this eye. So I can look at just about anything and bring up info on it. I relish the idea of being able to look at any animal or plant and bring up it’s Latin name. I’d also be willing to have extras like infra red for night vision and such. Now look my in my naturally selected eyes and tell me you yourself wouldn’t poke out one for an upgrade like this? ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/52 "2010-10-11T11:19:34Z")
I’d get some magnetic tips dermally embedded and use a magnetic snap- in patch. I’d have several of different leathers and designs. In addition I’d also have loads of glass eyes. I’d probably just buy the little plastic sort you use to fill out the socket and affix the appropriate glass taxidermy eye to the front and smooth it off. You can get most of the cool ones in any size so it shouldn’t be an issue to get what I want out of the deal. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/53 "2010-10-11T11:43:34Z")
I’d have a glass eye with the sharingan, and wear an eyepatch over it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/54 "2010-10-11T12:15:14Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > > [@ultrafilter](#): > > > > A glass eye, just so I can tap it with a pencil in meetings. > > Or absentmindedly scratch with a fork. Very impressive. _“Not Mother?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/55 "2010-10-11T12:21:06Z")
I’d pick a line from the [Princess of Eboli](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_de_Mendoza,_Princess_of_Eboli) and have several different eye patches. Different colors, textures, embroidery… turn a “defect” into a fashion statement! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/56 "2010-10-11T13:44:26Z")
Being a huge fan of [Andrew Vachss](http://www.vachss.com/dogs/index.html), you know I’m going for the eyepatch. A When Vachss was a child, a lit, thrown firecracker exploded when it hit his eye. They didn’t have the corrective surgery back then that they have now. ---
**Author:** ![Bloody\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bloody\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloody_L)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/57 "2010-10-11T20:38:43Z")
I think eyepatches are attractive on both males and females. They just seem so dashing and adventurous. But I’d probably get one of those cool unrealistic eyes. Like a fully black one. That just looks insane 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/58 "2010-10-12T01:08:25Z")
I had a couple more ideas: Disco ball - I’d be the life of the party I like the bionic eye idea, but it would have to have internet! 4G eye baby! I could store the Well of Souls in the socket For real, if I ever lose an eye, I’ll most likely get both a prosthetic and a variety of eyepatches. ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Harley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Race\_Harley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Harley)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/59 "2010-10-12T01:48:58Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Terminator eye, with a red LED. > > Or [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeOxhiNfFyU). 😉 This! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517/60 "2010-10-12T02:01:26Z")
I think I would go with the glass eye for the convenience of it. As for the people with the “white” or light colored single eye; they have probably lost sight in that eye due to cornea (corneal?) damage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-lose-an-eye-eye-patch-glass-eye-other/556517.md?page=4)