Apparently pirates wore eye patches as a trick to see in the dark

[Blackscare]

how does this change your life

[Blackscare]

sorry I'm drunk. that's from a thread on revleft.

[bcbm]

congrats

[Agent Ducky]

I saw this on mythbusters and thought it was cool. Yay.

[Pirate Utopian]

I already knew that

[Angry Young Man]

You lost your eye in that grog fight in St Lucia. It would have been more than that if I didn't have your back.


¬_¬ You're welcome.

[manic expression]

I've always wanted to try grog...

[Pirate Utopian]

You lost your eye in that grog fight in St Lucia. It would have been more than that if I didn't have your back.


¬_¬ You're welcome.

You're misremembering things. I dont need help.

[Angry Young Man]

OMG just like you. You only deny it to avoid buying me that pint you owe me

[Die Rote Fahne]

Learned this in middle school.

[Kuppo Shakur]

If you read the revleft experts thread you would know that I already knew that.:closedeyes:

[Pirate Utopian]

OMG just like you. You only deny it to avoid buying me that pint you owe me

I dont owe shit to anyone.

[Thirsty Crow]

I might be dumb, but I don't get it, how does covering one eye make you see better in the dark? :confused:

[manic expression]

If your eyes are in the dark for a long time, they'll get more accustomed to it and see better. So if you wear a patch during the daytime, your covered eye will be developing a natural "nightvision" the whole time...and then when it comes time to fight at night, you take the patch off and the formerly-covered eye is ready for action.

[DiaMat86]

Also for the false impression of infirmity.

[Die Rote Fahne]

I might be dumb, but I don't get it, how does covering one eye make you see better in the dark? :confused:

It has to do with "rods" and "cones" in your eyes. Cones are more active in light and rods in dark. When your eyes go from light to dark, the cones get less active and the rods increase activity. That's why if you leave a bright room and go into a very dark one, it takes 3 or 4 minutes to see. With a patch on, they go into a dark room, they take it off and have one eye already accustomed to the dark.

Note: I may have mixed up rods and cones.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Or, it's because, scientifically, the eye patch raises the attractiveness of the male.

I believe this is why Moshe Dayan wore one.

[Sasha]

i know the story but i still dont really buy it.
clearly the ability to see dept by far would out weigh the benefits for some increased night vison, even when you dont wear the patch during fighting but only in the day to day running of an huge sailing ship with all the dificult chores that come with it.
and i dont really believe that pirates would fight in the dark often anyway.
surely each and every merchant vessel would completely black-out at nights in pirate waters?

[Die Rote Fahne]

i know the story but i still dont really buy it.
clearly the ability to see dept by far would out weigh the benefits for some increased night vison, even when you dont wear the patch during fighting but only in the day to day running of an huge sailing ship with all the dificult chores that come with it.
and i dont really believe that pirates would fight in the dark often anyway.
surely each and every merchant vessel would completely black-out at nights in pirate waters?

Going below deck in the day.

[Angry Young Man]

Speaking of that, wouldn't your vision generally be askew? If you've one eye adjusted to light and another to dark, surely that'll throw you off balance.

[Die Rote Fahne]

Speaking of that, wouldn't your vision generally be askew? If you've one eye adjusted to light and another to dark, surely that'll throw you off balance.

Try a little experiment.

Get the darkest room in your house at night and keep it that way, go into a nearby room, with the light on, and wait around 5 minutes and then go into the dark room. Now, do the same thing with one eye covered (put some material over then cover with your hand). After 5 minutes go into the dark room and shut the door. Uncover your eye. Notice the difference yourself!