Eclipse ride August 21, 2017
- Thread starter MacDoc
- Start date
Watched it in my driveway with my #12 shade welders helmet - it worked awesome. Started to notice it about 20 minutes before peak when things started to get noticably darker. A lot of people who just went outside around the peak time say they didn't notice the darkness, but if you were outside that entire 20-30 minute period while the light levels were decreasing, you certainly would have.
I'm left wondering how many eye injuries we are going to see in the coming weeks/months. There was SO much misinformation being spread on the internet, and there was also a segment of the young crowd who just seemed completely clueless about the risk - my daughter came home from work last night and said one of her coworkers was going to look at it through plain old sunglasses because she'd read online that that was safe. Sadly, people will believe anything they read online anymore, so I don't doubt some people just blindly (forgive the pun) damaged their eyes today.
I've also been slapping my forehead all day listening to the news full of people saying it was a "once in a lifetime" event. I guess nobody told them another one is going right across North America in less than 7 years.
FWIW, the 2024 one is going to be virtually 100% totality here in the GTA - not quite in Toronto Proper, but head east to the Picton area, or around the lake to the Niagara area and you're firmly in the totality.
Rain gear dude, rain gear! I'd have missed out on about 10K worth or saddle time this summer across a few long trips if I had waited for perfect weather - it's not happening this summer.
I'm left wondering how many eye injuries we are going to see in the coming weeks/months. There was SO much misinformation being spread on the internet, and there was also a segment of the young crowd who just seemed completely clueless about the risk - my daughter came home from work last night and said one of her coworkers was going to look at it through plain old sunglasses because she'd read online that that was safe. Sadly, people will believe anything they read online anymore, so I don't doubt some people just blindly (forgive the pun) damaged their eyes today.
I've also been slapping my forehead all day listening to the news full of people saying it was a "once in a lifetime" event. I guess nobody told them another one is going right across North America in less than 7 years.
FWIW, the 2024 one is going to be virtually 100% totality here in the GTA - not quite in Toronto Proper, but head east to the Picton area, or around the lake to the Niagara area and you're firmly in the totality.
Rain gear dude, rain gear! I'd have missed out on about 10K worth or saddle time this summer across a few long trips if I had waited for perfect weather - it's not happening this summer.
Last edited:
I'm on a business trip in Fort Wayne Indiana, where it was (I think) 87% coverage. Everyone took a break to look - I had some legit eclipse glasses, someone else had a different style of eclipse glasses, and there were a few welder's masks. At the peak, just looking out the window, it looked like you were wearing sunglasses, except that you weren't - it just took the edge off the brightness, and it was notably cooler standing in the sun.
I could not get any photos. Both my cell phone and my camera stubbornly insisted on focusing on the welder's mask placed over their respective lenses and I couldn't figure out how to get either one to manually focus.
I could not get any photos. Both my cell phone and my camera stubbornly insisted on focusing on the welder's mask placed over their respective lenses and I couldn't figure out how to get either one to manually focus.
Watched it in my driveway with my #12 shade welders helmet - it worked awesome. Started to notice it about 20 minutes before peak when things started to get noticably darker. A lot of people who just went outside around the peak time say they didn't notice the darkness, but if you were outside that entire 20-30 minute period while the light levels were decreasing, you certainly would have.
I'm left wondering how many eye injuries we are going to see in the coming weeks/months. There was SO much misinformation being spread on the internet, and there was also a segment of the young crowd who just seemed completely clueless about the risk - my daughter came home from work last night and said one of her coworkers was going to look at it through plain old sunglasses because she'd read online that that was safe. Sadly, people will believe anything they read online anymore, so I don't doubt some people just blindly (forgive the pun) damaged their eyes today.
I've also been slapping my forehead all day listening to the news full of people saying it was a "once in a lifetime" event. I guess nobody told them another one is going right across North America in less than 7 years.
FWIW, the 2024 one is going to be virtually 100% totality here in the GTA - not quite in Toronto Proper, but head east to the Picton area, or around the lake to the Niagara area and you're firmly in the totality.
Rain gear dude, rain gear! I'd have missed out on about 10K worth or saddle time this summer across a few long trips if I had waited for perfect weather - it's not happening this summer.
I don't care about rain, my gear is totally waterproof, but I do care about monsoon deluges of which there's been quite a few this way. Those aren't fun on a bike.
I'm wondering how many of the chinesium eclipse glasses were just repackaged sunglasses? Hopefully I am wrong.
I am with you, I trust a welders mask.
