How It Works

Why did pirates used to wear eye patches?



The clichéd image of a pirate with an eye patch seems to owe more to popular fiction than to historical records. However, there is a popular theory that wearing an eye patch was common among seafarers, as it allowed one eye to constantly be accustomed to the dark – useful if someone needed to go below deck and see quickly without waiting for their eyes to adjust. This is plausible since it can take up to 25 minutes for eyes to completely adjust to the dark – not very useful in a battle!

Answered by Rik Sargent.