comment: >
  
  For those of you who don't believe about the eyepatch,  do you think that all pirates must have just had an accident or gone blind in that eye?
context: This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.
  Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"
  (For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)
  Rule-breaking posts may result in bans. >
  
  The reason for the eyepatch wasn't because they were blind in 1 eye,  it was so 1 eye was adjusted to daylight and the other was adjusted to the dark , so when they went below deck, they could uncover the patched eye and they could reasonably see better in the dark >
  
  I do this when I go to the bathroom at night, one eye closed in the lit bathroom and then switch when I go back to the dark bedroom, works like a charm. >
  
  Same here, it’s almost like night vision. >
  
  Unless the actual reason for wearing an eyepatch was to prepare one eye to always see clearly in the dark. If that were the case, they'd be a better fighter than non-eyepatch wearing fighters when fighting below deck. >
  
  Wouldn’t then all pirates on deck wear a patch? How come it’s wasn’t more of a common thing amongst sear faring folks? >
  
  Only a few needed to go between decks during a fight.  Most stayed at their stations for the duration. >
  
  Do you mean they lost an eye in a swordfight because they sucked, or they're bad with eye patch because of no depth perception? >
  
  Ha! Didn’t even think of the former :) >
  
  Maybe they just had a bad eye patch supplier? >
  
  I get the night vision thing but why don’t they take in consideration splinters. I just read a great book about naval battles. Pretty detailed. Pirate ships were wooden. When said ship gets hit with cannon fire it rips the ship to shreds, flinging splinters everywhere. I can only imagine the damage to human flesh, I don’t there was much protective eye where being worn. >
  
  Sea captains also spent a fair amount of time looking into sextants and such, using the position of the sun at noon to gauge latitude. So a certain amount of the sailor eye squint may be related to that as well. >
  
  Yeah but their hook hand and peg leg gave them an upper advantage. >
  
  …and if you got hurt enough to warrant an eyepatch as a pirate, you were probably going to die of an infection >
  
  there was rum for that… one for the eye socket the other for the thirsty throat… >
  
  One theory is that pirates wore eyepatches to optimise their night vision. >
  
  I don't think there were a whole bunch of sophisticated thrusts and parries in your typical high-seas sword fight.
  Think Daffy Duck, not Errol Flynn. >
  
  Considering they didn’t shower 
  I wouldn’t swordfight with a pirate >
  
  Better with a sword than a pistol. No stereoscopic vision, poor depth perception.. >
  
  Eye patches can make you look bad ass but they suck to actually wear >
  
  Unless you’re talking about anime swordfighters lol. Run if you see that shit. >
  
  My grandpa had an eye patch he said he was better off because one wasn’t fighting with the other. >
  
  Double vision is a real bitch >
  
  Those who lived by the sword probably got shot by those who didn't. >
  
  Yarr!! The eyepatch myth is strong with reddit pirates!!
  Well you are all wrong! It's not about the darkness of the lowdecks or the splinters from blown up ships. It is protection from UV rays.
  Using a sextant constantly (tool used to measure angles and calculate distances), surounded by water a super reflecting surface, for that extended period will blow your eyes out. At some point the pain is unbearable and you cover your eye to reduce pain and exposition. >
  
  I asked a pirate how he got his eye patch? He said a seagull. I exclaimed a seagull pecked your eye out!!!!??? He said no it shit I me eye first day with me hook hand. >
  
  literally whats the point of sword fighting when you could have nine thousand pistols on you and point and blow a hole through someone.