Now you see it, now you don’t!
Did you ever wonder why so many Pirates wore eye patches? It wasn’t because they got poked in the eye a lot.
- Pirates utilized eye patches in order to keep one of their eyes adjusted to night vision. As they navigated the lower decks it was fairly dark. The dreaded threat of fire ruled out the copious use of candles and oil lamps below decks. As they went “down below”, they switched their patch from one eye to the other. Having one eye pre-adjusted to night vision mode allowed pirates to better navigate these ill-lighted lower spaces, quickly. When they went back on deck, they switched their patch back to their other eye.