I'm wondering what others are using for a lightweight case for their glasses or sunglasses. I wear glasses and have a nice pair of prescription sunglasses; neither of which I would want to break anytime soon. The case I took last time weighed as much as the glasses. Any thoughts? I probably won't spend a lot of money on this, but if anyone has good tricks on other gear that doubles as a glasses case I'd like to know.

There are some solutions:
-A cheap plastic case, sometimes lighter than more "luxury", brand ones
- Combination of small ziploc lined with foam, neopren, bubblewrap...
-A right sized plastic container, bottle, tube, can...open on top, lined and wrapped or ziploced. A DIY custom sized sinylon pouch is even better.

I bought a hard plastic case at a dollar store that weighs 1.2 oz. I couldn't find a hard case nearly that light anywhere else until someone on another forum suggested the dollar store. It has a thin layer of foam on one side only, so I use a piece of paper towel on the other side to fill up space. I don't recommend a soft-sided case if you will be carrying the glasses in your pack. I used one once and my glasses got bent.

I made my own. I found this on BPL. I don't know how to link specific post, so I just copied and pasted.

This comes from Brian Barnes over on backpacking light:

I had prescription lenses installed in folding readers, so my case is about the size of a cellphone. I haven't weighed it, but it's definitely less than a normal case. Here's the link of the place I bought them from: http://storefront.myspex.com/

They're not cheap, something like $75 when I bought them. Still, they're the cheapest folding frames I found that advertise as "optical quality", which is important for prescriptions.

The lightest case is no case. I carry no case for my glasses --- wear them during the day, set them beside me at night. When I want to use reading glasses or just see things closer without the glasses, it works fine for me to temporarily hook them into my shirt with the earpiece.

Sunglasses for me are clip-ons that are made for (and sold along with) my particular model of glasses, which I buy online at quite a bit less than from a local shop. These clip-ons I carry without a case in my breast pocket; haven't had any problem with this in limited testing (just finished doing so on a five-day backpacking trip along the coast).

If in pretty bright conditions, I'll fashion home-made side shields to keep out glare.

The one case I do carry is for my reading glasses, but I use a pretty small, light pair of these; the reading glasses themselves weigh 12g (0.4 oz), the case 15g (0.5 oz). I've tried lighter alternatives, but find that I just don't want to use anything that I've found that's lighter.

I now take just a sandwich bag as a glasses case. There's a pocket just inside the door of my tent, on the side, that I put the glasses into at night so they won't get stepped on. I also use clip-on sunglasses, for which I do have a soft case that clips into the outside section of the shoulder strap pocket I use for my camera. If I want to leave my glasses off (i.e. horizontal rain), they fit in that case. I also have one of those roll-up film "glasses" that the eye doctor gives you to wear home after dilating your pupils. The weight doesn't even register on my 0.1 oz. scale and these are for spares and for bright high-altitude sun on snow.

For reading glasses, I recently tried a pair of i4u lenses (courtesty of Glenn Van Peski's gear list on the Gossamer Gear website and Bernie of Practical Backpacking who was giving away free samples). I never thought I'd like pince-nez, but these feel great and work fine for reading maps or reading in the sleeping bag. 0.2 oz. includes a soft case.

Hmm-

I found a similar pair of pinch-nose readers, but could not get them to stay on my nose, especially if I am sweating. (Yeah, summer hiking, when wouldn't I be sweating?)

The i4u glasses look like a slightly different design. Maybe they would stay on better.

CamperMom

You just don't ever want to forget they're in the pocket and roll up the tent with them inside ...

Those nose-pinch type of reading glasses are one of the options I tried. For short-term use they're okay, but for reading for any length I just don't like 'em, and for reading maps or the like I don't want to worry that they'll stay on. They seem particularly prone to slide off my nose when I'm sweaty, which isn't uncommon when stopping to look at a map along the trail.

Great ideas from everyone!

I like the idea of clip-ons, which I've never really considered before (just out of habit). I'm worried, though, about not having a spare set of glasses for a worst case scenario. My regular glasses weigh significantly less than my sunglasses, but I wear my sunglasses a lot more while hiking. I like the bubble wrap idea as well. Right now, I'm thinking of a little homemade case of bubble wrap and glue, with light velcro straps as fasteners.

The question is, where to carry it. I definitely would not want it in my pack. I typically carry a case that I fit both mine and my son's fishing pole in. I'm thinking I might be able to place them in here, which would protect them and give me quick access since I strap this case to the outside of my pack.

I'm definitely going to check out the dollar store, though. Might find something perfect for cheap.

I find this discussion a little puzzling. I am a regular wearer of eyeglasses, such that I usually have a backup pair with me, either in the pack or in the briefcase. I can see large objects without them, but fine print is a hassle and I am an illegal driver at that point.

My favorite case is a hard shell nylon contraption that can hold two glasses plus cleaning cloths and the like. It gives excellent protection and weighs maybe two ounces (estimated). The security it gives my vision is well worth the weight. More conventional cases are even lighter

I'm not really thinking about taking a backup pair of regular glasses, but taking a regular pair and a pair of sunglasses (one would be worn). Right now, my regular glasses weigh .75 ounces, my sunglasses are 1 ounce, and the case I am used to carrying them in is about 4.5 ounces. On a cloudy day, I'm carrying over 5 ounces in glasses and case in my pack, which I'd like to cut down. I think a lighter case would be a start, because I really love my sunglasses.

I prefer to wear clip-ons to save weight. The place I ordered my glasses from had some clip-ons that are somewhat fitted and the glasses themselves came in nice small & light plastic cases. I don't know the case weight itself, but the case, with clip-ons and large lens cloth weighs 1.6 oz.