tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742696403343433892.post7894295647598348298..comments2023-06-18T07:51:01.979-07:00Comments on Athenaeum Electronica: Dispelling Myths: The Pirate Eye PatchJohnathan Claybornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420750163719683444noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742696403343433892.post-67884721739508166792014-08-04T06:08:32.281-07:002014-08-04T06:08:32.281-07:00Please tell me where you found a pirate who wears ...Please tell me where you found a pirate who wears an eyepatch in the novel of Treasure Island. It certainly isn't Long John Silver. <br />--Lee GoldAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742696403343433892.post-27738170445415394582011-11-03T15:48:52.919-07:002011-11-03T15:48:52.919-07:00@w/o Sin: You, sir, are quite correct. Even withou...@w/o Sin: You, sir, are quite correct. Even without a DSLR it's very easy to use a program like Photoshop to lighten a room that is otherwise very dark. I do that for travel pictures and old family photos all of the time. <br /><br />I have no doubt that the ballast decks, cargo holds and other parts of the ship below the gun decks were probably quite dark. However, pirates (or sailors in general) would not have needed to go below decks on a regular basis, especially during battle. <br /><br />I did serve in the Navy for a few months before receiving a medical discharge. While I was there we learned about naval history and combat. I never got to aboard an old-time ship while I was in the Navy, however, I have been to California several times over the last few years. There are a couple of tall ships that frequent the harbors periodically, including one that's permanently moored at Dana Point harbor. If you ever get a chance to go aboard and you have an interest in old ships, I strongly recommend it as it's an awesome experience in and of itself. When you go the gun deck and the gun ports are closed, it can be quite dark. But once they open up the gun ports, there's actually a decent amount of light. <br /><br />I also would this question in return; if there was a tactical advantage to be gained by covering one eye when going from one deck to another, why was this technique not employed by the Royal Navies of England, Spain or France? These fleets engage in far more battles than pirates. It seems to me that they would want every tactical advantage that they could gain. They certainly tried some interesting techniques (like Sir Francis Drake's fire ships). If you could offer a plausible explanation as to why the pirates wore them, but the other professional sailors did not, I would certainly consider that and see what evidence exists in relation to that theory.Johnathan Claybornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15420750163719683444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742696403343433892.post-21480189894781351452011-11-03T15:34:31.777-07:002011-11-03T15:34:31.777-07:00@Bryan: I admit that I missed that episode of Myth...@Bryan: I admit that I missed that episode of Mythbusters. I do really enjoy watching them, even they don't always perform their experiments in a completely scientific fashion. <br /><br />I do know from my physiology classes in my psychology program that the brain does handle electrical impulses in the fashion described. However, I also know that the brain is able to sort out the disparity in the signals relatively quickly, so I can see how it would be plausible. <br /><br />And yes, I fully agree with you that of all of the pirates aboard a ship the captain was the least likely to be injured by flying shrapnel and splinters, and those crews who manned the guns would be the most likely to be injured. I did consider that factor in my research, however, I still maintain the argument that it's not likely. The primary reasons that I'll cite are fact that: a) most splinter injuries aboard a ship were fatal, b) most people who see things (like cannonballs) flying at them will attempt to cover the eyes from the blast, and c)if pirates sustained these injuries, then the sailors of regular navies would have sustained them in combat as well, and I didn't find any examples of that. But, you do bring up valid points. At some point I'll do a secondary article and see what specific details I can find about historical accounts, etc and see if there are any period pieces of documentation that support the claim that pirates wore eye patches.Johnathan Claybornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15420750163719683444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742696403343433892.post-31820424743807887012011-11-03T14:12:33.688-07:002011-11-03T14:12:33.688-07:00In an unexpected companion to the above comment, a...In an unexpected companion to the above comment, a bright photo can be taken of a room with very little light by increasing the amount of time the film or sensor is exposed to the light.<br /><br />If you have access to a DSLR, a quick experiment where you take a photo of a darkened room (there must be some light of course) at 7 seconds, then 15 seconds, then 30 seconds should show the technique well enough.<br /><br />Having said that, the photo below deck used in your example may appear well lit, but could in reality be quite dark. The only way to know in this case would be to visit, or perhaps to get an actual account from someone who has.w/o SINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17733395017694180441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742696403343433892.post-6821389976284820082011-11-03T11:36:11.104-07:002011-11-03T11:36:11.104-07:00Here's one thing to consider. All of the real...Here's one thing to consider. All of the real life well known pirates that you list are (quite obviously) the ship captains, and your theorizing does not take the remainder of their crew into account. I would think that splinters and shrapnel from enemy cannon fire would affect the crew much more than the captain...presumably the captain would be at the helm in order to oversee the battle. <br /><br />Since the full crew would have boarded enemy vessels, it is entirely possible that survivors would have seen several with eye patches and went on to tell the tale that most pirates wore them, even if the captains did not.<br /><br />In regard to your paragraph regarding switching the eye patch from one eye to the other in low light situations, the mythbusters actually performed this exact test a couple of years ago and found it to be plausible. <br /><br />In the control, Adam stood outside in the sun for awhile, and then tried to navigate a maze in near darkness, breaking several of the glasses (iirc) that were setup as obstacles. <br /><br />Next, Adam donned an eye patch over one eye as he stood outside for several minutes. When he entered the maze, he switched the eye patch over and performed many times better. He couldn't believe how much of a difference it actually made in how quickly he was able to adjust to a low light scenario.Bryan Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14704375841910380390noreply@blogger.com