I couldn't get eclipse glasses at Walmart, Best Buy or 7Eleven.

[LAS14]

None of them had ever carried them. It's too late to order on Amazon. Any suggestions?

[NightWatcher]

1. No matter what you hear DO NOT PUT DROPS OF SPF 90 directly in your eyes

Sounds like you're going to have to do the shoebox trick.

[itsrobert]

2. Catch the next one

[Madam45for2923]

3. Go to a university, museum or library near you. Check if they are giving away eclipse glasses.

[JI7]

4. Impossible at this point

[democratisphere]

5. Watch it on the Science Channel tomorrow LIVE.

[we can do it]

6. I have an extra pair.

I'm in Rehoboth Beach, DE if you're nearby.

[LAS14]

9. That's sweet of you! :-)

[NCjack]

7. You will get a better, big view by watching it on TV. nt

[GoCubsGo]

8. Loew's?

The big box home improvement chain has been selling them in numerous places. Many public libraries, as well. I'm told that Circle K stores had them, as did Kroger and its affiliates. If you are anywhere near the totality zone, the odds that you will find a pair are pretty much zero, unless there's some kind of eclipse festival nearby. They might provide glasses--if you can get there early enough. Or, look for a scalper. There are probably people who bought extra glasses to re-sell at premium prices.

[LAS14]

15. I'm not near totality. Just 60%. That's probably why no one is carrying them.

[LeftInTX]

21. I got mine at Lowe's several weeks ago

I'm at 60% too.

If you don't work, you can check to see if there are viewing parties near your. A local community college is having one, so are many of the public libraries, and the headquarters of a local school district.

Libraries are probably the best bet for viewing parties. However, I don't know if they will have enough glasses, but maybe someone will share with you.

[GoCubsGo]

22. I am right at the edge, and I am shocked at how few places here carried them.

I expected every store in town to carry eclipse glasses, but most of them didn't. I didn't find out who actually had them until they were all sold out. My local Kroger had them, but they had them stuck among all kinds of crap, so I never saw them. I only heard about it after it was too late. The local Walmart got in a shipment yesterday, but I suspect that the line for them was halfway down the street by 6 AM. I was lucky that a friend had an extra pair to give me.

[Purveyor]

10. But really, if one should take a 1 second "peek" are you really going to be blinded?

Are there historical reports of whole villages being blinded decades ago when the harm wasn't known?

Just wondering...

[LAS14]

14. That's what I wonder. I'm sure I've peeked at the full son over the course of my life...

[Purveyor]

20. Well, I'm going to "peek" and I'll report back if I can find my way to the keyboard. Learned to

"touch-type" back in the 9th grade...some decades ago.

[LeftInTX]

27. You can't "see" the eclipse

Because light reflects from all directions of the sun, it will look round. Our eyes don't have the ability to filter it out.

[canetoad]

33. I can say with certainty

That I wasn't when I took a peek at the 1976 total eclipse here in Australia.

Being a young photography buff, I even got some really good shots with a home made filter made from 3 layers of exposed and developed 620 film. Worked like a charm.

[elleng]

11. OK, heres what you do, he said. Neil deGrasse Tyson

“If you can’t come here, you can’t go to totality, and you don’t have eclipse glasses, here’s what you do: go into your kitchen and get a spaghetti strainer, or colander -- not the mesh, but the kind with holes in it -- and go outside and hold it out over the ground. Each one of those holes will act as pinhole camera and you’ll see hundreds of images of the crescent sun on the ground, and you can watch the eclipse unfold safely.”

[Madam45for2923]

42. I have eclipseglasses but I will do this too. Sounds great!

[tblue37]

53. You can do that by making a pinhole in a flat piece of cardboard

to get one "image" of the eclipse to focus on, instead of many scattered images.

[GusBob]

59. A colander? Want that strain your eyes?

Er, sorry

[unblock]

61. Don't apologize. Puns are a sieve-ic duty.

[Chellee]

62. It's a pastability.

[Lars39]

12. There are other ways...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/08/19/cant-find-the-protective-glasses-to-watch-the-solar-eclipse-go-old-school/?utm_term=.335e43f20135

[LAS14]

16. Yeah, I guess I'll eat all the Cheerios and make a pin hole box. But...

... I do wonder about just peeking, less than a second. Surely we've all done that to the full sun???

[Lars39]

19. Damage is permanent...

I thought I'd read on NASA site that the bright edges are especially bright, so probably worse since you could actually stand to look longer at the partial eclipse.

[bobbieinok]

17. Many videos on youtube

on how to make various types of pinhole cameras.

[csziggy]

13. Try national or state parks

The other day Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia had them - I saw a guy buy fifty pairs.

[Hieronymus]

18. Try animal shelters ..

they have them for pets.

[Texasgal]

34. This has got to be the most

ridiculous thing I've seen or heard about this event.

UGH. Animals are MUCH smarter than we humans.

[Hieronymus]

63. It was was suggested on MSNBC.

[Lisa0825]

23. Are there any places near you where people may be congregating to watch?

The eclipse will last a couple hours, form start to finish. So other than those who are in the path of totality there won't be much fuss about timing, and people won't be wearing them the whole time, so I am sure folks won't mind sharing them.

[Tikki]

35. We passed through Central Oregon and saw signs from some Native American tribes that....

will be hosting 'eclipse' viewing gatherings on their Reservation sites, with glasses available.

Tikki

[phylny]

24. I just read about using the selfie setting on your phone - and using time lapse function.

I don't know if this would be safe.

Edited to add - do a search for how to watch the eclipse on your phone I found some info, but can't get the pages to load.

[Warpy]

29. Not for the phone.

[LeftInTX]

30. The sun will still "appear" round during a partial eclipse

People who photograph partial eclipses put solar filters on their cameras...otherwise, it just looks like a sun picture.

[DesertRat]

46. I don't think that would be safe

Don't want to risk cooking your retinas.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

25. Not worth the risk

I wouldn't trust my eyesight to any pair of eclipse glasses, period. Even the ones from reputable optical companies could be flawed. Potential damage is probably irreversible. My daughter's school was talking about a viewing for some of the kids and I told her it's just not wise, and they could be held liable for the harm to any kid's eyesight, actual or perceived.

Better to watch on TV or your smart phone and enjoy the darkened environmental experience outside. Sorry to sound so doomsday, but we do only have one set of eyes.

[Warpy]

31. I agree. It's a pinhole in a piece of paper for me

held over a smooth, light surface. Just move the pinhole up and down until a clear image appears and that will be the focal length. You can watch the whole thing that way with no risk, at all.

[Blue_true]

26. Go to your local library and offer a kid $100 for his or hers.

Or try the indirect viewing technique that NASA published.

[CanonRay]

28. Chechnya fire stations...some are giving them away

[Nepetalactone]

32. Makeshift cereal box projector?

They're not necessarily as good, but I suppose you could create a pinhole projector with some common items.
https://qz.com/1058197/solar-eclipse-2017-how-to-make-solar-eclipse-glasses-out-of-a-cereal-box/

[Rhiannon12866]

65. Thanks for the helpful post!

And welcome to DU!

[Sailor65x1]

36. Find a welding supply shop, or possibly Home Depot or Lowe's

An arc weld mask insert shade level 12 or above will be plenty. It will be roughly a 3x5 rectangle. Tape it over a rectangular hole in a piece of cardboard and look through it like a small window. Shade 12 is the safety level for a hundred-amp TIG weld, which is more dangerous to your eyes than looking at the sun.

Or if you i know a welder maybe borrow the whole mask.

[LeftInTX]

38. Lowe's and Home Depot don't sell Shade 12 or 14 in stores.

I checked.

I've got photophobia and wanted to purchase #14 welding, but couldn't find it. I've got the eclipse glasses. I'm going to wear my super dark sunglasses over my eclipse glasses.

[ornotna]

41. If you're willing to pay $110 or more

You can get an auto darkening variable shade mask. They usually go to shade 13 which is ok. I have two of them that we'll be using.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lincoln-Electric-Red-Fierce-Variable-Shade-Auto-Darkening-Helmet-K3063-1/202715831

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Auto-Darkening-Variable-Shade-Hydrographic-Welding-Helmet/1000003026

[LeftInTX]

43. Home Depot actually has a few of those in stock at local stores

[ornotna]

45. Buy it now and pick it up in the store in the morning

They open at 6.

[brooklynite]

37. Where are you?

Voodoo Donuts in Portland is making them available.

[lapucelle]

39. Welders glass #14

[sinkingfeeling]

40. Colleges and libraries gave them out here for free. Try a science club

or even a grade school. All of our districts bought supplies of them.

[DesertRat]

44. HERE- a video from the Boy Scouts

[Hamlette]

47. Build a cardboard box as we did when we were kids

for the eclipse in the early 60s

[Marie Marie]

48. Didn't Amazon issue a recall because some of the glasses they sold were not safe

for viewing the eclipse?

[Flaleftist]

49. I ordered some on August 3 and they never came.

Everyone around here is sold out. You can check Craigslist, but you are going to pay.

[Tortue]

50. Welding/Metal Fabrication shops near you...

Typically have more 13+ glass than employees.
If someone came to my shop, I'd be glad to share.

[Atlstandard]

51. Try An Observatory Or Science Museum Near You

If you have an observatory or a science museum near you they might be selling them in their gift shop or even giving them away. I got mine at Fernbank here in Atlanta which is now sold out if anyone here in Atlanta is looking.

[tblue37]

52. Make a cardboard pinhole camera. nt

[GulfCoast66]

54. Go to a store that sells welding stuff

Including box stores. Go to where they sell welding helmets.

Buy a replacement lens for arc welding helmets. Use tape to create a 'frame'.

Now you have a redneck eclipse viewer.

[Cracklin Charlie]

55. Just heard on my local news:

Don't know if it will help.

Local anchors (Kansas City) were saying who had glasses left. They were all big grocery stores.

Good luck.

[tblue37]

56. This page tells his to project the image using just two pieces of white cardboard,

with a hole punched in one with a thumbtack:

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/make-pinhole-projector.html

[tblue37]

57. This page tells how to make a cereal box projector--Not much harder than re 2

pieces of white paper or cardboard projector.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

58. Find someone smaller than you and steal their glasses.

Worked for me.

[nini]

60. do you have binoculars?

Last time we used binoculars and aimed them from the sun towards a wall in our patio. The sun image went through the binoculars and onto the wall. It worked fine.
Obviously do NOT look them to the sun at all - I'm sure you know that.


Here's a way of doing it
http://heavy.com/news/2017/08/solar-eclipse-glasses-viewer-video-how-to-make-instructions-tools-youtube/

[oneshooter]

64. Go to a welding supply house and buy a #12 or darker welding lens.

Take a piece of cardboard and cut a hole 1" smaller than the lens, Tape lens over hole.

[LAS14]

66. Thanks to all. I'm building a Cheerio box viewer. Probably...

...to far from big excitement for these rural stores to stock up.