In reply to alexvivo014:
Y&Y asked me to do a review of them, so I'll add it here. I've absolutely no connection with the firm, and I've not really used prism glasses in earnest before. Sorry it's a bit long winded, I got carried away!
My Y&Y belay glasses arrived in a box (quick postage!), I opened it without any particular expectations. I was very impressed to see a complete kit enclosed ¡V a climber-proof case that you can throw wantonly into your climbing sack, or clip to your harness with the attached small krab, a maintenance kit including alternative nose fittings (individual or one-piece), screws, mini screwdriver, lens cloth and a variety of straps. It struck me as a pretty complete kit.
The build quality of the glasses seems to be of a standard for which they were designed, that being climbing use. So far they have proved resilient to my 6 year old wearing them everywhere. As described on their website, the arms are flexible yet return to their original shape with no problems. The frame can be bent into the most comfortable fitting without any issues. The lenses themselves are very clear, though I haven¡¦t had them long enough to get a sense of how scratch resistant they are. No problems yet though. All in all, they seem well made with good quality materials
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I like the fact that the lenses are quite small. They are big enough to provide very adequate sight of the lead climber, and small enough to allow vision around you at ground level. That is, except for directly in front of you. This means that you can¡¦t see your belay plate or first metre or two of rope, which may prove problematic for novice belayers. Likewise, they can be confusing when belaying a leader on the first 4 or 5 metres, as the upwards angle of the prisms does not come into play until the leader has achieved a bit of height. I found I would have them handy (pushed up onto my head, or lowered on my nose), and wear them once the leader has reached that height. This technique is also useful for belayers who like ¡¥spotting¡¦.
It takes a route or two to get used to them, but once settled we found that the quality of belaying improved as the belayer concentrates more on the leader and less on surrounding distractions e.g. other climbers. For those who wear vision impairment glasses, these do fit under the belay glasses but obviously the set up can be a bit more cumbersome. There is scope in the design of the belay glasses to accommodate other glasses underneath through minor adjustment if necessary.
When I was at the Kendal wall, they proved very useful belaying for a 25m wall. However, on shorter walls the need was not so great but still useful. I¡¦m not sure I would use them for belaying a trad leader as the shape of rock and demands of the leader are different. I also prefer to be unencumbered when I¡¦m in the big outside! They do come into their own when being used in indoor walls, and I suspect they would also have their uses with sport climbing.
In summary, it does what it says on the tin ¡V no more neck pain from belaying. This is something which has been more of an issue with advancing years. On the flipside, any belay glasses will never be the cutting edge of fashion, but this is something which has become less of an issue with those same advancing years. They are a practical and functional solution to an age old problem and certainly worth a try if you suffer from belayer¡¦s neck.
cheers
Graham
