Are Belay Glasses Worth It
The working mechanism of belay glasses is to reflect the climber to a mirror in front of your eyes. The climber is kept insight without the need of raising your neck. Buying the best belay glasses is quite expensive but are made of a stainless steel frame. Their lenses are made from prism-shaped glasses and bend the light to be able to see the climber above you.
They are recommended for easier routes where there is a minimum need for paying attention. It is easier for someone who has never used belay glasses to say they are not worth it. You need to use them to experience their benefits. Their price range is huge not their functionality, pleasant to use and comfortability is worth it.
Makes Belaying Comfortable
Belaying glasses offer comfort for the belayer. They usually put your neck in a relaxed position. They are not only recommended for old people but also for any other person. It becomes comfortable looking straight up than craning your neck up.
They reduce the strain and suffering and make climbing easy on your neck. The belaying glasses elevate the climber’s view by 60 degrees which means they reduce the neck bend by 60 degrees that it should normally be. For a climber ascending vertical, they need to crane their neck only by 30 degrees instead of 90.
Solves The Problem Of Stiff Neck
Belaying involves a lot of work and paying attention. The body especially the neck has to be in continuous movement looking at what the climber above you is doing. What makes your neck stiff and painful is the constant tilt of the head when facing high vertical walls.
The neck muscles become sore and you might experience neck cramping for a long period. Paying attention can not be avoided, you need to keep the climber above insight in case something happens. The neck problem might become chronic for some older climbers. It might lead to long-term migraine and headache. The belay glasses will solve the neck problem, you do not have to worry about regular physiotherapy just invest in good belay glasses.
Makes Belaying Safer
Paying attention in belaying is everything. Communication between your body parts is important in case something goes wrong. A climber with neck pain is likely to look away for 10 seconds just to have less pain. Climbers without the belay glasses will avoid looking above.
This will not only put the climber in danger but will cause a delay in responding to the climber’s needs. When a belayer is comfortable using the glasses, they do a better job at belaying. He or she can see when the climber above is about to fall, about to clip, etc. What this means is there will be easier clipping and less hard catches when lead climbing.
