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Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses. (Read 1719 times)

Fultonius

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Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 26, 2020, 09:54:54 pm
General musings about eyesight. I've always had pretty good eyesight, never needed glasses and actually never been for an eye test other than a the simple ones you get at medicals.

This year, due to my left eye feeling like it had degraded a bit, I went for an eye test. Turns out I had a very mild astigmatism, but the prescription was so weak that I honestly couldn't tell the difference with our without, so I just left it.

However, I've noticed that when wearing decathlon belay glasses my eyesight seems a good notch sharper. The other half wears glasses / contacts,  but also feels that she can see better.

Any thoughts on why? Diffraction causing a reduction of some wavelengths? Reduction of the amount of aperture used?

JamieG

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#1 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 26, 2020, 10:29:43 pm
Are they slightly magnifying the scene? Like binoculars? Or glasses of the right prescription I suppose.

Fultonius

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#2 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 09:01:47 am
They seem pretty neutral for magnification, it's very much clarity. Less haze and sparkle from strong lights and crisper edges. Size wise, objects appear similar.

Sounds like marketing wank, but it very much feels like clicking "HD" on YouTube...


SA Chris

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#3 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 09:06:55 am
Maybe they're rose tinted...

Fultonius

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#4 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 10:59:57 am
Oh Chris... That's just a bit outdated that is...

Do you think 2 pairs of belay glass would allow you to see into the past?

tomtom

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#5 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 11:38:10 am
Oh Chris... That's just a bit outdated that is...

Do you think 2 pairs of belay glass would allow you to see into the past?

Depends which way you pointed the second pair! :D

Johnny Brown

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#6 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 12:06:13 pm
They seem pretty neutral for magnification, it's very much clarity. Less haze and sparkle from strong lights and crisper edges. Size wise, objects appear similar.

I've barely ever used belay glasses, but I know a little about optics. I'd tend to assume there is some magnification going on, but if it's mostly clarity there could be a polarising effect which would produce the effects you describe. Try looking at some blue sky and tilting your head from side to side. If it's polarisation, you should see the blue darken at some angles compared to others.

SamT

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#7 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 12:19:21 pm
More generally, my eyesight has been very good previously. I could always spot birds from miles off and prided myself on being able to read the number on the bus miles before anyone else
"you can read that from here?!?".   

However, now, into my late forties, its dropping off a cliff.  Distance is still OK, but I cant read anything close than arms length.  Nothing unusual.  I've got reading specs for close or screen work now which is OK.

The problems I'm having though, manifest themselves in strange ways.  Such as driving.  e.g. looking at something close up, like the sat nav on the dash needs reading glasses, but distance is fine, so its a mare.

And I'm starting to worry that i'm struggling to see rock that's right in front of my face, for instance placing small wires right in front of you, or spotting small holds within a couple of feet of my nose. 

Seems I'm going to struggle being betwixt and between for a few years..  :boohoo:

SA Chris

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#8 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 12:44:19 pm
I can't recommend a decent pair of varifocals enough.

Took a while to get used to, but I have mine on my face all the time now, can do things like look from map to hills, or read guidebook and look at rock, etc without needing to take glasses on and off.

By all accounts you get what you pay for though, so worth spending a bit of you are going to commit, rather than getting a budget pair. Mine are mid price range, but if I need another pair I'd probably be OK to pay more.

nai

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#9 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 12:54:03 pm
And I'm starting to worry that i'm struggling to see rock that's right in front of my face, for instance placing small wires right in front of you, or spotting small holds within a couple of feet of my nose. 

I wear varifocals, biggest problem I have is spotting footholds. The less steep the ground the more I find myself looking underneath the glasses or through the bottom, reading section of the lens and just see blurs. Not so bad redpointing but makes onsighting a tad harder. That's why the obvious footholds are tickmarked, youngsters.



erm, sam

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#10 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 01:14:39 pm
In reply to SamT - I have started wearing +0.5 glasses for reading and close stuff and find I need to wear them for trad but don't need them for bouldering. I find it takes a bit of getting used to as the feet are a bit odd as slighlty magnified but its fine after a route or two..

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#11 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 03:02:14 pm
I wear varifocals, biggest problem I have is spotting footholds.

Me too, although I find the problem isn't so much spotting that a foothold exists, as accurately gauging distance to it. It's especially a problem whenever I have to do a bit of downclimbing on alpine scrambly stuff

tomtom

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#12 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 03:06:00 pm
I need to buy some ‘bouldering specs’ (tm) ASAP.

These have clear glass - but can be worn whilst bouldering in the company of others - to provide a new stream of potential excuses. “I didnt see the hold”, “these new specs foreshorten everything”, “I couldn’t get the range right for that dead point”. Winner.

And then - a few weeks later “Aw shit, I’ve forgotten my glasses”.

It just keeps on giving!

webbo

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#13 Re: Eyesight, acuity and belay glasses.
October 27, 2020, 03:13:11 pm
I would have thought with your feet being so far from your eyes, you would need binoculars.

 

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