[jwi]

I need to change my lenses thanks to ever worsening eye sight. I have already used progressive lenses for three years, but have never been happy with them for hiking and climbing. Anytime I need to look at my feet really. I have climbed in my old non-progressive glasses before, but as my astigmatism has changed it gives me quite a lot of head ache.

Anyone that has made glasses specifically for climbing? At what distance did you maximise your eyesight? If I made computer glasses with optimal distance of about an arms length, would those work well for climbing too?

[SA Chris]

I assume progressive is the same as varifocal (from googling)?

If so, I've had mine for about 4 years and wear them pretty much all the time. I had a conversation with optometrist about wanting to wear them for climbing, running etc and his recommendation was to not get cheapest, as the more money you spend the thinner the lenses and the better the graduation.

They took a few weeks to get used to, but i really like them now, and don't even think about having them on all day, although i do take them off for reading late in the evening when eyes are tired.

I'll need to replace them soon (stood on, and held together with fingertape and superglue) and will try to go for the same or very similar if possible.

[jwi]

I assume progressive is the same as varifocal (from googling)?

If so, I've had mine for about 4 years and wear them pretty much all the time. I had a conversation with optometrist about wanting to wear them for climbing, running etc and his recommendation was to not get cheapest, as the more money you spend the thinner the lenses and the better the graduation.

They took a few weeks to get used to, but i really like them now, and don't even think about having them on all day, although i do take them off for reading late in the evening when eyes are tired.

I'll need to replace them soon (stood on, and held together with fingertape and superglue) and will try to go for the same or very similar if possible.

Yeah, varifocal. (Is "progressive" Frenglish? I am surprised!).

I have quite good insurance coverage so my current lenses are thin and rather expensive. I am happy with them for most things, except running downhill across scree or finding tiny footholds when climbing.

[IanP]

I wear varifocals with a fairly strong reading prescription and don't like them for climbing at all, just can't see footholds properly.   Initially started using some old weaker prescription reading glasses which worked OK, more recently changed to a specific prescription pair with standard intermediate distance option (often described as compute usage). They work great for me, footholds are clear and also work pretty well for close stuff.   Think they are optimised for 0.5 - 2 metre but I'm sure you could talk to your optician to make sure you got exactly the right set up.

[SA Chris]

Yeah, varifocal. (Is "progressive" Frenglish? I am surprised!).

I google progressive lenses and it came up a lot, might be American?

My eyesight is minus 1.75 / minus 2 so not as bad as it could be, but i can see small footholds no sweat, and fine for downhill running and biking.

I also have a pair of Oakley Half Jackets with a set of prescription lenses that i can swap with the standard lenses, which are excellent for running etc too. The only downside to them is the price of the prescription lenses will bring a tear to your eye.

[Muenchener]

I got my optician to make me a pair of "milder" varifocals that have turned out to be a good enough compromise: I can both see footholds and read guidebooks. Not sure what offhand what the exact difference from my normal full strength prescription is though.

[duncan]

Good question. In addition to the usual, I also have macular degeneration resulting in impaired vision in the lower half of my left eye to make things worse. I have had similar experiences to IanP.  Varifocals optimised for close reading didn't work at all for my climbing due to the difficulty in spotting footholds. I'm currently using weak prescription reading glasses (and, cough, tick marks) which work reasonably well for footholds. I have to take them off and squint to see small gear placements close up which is not ideal. I can clip bolts with my eyes nearly closed but I'm trying not to make this an excuse to just go sport climbing.

....more recently changed to a specific prescription pair with standard intermediate distance option (often described as compute usage). They work great for me, footholds are clear and also work pretty well for close stuff.   Think they are optimised for 0.5 - 2 metre but I'm sure you could talk to your optician to make sure you got exactly the right set up.

Do you mean the upper part of the lens corrects for distance viewing - standard shortsightedness - with the lower part of the lens optimised for 0.5-2m? My optician recognised the problem as a common request from golfers who also need to see small things by their feet. How is your prescription for the fiddling in microwires by your nose question, if this applies to you!?

[IanP]

....more recently changed to a specific prescription pair with standard intermediate distance option (often described as compute usage). They work great for me, footholds are clear and also work pretty well for close stuff.   Think they are optimised for 0.5 - 2 metre but I'm sure you could talk to your optician to make sure you got exactly the right set up.

Do you mean the upper part of the lens corrects for distance viewing - standard shortsightedness - with the lower part of the lens optimised for 0.5-2m? My optician recognised the problem as a common request from golfers who also need to see small things by their feet. How is your prescription for the fiddling in microwires by your nose question, if this applies to you!?

No, my lenses are just single prescription, mid distance - close vision is not as good as reading glasses (I think the sphere is +2.00 as opposed to +2.75 for reading glasses, not that I really understand it what this means) but good enough for clipping bolts and seeing handholds etc.  Its a long time since I've fiddled an RP in  .  To put vision in context, I can read message on my phone or look at a route in guidebook with a bit of difficulty with climbing glasses, for anything more than a quick check I change back to the varifocals.

[jwi]

My optician suggested bifocals for climbing with correction for myopia in the upper segment and correction for mid/long distance at the lower segment. I am getting varifocal lenses for everyday life and bifocal for working in front of the computer my wallet started to whine a bit, following the discussion on here I might try to fit some cheap mid-distance glass in some old frames...

[IanP]

Don't know how it works in Europe but I just got my mid distance glasses online - for perfectly serviceable plastic frames I paid around £35 for 2 pairs of single vision glasses after applying the various discount codes.  After some previous experimentation one important criteria was fairly large lenses to ensure complete vision coverage when looking downwards and upwards.

[jwi]

Yeah, I found some online glasses for 30 euros. How do you figure what correction to use for mid-distance?

[IanP]

Yeah, I found some online glasses for 30 euros. How do you figure what correction to use for mid-distance?

I got intermediate figure on my prescription from the optician, I think a very simple rule of thumb is that just add half of your reading addition to the basic distance addition, that certainly works out for my prescription.

Obvs I have no real expertise and my prescription is fairly simple and identical for left and right eyes.

[i.munro]

I doubt it's a cheap option but multifocal contacts seem to work well for me.