A brief comparison between Belay Specs and CU Belay Glasses

My wife has had a pair of the CU glasses for about three years. She has neck issues and swears they have extended her climbing career by relieving her chronic belayer's neck pain. My neck is fine, but I recently decided to buy a pair of glasses when I found that partners who used them just gave better belays while working projects. Figured I should reciprocate. What follows is my personal experience.

The CU belays were reviewed very well here-
mountainproject.com/v/gear-…

Belay Specs share the same basic characteristics. They are produced in Utah rathher than Germany and cost substantially less ($80 vs $150.)

Both share the same basic design, a shaped metal frame supporting two prisms. The prisms on the Bely Specs are a little bigger, and the metal tray holding the prisms is correspondingly bigger and heavier. This gives a slightly bigger field of view while looking through the prisms, but also less peripheral vision. With the CU glasses I can typically peer over the frame for the first couple of clips, with Belay Specs I prefer to leave them hanging on my neck till the climber is a few bolts off the ground. Not really a significant difference. The Belay Specs are heavier, which becomes noticeable on the nose during long belay sessions.

Both come with plastic carrying cases. The CU case is a little nicer with tailored foam inserts, but both work adequately.

Both come with keeper cords, the Belay Specs are attached with heat shrink plastic in a choice of colors (you can pick cord color too.) Color choices are a nice touch and will be helpful as glasses are more widely used.

Ordering Belay Specs is easy on their website. As far as I can tell, ordering CU Glasses requires leaving a message on the answering machine of the American distributor.

My wife has used her glasses for three years without any problems for that entire time, except for one episode I'll describe below. One of the lenses of my first pair of Belay Specs fell off the very first time I used them. My second pair is doing fine, but it has only been a couple of weeks. So the durability question remains open for Belay Specs, in my opinion.

Customer Service- when my Belay Specs broke, Phil sent me a new pair immediately, even before he received my broken ones in return, even included cash to cover my shipping. Couldn't have been better. When my wife first had her CU glasses, one of the little silicone pieces covering the metal nosepiece disappeared. She contacted the American distributor who suggested she strip the insulation off some wire and replace it! This didn't seem reasonable for a pricey pair of glasses, so she contacted Albi in Germany who promptly sent replacements plus a few extra pieces just in case. Worked out OK, but I wonder if Albi would still be as responsive.

What's the bottom line?
Both glasses are good. You won't go wrong.
If you have a very sensitive nose or if money is no object, then I suggest the CU Glasses, for their lighter weight and proven record of durability.
If the thought of spending $150 on belay glasses makes you crazy, then you can get a fine pair from Belay Specs and I really like the way they stand behind their product so far.

powernplayusa.com/

belayspecs.com/

Great post Mark, after spending a week at indian creek my neck was killing me. I can see a pair of these in my future and it's nice to know I don't have to shell out an arm and a leg.

Thanks for the review Mark, it seems pretty balanced and honest. Belay glasses, whether Belay Specs or CUs, are a great addition to any climbers pack. We started Belay Specs in part to try to bring them to a wider audience by making them more widely available and at a reasonable cost.

I'd like to address the durability issue that Mark mentioned. Mark was one of our first customers and on the first two dozen pairs of Belay Specs made we had an issue with the epoxy that bonds the frame and prisms together. We had made some small changes to our assembly procedure since our pre-production run that had caused poor the bonding. Once we detected the problem we were able to correct it and have contacted those affected to get them replacement product as needed.

I'd also like to point out that we have a 30-day money back guarantee on Belay Specs and as Mark said, we work hard to take care of any issues our customers have. If you have any questions about Belay Specs please check out our website or send us an email.

Thanks,
Phil Wilkes
www.belayspecs.com

Any discount coupons for MP members? :-)

just ordered a pair a belay specs. I wasn't gonna pay the big bucks for the German ones. I'll follow up once they arrive and i take em for a spin.

do any of these companies make a clip on version for those of us already bespectacled?

Rocky_Mtn_High: The first 10 people to use the coupon code "MTNPROJECT" at checkout will get free shipping. (Note: We will only honor free shipping codes on US orders. Any international orders using a free shipping code will be refunded and asked to reorder without a free shipping code.)

Rock Fencer: Belay Specs were designed to work over prescription and sun glasses. There is a picture on the front page of the website of someone wearing them over sunglasses. We do offer a 30 day money back guarantee so if they don't work with your glasses, returning them won't be a problem.

Had a question about these glasses, so I emailed the company. Got the reply less than an hour later. Placed my order that day, and 2 days later they're at my house. Great service!

Great review and write-up, Mark. After a year of using some DIY belay glasses we purchased a pair of the CU glasses last year and have been very pleased with them (after getting over the sticker shock.) If I didn't already have the CU glasses, I'd go with the Belay Specs.

A few years ago an acquaintance of ours had a small seizure while belaying. She'd never had any seizures like that before and the hypothesis was years of looking up while belaying had resulted in nerve issues in her neck, I believe. I've often wondered if someone has done any research on the long-term effects of belaying. Nonetheless, I certainly feel much better after a weekend of using belay glasses versus how I used to feel after looking up all weekend. I'm sold on belay glasses.

There has been a good response to the free shipping coupon code for Mountain Project users so we're going to keep it rolling.

For those of you that have purchased a pair, let everyone know what you think.

Belay Specs wrote:There has been a good response to the free shipping coupon code for Mountain Project users so we're going to keep it rolling. For those of you that have purchased a pair, let everyone know what you think.

Bought a set of belay specs. They look lame but work like a charm. I get my balls busted but everyone who belays me wears them and wants info on where to get a set. Very practical and they magnify slightly. East coast seal of approval

My wife and I bought a pair of the CU Belay Glasses in Europe on our honeymoon. Three years later, they're doing awesome - still love 'em (the glasses and the wife) as much as ever.

GO

I've owned a pair of the CU glasses for a couple of years now, and all day yesterday I got to use a friend's Belay Specs.

The optical performance and the comfort of the Belay Specs was identical to my CU glasses (which is to say: excellent in both aspects).

My only complaint about the Belay Specs is the tether (the cord attached to the temples [arms] that goes around your neck). The cord is just a bit too short and makes it more difficult to get the glasses over your head while wearing a helmet.

This isn't a problem for the CU glasses as the tether is attached with sliding loops and so can be situated at the end of the temples.

However, the Belay Specs attach the tether closer to the hinge with shrink tubing and thus the tether isn't adjustable. Making the cord about four inches longer would solve the issue for me.

Obviously this isn't a big issue and can be easily solved if, like me, you wear a helmet when belaying.

Been using a pair of the CU glasses, they are awesome. The only issue that I've recently found is rockfall. If your climber rips something off the wall or drops something on you, its really hard to dodge it. you see it coming through the glasses fine, but no one has practiced dodging shit through a prism. the time it takes to actually look up and reacquire the rock...yeah its awkward. wear your helmet! Not a deal breaker for me, but just be aware.

If you're interested in the CU glasses, find a few others who want some and place a bulk order through Germany. We got 3 pairs at once and it came to $115 each, after tax, shipping, duty, etc, etc.

Only issue I'd have with the Belay Specs, by the sounds of it, is having to leave them off for the first few clips. Personally, I'd rather not have to fiddle with something or take my attention away from my climber. But sounds like they're pretty decent regardless :)

There are new belay glasses on the market called Belaggles. Check out belaggles.com. Wider lenses for a wider field of view. Cool color options and come with case, cloth, and retainer. Comfortable and good price too.

John Aalam wrote:There are new belay glasses on the market called Belaggles. Check out belaggles.com. Wider lenses for a wider field of view. Cool color options and come with case, cloth, and retainer. Comfortable and good price too.

Sorry, didnt mean to spam at all.

Full disclosure, I work with Vertical Vision, the company making Belaggles. There wasnt a company name option on setting up the MP profile.

I was going through forums and saw this conversation so thought I'd let everyone know there is another option in the market too.

Apologies to all if the message seemed misrepresented.

John

I'll buy them when they are in the $30 range, otherwise I can't figure how two pieces of glass stuck to a chunk of metal could be so expensive. Are they at least made in a first world country? I hate letting third world countries have jobs.

sweage dude, once you're a bit older and your neck hurts like f#*king hell every time you're out there climbing/belaying.... $130 is chump change really when you think about it. I got the CU glasses and they work well - I recommend them to anyone considering the "dork" glasses..