UKH

I have varifocal glasses. When looking down at my feet I am using the close reading part of the glasses and my feet are too far away for it, giving me issues with precise use of little footholds especially in poor light. I am also finding issues with using the upper distance part for wiggling in little wires high up. I am shortly having an eye test and shall need a stronger reading prescription, so the footwork issue will be worsened. I think I shall have to get a non varifocal pair made for climbing. However I wonder if anyone has any experience of getting made  sort of reverse varifocal glasses optimised for climbing, both wiggly wires and fiddly feet. 

My optician recommended that I didn’t get varifocals for climbing just because of the issues of not being able to see one’s feet.  

I don't climb much now but when I still did I used to change to an old pair of non varifocals. My prescription sunglasses (mostly for skiing) are also non varifocal & I often need to take them off to read a map.

No, but I'm thinking of getting a less varifocal pair made for climbing, so I still retain the ability to read maps & guidebooks while still being able to leave my good glasses in the car.

Same here, but mine are also quite close fitting - good for skiing & cycling, often too sweaty & condensation-prone for climbing

I tried a bifocal with a very thin 'reading' bit. Better than varifocals but still inferior to plain glasses and screwing up my eye.

If you get some reverse varifocals let us know how it goes.

Have you tried varifocal contact lenses? One is for reading the other for distance. It sounds weird but my wife has them and it seems to work.

(thinking about that contact lens system I wonder how brain wrecking it would be to do the same with glasses?) 

It must depend on the specific prescription.  I've been climbing in varifocals for many years without any issues.  I've tried climbing sans specs but my sight starts to deteriorate at toe distance, the critical point.

Al

Sorry if this is off the point. I don't have experience of varifocals but do use bifocals some of the time but for climbing and other purposes I have long used contact lenses with what I think is called monovision - one eye corrected for distance and one for close up. Certainly beats bifocals. My eyesight in this mode is as it was in my early 40s, before presbyopia set in. Just hoping nothing prevents me continuing with this solution in the future as I hate  the idea of climbing in specs.

Maybe you could try two different contact lenses one eye for close up and one for distance. 

I use varifocals someimes but as you say they do have lots of issues when climbing / mountaineering. I have ended up using contact lenses most of the time and a cheap pair of reading glasses in a pocket for mapwork / guidebook reading.

Get a cheap pair of single vision glasses online - it will be cheaper than buying from your optician. I also have a pair of single vision sunglasses from Optilabs https://www.optilabs.com/ .

I climb in vari focals. With flat vari focals I have the same problem as yourself. If I use vari focals with some wrap around I find the situation improves. Also I do not use the cheapest level of vari focal I go to the middle level at least.

Varifocals are awkward when you haven’t got the head movement to see footholds when in close to the rock.

I got a pair of single vision lens specs for climbing and explained to the optician what I wanted and he had them made up so the focal distance worked best for seeing my feet.

One thing to consider is: How tall are your glasses? Mine are fairly small, so i don't have to swivel my head far to see my feet through the middle, not-reading part of the glasses. OK for climbing, but still a problem for running in the dark when you end up with a crick in the neck. 

Could you remove both lenses, turn them upside down and put them back in and use them for climbing only? 

They took a bit of getting used to , but I've been happily climbing wearing varifocals for abut 20 years now. A couple of points - tilting your head to see a foothold isn't that hard and you soon get into the habit, also, you do not need to have the foothold in sharp focus as long as you can see where it is. 

I've used them for years but they do take getting used to. When I walked home from the opticians wearing them I felt about 4 feet tall. Walking in the hills to start with I kept tripping over things but now I don't have any issues and I can cave, climb, walk, orienteer in them. Stick with it.

I remember firmly gripping the bannister & thinking I was about to fall down the stairs when walking down the steep stairs from my office for the first week or two I wore varifocals. Soon passed but weird while it lasted.

Don't know if it's possible for you but I use varifocal contact lenses and have no issues at all. One of the benefits is that you don't have to worry about knocking your glasses off.

Have you asked the question of an optician about the price of "upside down" varifocals? I ask because I wear varifocals and whilst not having a deep problem with the inverse eye level/feet thing when climbing, like you I've imagined myself with a reversed pair. I've just assumed that they'd prove prohibitively expensive.

Interesting, I currently have separate glasses for reading and distance/driving and have started using the distance glasses for climbing and it really helps for small footholds.  Had wondered whether a specific prescription for climbing to optimise for around 4 to 6 feet  would work - sounds like a visit to the optician may be in order.

I prefer contacts for climbing. I currently use multifocal lenses which are great if you're get on with them. The big advantage over varifocal glasses is that you get both prescriptions wherever you look, so you can fiddle in a wire above your head and then look down to check your feet.

Before I discovered those I used monovision, which worked OK. I can't see any reason why monovision glasses wouldn't work. Try buying a cheap pair online with a distance prescription in your dominant eye and a reading prescription in the other eye. You might need to try a few different prescriptions before you get it right.

I also can't get on with varifocals - horrible sense of movement as you look at the foot holds etc. I tried varifocal lenses but they aren't good in dusty environments or for long days.

My solution is large frame single vision glasses (plastic bendy frames so you can sit on them and stuff them in a sack..), which is great for climbing, but rubbish for reading. On a long multi pitch route in the states a couple of years ago I was struggling to interpret the topo on the 6th or 7th pitch...... my climbing partner pointed out the topo was upside down... Eventually found the perfect solution to this - after trying some reading strength monacles (which worked OK) I found some very simple, very cheap, light and durable magnifiers which I carry in a pocket and use when I need to read a guide or map.....  Reading Credit Card Pocket Magnifier from Wish - less than £1 each....

I have climbed in varifocals for quite a few years without issue. Next week, I collect a new pair with stronger reading parts of the lens, this may be an issue. 

I currently use pound land readers for long term reading/screen work and my old varies for day to day stuff. I will most likely stick with my old ones for climbing. 

To get a dig in at the guidebook producers, I can read old style B&W guides without having to resort to my readers, no chance with modern oversized colour glossy guides. 

Another vote for multifocal contact lenses.

I occasionally climb in glasses when my eyes need a rest from contacts and find it much more awkward.

Maybe single prescription glasses would be okay for sports climbing as you don't need to see that well to clip a bolt, but I really struggle with either single prescription or varifocal when climbing trad. 

Just remembered a useful lesson soon after I first got varifocals. We did a sports route on a pinnacle. The anchor was below the summit of the pinnacle but you could summit by climbing then reversing a few easy moves above the anchor. It was only when I came to downclimb that I realised I couldn't see my footholds in varifocals! 

One thing worth additionally noting is that it is also key where the bridge is on the glasses - typically the higher the better so you can find a pair where the bottom of the frame meets you cheekbone

Thanks for all the interesting replies. I have not had any problems with varifocals in general, but I know I now need a stronger reading prescription, so this will exacerbate the foothold issue. I did try contacts a long time ago but didn't really get on with them, especially with dust and on dossy trips, so I'll stick with glasses. Getting a varifocal pair and a normal distance pair for climbing is probably the answer and a cheap pair online sounds a good idea. I'll certainly enquire about a custom climbing pair at my appointment next week though!

I also use multi-focal contact lenses, and find them fine for climbing. I think that they work by concentric circular prisms, but I have not looked at the actual optics of them.

There is no such thing as an upside down varifocal. It would be shite.

The nearest thing I've heard of is a "pilot lens" which has a segment (like a bifocal) at the top for reading instruments as well as a normal reading segment.

Here are a few solutions:

1. Multifocal contact lenses. This is the best option, because wherever you look, whether it's up down or sideways, you should have good enough vision both in the distance, near and in between. Perfect vision at no distances at all, unfortunately, but hey ho.

2. Monovision contact lenses (dominant eye distance prescription, non-dominant eye near prescription - for climbing, you'd probably want a weaker than normal reading prescription). Like the above, but a bit more crap - necessary if you have significant astigmatism and want a near prescription (rather than just distance) in contact lenses.

3. Use old varifocal specs when climbing which have a weaker reading prescription, if you're doing well with these now.

4. Single vision specs. Could have an adapted prescription so it's not perfectly sharp in the far distance, but makes near vision a bit better. Change into your proper varifocals to drive.

5. Multifocal intraocular lenses - pay thousands of pounds for surgery and end up with mediocre vision that you can't do anything about.

6. Use a wormhole in the fabric of spacetime to reverse presbyopia

They're aspheric, so yes, smooth concentric change of prescription. They can be either centre-distance (power getting more + as you go outwards) or centre-near (power getting more - as you go outwards).

No prisms involved. Prisms shift the whole image without affecting focus and are used to remedy problems with alignment of the eyes (relieving double vision in most cases).

Thank you for the explanation.

I understand the potential difficulty seeing footholds with standard variofocals, but seem to have adapted to this by looking down more in the way Mark Kemball described. Perhaps I climb routes with bigger footholds than some of you!

The greatest difficulty I had with single prescription lenses was seeing small gear placements up close. Trying to place an RP in front of your nose and not being able to judge if it has seated properly was a major factor in adopting varifocals: you can’t hold the cliff at arm’s length or take off your glasses mid-climb. How do others get around this? Or have you all become sport climbers as you grow older!  

Here's a link to the magnifiers I use....   They are credit card dimensions, but less that 1mm thick. Flexible and sit in a pocket without knowing they are there.. (also use when on my bike and have to make unplanned use of phone or look for navigation details!!). 

I have climbed the wrong route before now, and been convinced that a c+ is a b+ etc etc. Can be funny, but not always!

https://www.wish.com/product/5d63857c5404917596b51a23?source=search&pos...

I find my varifocal specs are not a problem at all though I suspect there is a lot of head movement going on to compensate. I also use varifocal contacts a fair bit of the time. I find them great and I’ve not experienced major issues in dry, dusty, sandy environments- though Wadi Rum might test that experience. You can easy get a trail period and it is so good not to have a set of specs on.

My experience is another vote for persevering with normal varifocals. I started using them around 15 years ago and they were bad news for climbing to start with for all the reasons given. For several years I climbed without glasses but eventually my long distance vision deteriorated so I couldn't see my feet clearly. So I started using the varifocals and now use them for pretty much everything including all my climbing. I must have learnt how to adjust my head tilt automatically and now don't notice any problem either placing my feet, placing gear or scanning the route ahead. It all seems to come naturally.

My only difference from yourself, I think, is that I can still read without glasses. I have the same aversion as you to contacts.

Martin

Yes, I have a pair of upside down varifocals. I only use them for aid climbing. They are big and heavy compared to pound land specs. I think they would be a pain for free climbing as one is both trying to be precise and look around all over the place in a panic (or at least I am) 

Interesting! Do you have them in some kind of weird snooker-type frame to give you bags of room above normal forward gaze to accommodate the near area? What's it like looking straight forward in them - are you looking through an accurate distance prescription? Is the whole bottom part of the lens just distance then?

If I was to design a custom lens for the presbyopic climber, it would be a varifocal with a reduced reading add (so you can see footholds) and a small bifocal type segment at the top (stronger add than the bottom) for placing gear, glazed into a comically large frame (so the top segment didn't interfere with straight ahead gaze. But none of the manufacturers I work with offer this.

Large, 50/50 I'd say. Made for me by specsavers!