Ucraft Titanium Alloy Belay Glasses - review

I bought Ucraft Titanium Alloy Belay Glasses off of amazon.com for $49 somewhat recently and I have to say they are really nice. I find them to work just as well as my friend's CU belay glasses that were more than double the price. And I find the hinges are easier to deal with putting them away rather than the sprung arms of the CU brand. They come with a carrying case with a non-load bearing carabiner, spare nose piece, spare screws, cloth to wipe the prisms, and a tiny screwdriver to replace the screws in the hinges. The frame and prisms are minimal enough to see around them when spotting for before the first clip or when having to reposition where you are standing while lead belaying. I really enjoy not having neck discomfort while belaying. Like any belay glasses they take some adjustment and practice to get used to them.

The only drawbacks I've found is that if you wear prescription glasses like I do, they fall off your face when you bend your head down if you put them on and are checking your belay setup. Once you keep your head level they are fine. They also don't work with some prescription glasses were the bridge piece between the lenses sticks out too far as they don't have enough room to sit on your nose. In my case, one of my glasses the bridge piece bends outward in a half circle and this is enough to make them not usable with these. The case is a lot more flimsy than I thought it would be. It's like plastic blister pack thick with no padding inside. It won't survive any significant crushing impact. It's merely to hold them off of a gear loop. Also the carabiner mount point is off to the side such that it doesn't hang straight down.

I think they were a good deal and priced much more reasonably for a thin metal frame than other brands.

Where I bought it:
https://www.amazon.com/Ucraft-Glasses-Climbers-Ultralight-Titanium/dp/B01NCVUQ15/

The manufacturers web site:
https://ucraftclimbing.com/accessories/belay-glasses/titanium-alloy-belay-glasses.html

Meh... I ordered a pair from Amazon and both prisms fell off the frame on arrival. Ended up getting a pair of metal frame y&y (clearly what the Ucraft is knocking-off of) on sale for $15 more. Haven't looked back.

Belay Specs are pretty pricey ($80 like 6 years ago)... but when the glue on one of the prisms failed (after 5 years of use), I sent them in for a $20 refurbishment and basically got a brand-new pair back, complete with a new polishing cloth and extra replacement nose-pieces.  Pretty great customer service.

Nate Tastic wrote: How large are the prisms? Are they fairly wide or can you see past either side of each one? 

Just the prisms are 21mm wide by 12mm high. But to see around them you need to account for metal frame on the outside of the prisms that folds over the side and the slight bit under it. That puts the width at 25mm and the height at 13mm. I find them very easy to see around and that is an advantage in my opinion. They don't block a lot of your vision like some of the thick plastic frame belay glasses do. 

reboot wrote: Meh... I ordered a pair from Amazon and both prisms fell off the frame on arrival. Ended up getting a pair of metal frame y&y (clearly what the Ucraft is knocking-off of) on sale for $15 more. Haven't looked back.

That is a shame. My friend's CU Belay Glasses had both of the rubber surroundings that go over the ears on the arms fall off within a months time of use. And this is supposed to be a high quality brand. She had to glue them back on herself. I'm sure defects happen from time to time with any of these. I agree that they do indeed look very much like the Y&Y Belay Glasses. My guess is that there is a particular company offering this design belay glasses with whatever branding added to other companies to sell. So not really a knock off as much as probably a re-branded product. Companies competing on price benefits the consumer as long as they are well made. Look at these:

https://www.amazon.com/Tembo-Climbing-Professional-Belay-Glasses/dp/B0764JYPBF/

Pretty much the same thing minus the extra parts, screwdriver, a different head strap, and different brand label.

caughtinside wrote: I’ve got  He ucraft plastic pair. I think they were 24$? Frames aren’t the best, but they work well and the price is good. 

I notice that the plastic frames on these don't appear all that much wider than the metal ones I bought. A bit more material on the bridge piece that could block some vision around the prisms. And they also come with a much better case for almost half the cost of what I bought. Do you have much issue with looking around and past the prisms to spot or move belay positions with these?