[Rich Z]

Yeah, I admit it. The old eyes aren't what they used to be. Dammit. So I am thinking about getting a good pair of binoculars to help spot those darn tree rats up in the nut trees.

Anyone have any suggestions on a REALLY nice one? I don't want to spend an arm and a leg, but want a good balance of quality and reasonable cost.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[eli95]

Rich:

I have had experance with two brands.

1. Tasco; I bought a 10x50 for use on the charter boat, they lived on the flybridge for 8+ years before the salt environment got to them and even then the optics were still clear.

2. Bushnell; The ones I now have, two years and going strong. they are also 10x50.

I would like to have a stablelized pair, but cost is a factor as is ruggedness.

Hope this helps

Terry

 

[Clint Boyer]

I have a compact pair of Nikon's. I like the small size because I wear them all day when hunting. I can put the carry strap around my neck, then tuck the binos in my breast pocket. The quality is pretty darn good.
The biggest problem I have with binos is being able to get a full field of view while wearing my glasses. Oh, sure, they all have those little fold back eye protectors that are "supposed" to work for us four eyed folks. All those do is increase my field of view from two small dots to one small dot. To really get a full field I have to remove my specks, it's a MAJOR pain in my arse! :sobstory:

I think that most optics makers have come a long way in the last few years. Even the economy models have improved greatly. My suggestion is to make a trip to the local 'Blank'-Mart and take a peek through all of them to see which feels and looks best to you.

 

[Aslan]

I have some steiners that have been pretty much indestructable.

Good field of view, work well in low light.

 

[RIKA]

I second the Steiners. I picked up a pair of 8x40's on sale and they are excellent.

RIKA

 

[Rich Z]

Heck if I knew how bad my eyes and everything else would get as I grew older, I may have been more inclined to work with venomous snakes in my earlier years. Might have saved me the embarrassment of being where I am now....

It's a damn crime that you have to work so hard to survive, only to get old....

 

[andy]

full page ad, Amerian Rifleman, medicine

for helping vision problems, Rich. I know nothing about it, but I could ask my nurse friend to check on it.

 

[Rich Z]

Well, I have been over in St. Augustine looking for the fountain of youth, but no luck so far. I figure when I found an area where there are only teenagers living, it will be close by....

I don't think there is much medically that can be done for eyeballs that are nearly 54 years old.

 

[GBullet]

Rich, I highly recommend that you consider the Pentax PCF WP binoculars.

They can be had in 8x40, 7x50 and 10x50, among others. They're a porro prism design and as such offer excellent optical performance. The "WP" stands for water proof, you can submerse them over three feet! They have aspherical eyepiece elements to reduce distortions, are sturdy, and best of all they cost $169.

I bought my mom an 8x40 PCF WP last year.

 

[BigJon]

I had some 8X56 Swarovskis that I loved. Someone else apparently liked 'em better; he relieved me of them without my knowledge. So, I replaced them with Zeiss binocs in 10X56.

(1) Warning - be careful of Zeiss! (Yep, you read that right.) The binocs I have are those with the pull-out eye cups cut at 90 degress to the axis of the lenses. (The new ones I belive have angled eye cups.) Mine have been an utter failure. Once outside temps get down to the point that you start breathing steam, the binocs fog within 5 seconds of when you put 'em to your eyes - yep 5 freakin' seconds. I have tried every way to eliminate this problem, including sending them back to Zeiss, all to no avail. If I take off my hat, tilt my head up at 45 degrees, and back off the binocs until I can just see the objective inside the black ring that's created, I can maybe stretch it out to 10-15 seconds. In short, these are about as useful as a paperweight in the field.

(2) Power - I had better results with 8X for long-term observation and scanning. With 10X, you'll find that it's harder to hold stabilized, and after awhile, you'll get a headache unless you use them on a tripod or some other firm base, and of course that's impractical when scanning.

Best,
Jon

 

[mrostov]

Carson 6x16mm autofocusing mini-binos, small enough to take anywhere and always have on you. Smallest quality folding mini-binos I've found yet. They run about $30.