I confess to being a binocular junkie. I own at least a dozen binoculars
ranging from a top of the line Leica pair, to Nikons, Canons, Bausch and Lomb,
Bushnell, and West Marine.

A top quality binocular is a joy to use but its lifetime aboard a boat is
just as short as a cheaper pair. High humidity, salt spray, hard knocks and
inadvertant immersion will do in just about any binocular. Posedion pays little
attention to the price.

I'm glad both Rich and Henry praised the West Marine binoculars. In optical
performance they are a match for any of the middle range European or Japanese
brands but cost half the price. I don't know what shortcuts were taken in the
manufacture, or if Chinese slave labor was used to make them, but they are a
bargain for the American boater (especially if your are not concerned about
balance of payments). An especially good buy is the Huahine 7x50 binocular, listed
in the catalog at $79.99. From time to time WM sales flyers cut the price by
30%. We bought six pairs the year before last, two to keep on the boat for
guests, and four to give to our boating oriented kids as Xmas presents.

The optics are of high quality. The light transmission is equal to that of
the Steiners or Fujis, and the eye relief is 27.4 mm, more than enough to use
with eyeglasses. Collimation is good enough to use for relative long periods
without getting a headache. The are also light enough to wear around your neck,
unlike the WW2 era Bausch and Lomb bricks.

Incidentally, my favorite user binocular is a Bushnell 6x24 Custom Compact.
This was the binocular that NASA chose for use aboard the Apollo missions. It
is no longer being made but has been replaced by the Bushnell (owned by Bausch
and Lomb) 7x26 Custom Compact.

A complete critical review of available binoculars is published every couple
of years by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The latest review can be obtained
at the very long URL below. Far easier is to do a Google search on binocular
reviews.

http://animals.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=animals&
cdn=education&tm=35&f=00&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&
zu=http%3A//www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird/winter2005/Age_Binos.html

Larry Z

See AOL's top rated recipes
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)

Another inclusive review of binoculars can be found at the astonomy
forum Cloudy Nights.

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/63783/p
age/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

Alec
GB 49 Alaskan

On sale right now for $56.00.

• Looks like all the West brands are on sale per their website.

Tim Behan
No connection, but I do have a pair of West brand binoculars with?compass and I really do like them.

-----Original Message-----
From: LRZeitlin@aol.com
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 3:39 pm
Subject: Re: T&T: Binocular junkie

I?confess to being a binocular junkie. I own at least a dozen binoculars
ranging from a top of the line Leica pair, to Nikons, Canons, Bausch and Lomb,
Bushnell, and West Marine.

I'm glad both Rich and Henry praised the West Marine binoculars. In optical
performance they are a match for any of the middle range European or Japanese
brands but cost half the price. I don't know what shortcuts were taken in the
manufacture, or if Chinese slave labor was used to make them, but they are a
bargain for the American boater (especially if your are not concerned about
balance of payments). An especially good buy is the Huahine 7x50 binocular,
listed
in the catalog at $79.99. From time to time WM sales flyers cut the price by
30%. We bought six pairs the year before last, two to keep on the boat for
guests, and four to give to our boating oriented kids as Xmas presents.

The optics are of high quality. The light transmission is equal to that of
the Steiners or Fujis, and the eye relief is 27.4 mm, more than enough to use
with eyeglasses. Collimation is good enough to use for relative long periods
without getting a headache. The are also light enough to wear around your neck,
unlike the WW2 era Bausch and Lomb bricks.

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