Mark Borgerson wrote:
In article , ceilydhNO_SPAM@
3web.NOSPAM.net says...

Lester Evans wrote:

For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,

Dad had the big old heavy Fujinons on his boat. They were unsurpassed
a night light gathering but big and clunky to hold.
Looked a bit like these
http://fujinon.binoculars.com/produc...-sx-27618.html

We have a pair of 7x50 Steiner Military/Marines. Not quite as good as
the Fujis at night (or maybe my eyes have aged a bit in 20 years) but
still very good optics and excellent ergonomics.

Both of the above are probably overkill for most sailors EXCEPT when
you're trying to enter a harbour at night by starlight. Then you'll
be very happy to have spent more than $100. If you don't sail at
night then the good 7x50's are overkill



If you wear glasses (as I do) be sure to test the binoculars while
wearing them. There can be a lot of variation in the field of
view with the change in eye relief due to the spectacles.

I like my Fujinon 7/50s because the field of view is good when
I'm wearing my glasses. My wife likes her Nikon 8x40s even
though they're not lightweights. But she wears contacts and
eye relief is less of a problem.

Mark Borgerson


I pop my eyeglasses off and adjust the binocular accordingly.
Inconvenient but seems to work although I'm quite nearsighted.