bligh wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 01:10:58 GMT, frank1492
wrote:

I'm sure this is a matter of opinion, but I would tend to favor
the 7X50, only because any type of motion makes the larger
magnification (10X) hard to deal with.
Still, your opinions would be most appreciated!
Thank you!
Frank

My friends, who are bigtime sailors and can afford anything suggested
the $50 7x50's from West Marine. They worked out great for me. (I
leave things and lose things and lend things and drop things over the
side.) The coolest- "oh my GOD" binoculars were a pair of 8x30
Steiners (sp) the Swiss army issues to their kids. What a revelation.

An earlier poster also mentioned Steiner, and said they never need
focusing.

I think I'm about to inherit a Steiner Commander 7x50 Pilot S with
stabilized compass (including redlight for night) which the company
identifies as about 10 years old. Focusing on these isn't automatic,
or even easy. It's one eyepiece at a time (can't get them out of
alignment with a center focus, that way).

However, I concur that they are dramatically better than anything I've
put to my eyes before. Today's equivalent "lists" for about 2K but you
can buy them for as little as 900 bux in a variety of places.

For anyone following my saga (and thus aware of what we're doing and
how long it's been), the reason, I infer, that I'll inherit these is
the contractor I'm using, who's taken many months and *all* of my boat
fund, took a lot of stuff off a major project at the request of the
owner, who was about to lose the boat. I got a couple Uniden handheld
radios, and some charts given to me outright, about a week after he'd
handed me these to ask my opinion, saying he was thinking of selling
them. I believe two things are at work. First is that he's cleaning
out his closet, finally realizing he's not going to get any money from
the guy (who owes him several decaboatbux). The second is that he
realizes he's taken far too long, and at this point I can't afford to
buy anything which won't get the boat splashed. Easy twofer - clean
out the closet and salve the conscience :{))

L8R

Skip, on the boat using wifi - without an up-the-mast solution yet,
seeing daylight but far from finished in the refit...

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain