"Lester Evans" wrote in message
news:5wDhg.5163$LN1.5074@trndny01...
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,,


Well I'd recommend you get genuine marine binoculars that are sealed and dry
nitrogen filled otherwise you will eventually get moisture inside and
corrosion/fogging.
I believe in the past only bino's with individual focus eyepieces were
constructed this way but now several manufacturers including Fujinon and
Nikon offer center focus marine bino's. I think these are a bit more
convenient to use, especially if several people with widely different eyes
are going to be using the bino's.
I would also suggest getting them with built-in compass as this lets you
take bearings of distant objects.

I have the Fujinon Mariner binoculars with compass and these seem to be
fine. I paid $149US a couple of years ago. These have a polycarbonate body
and are much lighter (and cheaper) than the MIL spec Fujinons that have
alloy bodies. For daytime use I don't think the various claims about light
gathering, coatings, etc. are all that important. Some binoculars, Steiner
for example, have a larger compass which is easier to read and, I think,
more stable. Fujinon has a digital compass in one of their models.
Nikon also makes some nice marine bino's for around $250-300.
Do a search on eBay for "compass binoculars".