Our Equipment

Gary and I have very different binoculars, although we each paid about the same price. I'm noting the differences here, so that we will have a basis for comparison as our adventures proceed.

As birdwatching novices, our requirements are fairly simple:

• We live in central Texas, where summer outdoor heat and humidity is roughly that of a sauna bath. Combined with aggressive indoor air conditioning, this means we need reliable waterproof and fogproof binoculars.
• We both wear prescription eyeglasses, so we need provision for individual eyepiece adjustments, and good "eye relief" (with adjustable eye cups that permit the wearing of eyeglasses, if desired).
  
• We want optics that are clear and bright, distortion-free and properly collimated, firmly set in sturdy casings that will stand up to everyday life.
• We are definitely not in the market for world-class binoculars that require a big financial investment.
  

Gary's binoculars (7x50 Mariner Pro from Steiner, now discontinued) are a rarity in binoculars, waterproof porro prisms. Here are the specs.

• Field of View: 354 ft at 1000 yds
• Closest Focus: 20 ft
  
• Exit Pupil: 7.14 mm
  
• Eye relief: 22 mm
• Eye cups: wrap-around fold-down
  
• Weight: 37 oz
• Waterproofed, nitrogen-purged lenses, fully multi-coated
  
• BaK4 porro prisms
  

They are good, solid outdoor binoculars. No close focus, so no focus wheel. Set them to your eyes and you are done.

As birdwatching field glasses, they do best observing in wide open spaces or watching birds in flight. Gary also enjoys stargazing with them; they have nice broad light-gathering optics, with a broad exit pupil for dark nights.

These are the kind of binoculars you can grab from the seat of the pickup and use instantly, with no fuss. Gary grew up with binoculars like these, back on the farm in Colorado. Using them now is like coming home to a well-remembered friend.

My choice of binoculars (8x42 Burris Signature Select), are about 1/3 smaller than Gary's, in both size and weight. Here are the specs.

• Field of view: 330 ft at 1000 yds
• Closest focus: 10 ft
• Focus mechanism: lockable diopter focus ring
  
• Exit pupil: 5.2 mm
  
• Eye relief: 19 mm
• Eye cups: twist-up
• Weight: 22 oz
• Waterproofed, nitrogen-purged lenses, fully multi-coated
  
• BaK4 roof prisms
• Phase corrected
  

Burris is a small company in Greeley, Colorado, primarily specializing in hunting optics. Although these binoculars are made in Japan to Burris specifications, I hope that by purchasing them I am supporting American jobs in some small way.

(Actually, most optical glass is manufactured overseas these days, and even "made in America" products are assembled in the U.S. from imported components.)

For a person with small hands and a small face, the roof prism configuration and the smaller optics make these binoculars narrower, so the eyepieces can be closer together and the tubes are easier to hold. Plus the close focus at 10 feet makes backyard observation possible (not an option with Gary's equipment).

Optically, both binoculars seem to have glass with good edge-to-edge focus and good light-gathering characteristics. Both are shock-resistant, with heavy rubber armoring. We like our equipment sturdy!

We'll see how these work over the long term...