Nautical Binocular Advice (Calling all mariners!)
 

My daughter has been asking for a pair of “good” binoculars to use on the bridge of a US Navy destroyer. The pairs supplied by Uncle Sam are in short supply and well worn, and she sees a lot of utility in having her own pair. When I asked what they supply, she says the ONLY thing written on them is “7X”.

Mind you these are just the protable variety - the ship has a several giant scopes they call the “Big Eyes” mounted to the bridge wings, but they also use (what looked like to me) to be the generic adult-sized kind we used to take to baseball games, etc.

So I’m curious, having zero ocean or bridge-standing experience, if someone might have a clue what would be good?

This much I know:
- they are often used in low light (but theirs are NOT the night-vision variety)
- 7X is what the Navy supplies
- my budget is sub $1,000

I’ve seen image-stabilized 18X Canon binoculars in the $700 range, but the Navy doesn’t apparently supply such so that makes me wonder. Also the lenses are only 36mm so I wonder about low light. They also have an 18X50mm but they are really pricey.
Bushnell and Nikon have ~10X50 pairs (not image stabilized) for sub $200, but the low price has me worried.

To make matters worse, I’ve got to ship them to her so I can’t really test them or return them.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I like the 10 by 50s, I've also had a pair of the Canon image stabilized binoculars and I like those a lot. The big thing for me would be to measure the eyes center to center distance and make sure the binoculars can accommodate that. If her eyes are close together, sometimes binoculars cannot be adjusted properly to fit them.

I know exactly what she is going through.

When I was the Airboss on a ship during the first Persian Gulf war, I was required to qualify as Officer of the Deck (OOD) and have my own watch section. Which I did. Amazing management experience while sleep deprived.

Thank god the ships Boatswain's Mate (WO4 Bird) took pity on me an served as my JOOD for most watches.

To your question, she needs her own. After using the bridge pairs with eye cooties from every knucklehead on watch before me, I bought my own pair after my first underway period standing bridge watch.

Bird told me not to worry about magnification beyond 7/8x...the average visual horizon from the bridge of a destroyer/frigate is just over 11 miles, after that the curvature of the earth wins. CIC will track the big guys, the Big Eyes can reach out and touch the horizon. Close in, 1/2 to 4 miles is the sweet spot.

I bought the 1990's version of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C66C784/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&cr eativeASIN=B00C66C784&linkCode=as2&tag=bestprodtag d3534-20

Light, great ergonomics with rubber eye caps (key). Make sure they fit her. I gave them to my Airboss relief, along with my Trek bike:)

Do not get stabilized anything...not needed and may not do well in the Aegis electro magnetic environment - or running out of juice while on watch.

Give her my best. OOD is hard.

Nikon for me.

My wife, and I have been looking at quality monoculars...much easier to hold, and store, and good for a spotting scope while target shooting as well.

7x50's are pretty standard for marine use, nothing wrong with ~$200. They work great for me. I'm piloting a bit smaller boat though. :)

Please thank your daughter from me for her service. My Dad was in the U.S. Navy and loved it , I am sure he would've been delighted to have me or my brother serve.

Do a search over on "Sailing Anarchy" forum. I am sure you will collect some interesting advice there (...some you don't want!) but most of it good. Research will pay off. They make some with built in compass etc. The differences between magnification, brand, durability and build-quality are as vast the ocean.

I use 1980's era 10x50 Carl Zeiss Jena binoculars. Google that.

It's all about the glass. I think there are 12x50 Zeiss around too.

David, I have a 7x50 w/ compass: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--offshore-1000c-7-x-50-waterproof-binoculars-with-compass--15884828

I live in south OC. If she’s stationed in SD, I’m happy to let her borrow them to see if she likes them. Just PM me if that’s of interest.

Merry Christmas to me...just bought a pair SmileWavy

I am NOT an expert. Repeat.

I researched this and see that Steiner and Fujinon are highly thought of.

Another data point. Good luck!

I have a pair of Fujinon 7X50 with built in compass. They offer fantastic clarity and great performance in low light. But being rubber coated for marine use and with the compass on top, are bulky and heavy.
I ended up using a smaller and lighter pair of cheapie binocks in all but lowlight conditions. They were easy to keep close to the helm and good enough most of the time.

Good glass does make a difference, but handy size and weight are important too.

Cheers Richard

Tough to beat Zeiss lenses

Wow - great advice all - THANK you!

"Amazing management experience while sleep deprived." That sounds like an echo to me - fur sure!

She was first to get OOD and SWO of her group, completed her first successful deployment and is moving on to her next, which is the NAV position on a soon to deploy DDG based in Everett. That's a long way of saying it seems like both a reasonable and important request. And you all seem to affirm that.

Paul - the ones you linked to, they're not pocket sized and they're not full sized (roughly 7" x 6"). Medium size is ok?

And Jim - any idea why you can't buy that West Marine pair in CA? (This seems to be happening more and more...)

Thanks again guys!

Hi David, I wasn’t paying attention to the no longer available notice on the West Marine webpage when I provided the link to you. That model, which I bought last year, must’ve been discontinued. Oops! I hope she’s able to come up with binoculars that she likes. SmileWavy

Mine were medium sized, which is what I wanted. Four hours on watch is a long time...plus pocket-sized didn't fit my hands.

NAV is a big deal...she will be busy at all hours: regular watch rotation, in port briefs as well as Sea and Anchor detail...not a trivial life.

What a fine Naval Officer she has become.

Have her go to Dick's or Cabellas and try some different sizes.

I would have loved to have flown off the DDG's, btw. All the advantages of a Frigate Deck with Aegis.

Birding and bridge deck have similar needs and wants. Because a ship is rolling anything over 7-8x gets pretty uncomfortable to use and hold steady. Most favored sizes are 8x42 and 7x50. The 8x42 is smaller and lighter with a wide field. The 7x50 is slightly better under complete darkness conditions. A Bridge deck will always have some lighting so eyes will never be fully dilated to take full advantage of the 7mm exit pupil with a 7x50.

These shoot well above their price point when rated against Nikon and others that cost 3x-5x as much. They are not in Leica/Swarovski ($2500) territory but very nice glass suited to her watch duty. Armored, waterproof, fogproof, fully multicoated and good eye relief all tic a lot of boxes.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/917629-REG/celestron_71332_8x42_nature_dx_binocular.html/?ap=y&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvYqFybuJ3wIVDpl-Ch1FnQ_CEAQYASABEgLIJPD_BwE&lsft=BI%3A514&smp=Y

Move up to ED glass and get a bit sharper views right to the edge. Two times the $$ but another best-in-class that rival much more expensive optics.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YLTG7DA?tag=thewire06-20&linkCode=xm2&ascsubtag=AgEAAAAAAAAAAJz_AAAAAD8R 73oAAAAAXAg0Tg

Exit pupil is something that not many people consider, but it's the most important number for binoculars. Divide the two numbers (aperture/magnification) to get the exit pupil. Keep that around 5-7 for good all around binoculars that are easy to use and will look like windows instead of tubes. young eyes spending lots of time in darker environments, go more towards 7. Older eyes or mostly daytime, go for 4.


Also consider a set of polarized covers if you can find them. I was never on a ship, I don't know what is supplied, but if she doesn't have polarized sunglasses, then polarize the optics.

I loved -- loved -- my 7x50 Steiners. Still made in Germany, FWIW.

https://www.amazon.com/Steiner-575-Marine-7x50-Binoculars/dp/B00008ZPGS/ref=sr_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1544046304&sr=1-5&keywords=7x

As indicated above, honkin' huge binocs will wear her arms out in short order, especially bobbing up and down in a tin can