by Ron Spomer - Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Searching for one of the world’s best binoculars? Just Google it.
Most of us now get our information from “the Internet,” which is narrowly focused through Google. Forget what this means big picture. Let’s just investigate a narrow slice of the outdoor world and see what it means for, say, a hunter shopping for the best binoculars.
Enter search terms “best affordable binocular” and you might find a site like the one I saw this morning. Clean copy. Simple layout. Lots of photos of binoculars. And laughably useless descriptions of them. But large, obvious links to click on and make buying simple and fast.
That’s the key. The people producing these websites/blogs are trying to make money by directing buyers to affiliated sites that pay a commission on sales. There’s nothing wrong with this. Businesses have been doing it for decades if not centuries. We do it ourselves on RonSpomerOutdoors.com. But I like to think we are providing some accurate, in-depth, useful product information to help readers make an informed choice. Many websites and blogs do not.
One example is a “best binoculars” blog I recently came across. The introduction to the “Ten Best Hunting Binoculars” included revealing comments such as “the binoculars that are made for hunting have a special design,” and “these have special aspects that are quite beneficial for hunting.”
Here is our first clue that this might not be the most-trustworthy source for binocular information. If the grammatically butchered blog includes vague terminology, phrases and buzzwords such as “special design” and “beneficial for hunting,” the author may not be a certified optical engineer.
Wait a second. Let me correct that. This particular blog did provide further explanation of those “special aspects.” Specifically: “For example, Magnification, Waterproof, Image Quality, Optical Coatings, Eye Relief, Field of View.”
Well, there you go. Those are the special designs made for hunting. You won’t find optical coatings, eye relief and field of view in any binocular made for watching birds or horse races. And certainly not magnification or image quality.
Just in case you’re beginning to question the expertise of the author of this in-depth report on the 10 best affordable binoculars for hunting, know that he or she “read the biographies of some skilled hunters” to determine what kind of binoculars they used. There you go.
Now let’s move on to the meat of this exhaustive report. The No. 1 binocular was a Brand XYZ 10x42 Prism Binocular. Oddly, the kind of prism was not specified. Could have been a Porro, a Schmidt-Pechan roof or an Abbe-Koenig roof. Guess that doesn’t matter. The unit does, at least, have a prism, which is kind of like saying every truck has a transmission. So we can assume the prism didn’t contribute much to the author’s selection of the Brand XYZ 10x42 as the No. 1 Affordable Binocular for Hunting. The full list of features that made this optical instrument stand out were, and we quote: “No conditions and lifetime warranty. The features are very simple for anyone to understand.”
That’s it. The entire list. All the details. If this strikes you as a tad insufficient, you might appreciate the more extensive list under the description of the No. 2 Best Affordable Binocular, a Brand XYZ 10x24 (24?) HD Binoculars:
• No conditions and a lifetime warranty.
• The features are very simple for anyone to understand. (Hmm … this is sounding familiar.)
• There are all the tools to use.
Whoa! Back up, speed-reader. Did you catch that extra feature? There are “tools to use.” And not just some tools, but all the tools. Color me a skeptic, but I’m thinking this extra feature should vault No. 2 to No. 1.
And so it progresses through 10 of the finest binoculars ever tested and reviewed for hunters who need special aspects that are beneficial for hunting. Without listing each, here are a few highlights as written. (Parenthetical comments are mine.)
• Seen objects at a distance of 650 feet very clearly
• Compact case, rain guard, a strap, “a lens caps” (just one, but plural) and a guid (Yes, a guid!)
• Advanced technology
• Fastened target focal point covers, comfort necktie and select a specially shaped convey case remembered for the crate.” (Wow. Just wow.)
• Rubber armored and much stronger. The thumb grip is very soft. (No wonder hunters are interested.)
Helpful and convincing though those features are, I have to go with the binocular described as: “Pictures are just sharp and clear at appraised separations. These chasing optics accompany a couple of adornments including a convey case, necktie, focal point spread and downpour monitor.”
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