Thirty years ago, when we were looking for binoculars, we ended up at a discount sporting goods store and bought a pair of 7×50 land-style binoculars. They cost us 10% of the fancy marine binoculars ($35 for a display model), and worked all the way around the world. We would have liked some high-quality glasses, but these were almost as good, and we could not justify the hit on the cruising budget for the marginal gain of the highest-quality pair. At the end of our circumnavigation there was some fogging from moisture, but they still functioned.

Twenty years ago, we were given a pair of Fujinon 7x50s. These had wonderful optical properties – at night and during the day – and they were still working well when they went to Beowulf‘s new owner as a part of her equipment after 17 years of rough service.

When we started looking at glasses for Wind Horse, we checked with a variety of experts for the latest information. A number of Asian binoculars, sold under private brands, looked pretty good. But in the end, we opted for a discounted pair of Fujinons Given the type of cruising we do, we wanted the best light-gathering qualities we could get, with the highest degree of reliability, in case the binoculars were dropped or doused with spray. FMTRC-SX is the model we chose.

Over the years we’ve tested a number of different night vision glasses. However, it wasn’t until we were visiting with some friends in French Polynesia, and had a nighttime demonstration of their night vision glasses, that we really got interested. Night vision seemed like a good idea in two situations: untangling masthead halyards (the worst tangles always happen after dark) and for use in port when we were concerned about security. However, it wasn’t until we had the chance to trade some surplus gear for a set someone had won in a lottery that we added this gear. The pair we have is now six years old, and is called “Night Ranger” by Bausch & Lomb. They do indeed work at night, and we used them aboard Beowulf a time or two to check our masts. We also practiced with them at night working our way through harbors. However, for navigation at night, we prefer our regular glasses and radar.

We’ve been hearing a lot about higher-magnification stabilized binoculars. However, it is hard to justify the $1500-plus cost for the extra magnification. This past winter we had a chance to pick up a pair of 15×50 Canon image-stabilized glasses at a substantial discount (again, a store demo pair – with the option of returning them if did not suit our needs).

At first we did not like them at all. Image stabilization is a relative term, and while the image is substantially stabilized – otherwise the glasses would be very hard to use – the image still bounces around at least as much as and maybe more than a pair of 7x50s. For the past couple of weeks we’ve been using the stabilized and conventional glasses side by side. In moderate sea states (keeping in mind that Wind Horse is very stable) the 15-power glasses are really nice. But on a smaller boat, or in rougher conditions, we would switch back to the 7x50s.

One of the things we were concerned about is their light-gathering ability at night. They seem to be adequate in this regard, but a shade less capable then the conventional Fujinons. In most cases at night we’d use the unstabilized 7x50s.

Having cruised for three-plus decades without this modern convenience, we would not put these into the “necessity” category. The fact that we always know where we are with GPS reduces their navigational value. However, we can see where these will provide comfort when we want to check out an approaching vessel. They effectively double the time we have to analyze the vessel in question, and determine a course of action. In some parts of the world this could be very important.

However we could just as easily go with a discounted pair of marine 7x50s from someone like West Marine. They would serve our needs 99.9% of the time.