A few months ago we did a short report on the three types of binoculars we have aboard Wind Horse. Having 5000 miles more experience with them since that report, we thought we’d update you on our feelings.

First, the image stabilized Canon 15 x 50s. These are excellent in good light and smooth water. We can use them in light chop, but anything that is at all bouncy makes it very difficult to find and then hold an image centered.

(Wind Horse’s compliment of binoculars. Fujinon 7x50s on the right, Cannon 15×50 image-stabilized glasses in the center, and Bausch & Lomb night vision glasses on the left.)

In conditions where they work well, they are wonderful. We can see buoy numbers, ship’s names, and read signs on shore at great distance. As we mentioned before, they could also prove useful in areas of the world where we’d like to get feel for the traffic around us to see if they are legitimate or otherwise. And for animal watching, ashore, they are wonderful.

However, in low light conditions they do not work as well as our standard binoculars. Keep in mind that Wind Horse is exceptionally stable, and reacts less to the sea than any of our previous boats. So, the usefulness of stabilized high-powered glasses in your own case might be even less than we find.

We’ve also got a pair of Fujion 7 x 35 binoculars. We’ve had a pair of these in one form or another for the last 20 years. They have excellent optics and are much easier to use when we’re in a seaway and in low light conditions. If we had to make a choice between the unstabilized Fujinons and the higher power stabilized Canon’s, we’d go with Fujinon.

We also carry a pair of night vision glasses. This is an old pair of ITT second generation binoculars. There are much better available today. We liked them on Beowulf as they could be used at night to check the rig, and were especially useful if we had a foul of sails or halyards at the mast head.

There are also some potential security benefits to night vision glasses. However, we would not use them for working our way into an unfamiliar harbor at night. We prefer to wait for daylight.

We acquired our pair as a result of a trade of some surplus gear. We like having them aboard just in case, although now with an Unsailboat they have less use. However, if we had to make a choice between night vision glasses and something else, we’d probably opt to pass on carrying them.