Ultralight binoculars or monoculars

How about an update on your ultralight choice. Would like it to fit in a Fanny pack, waterproof , durable. I wear glasses. Thinking 8×26

thanks Thom

I’ve been pleased by the performance and price point of the Vortex Solo monoculars: 8×25, 10×25, 8×36 and 10×36 from $66 to $129 on Amazon.

My local Sportsman’s Warehouse has the 10×36 and 8×36 in stock (always good to look through them first).  They’ve worked fine with my glasses.  I got my son the 8×25 for causal birding on hikes and keep a 10×32 in my car’s center console and also bring it hunting when I’m trying to be lighter and leave the Swarovski binocs at home.

I carry a monocular for stargazing. That means there’s no substitute for a large-ish objective lens, so mine’s a Celestron 6×30 giving an exit pupil of 5mm which is OK (but not great) for night use, and good eye relief (wear glasses). But it weighs 7 oz, so on UL trips I just make my fingers into a circle and look through them, pretending they’re a telescope. I wonder if it would be possible to carry just lenses and hold them in your hands. Probably a frustrating exercise.

Given the way magnification “makes the shakes,” I don’t understand magnifications over 8x if handheld. David’s 8×36 sounds pretty good for UL stargazing and would only be a little dimmer than my Celestron.

Thom, have you checked out this thread?  https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/ul-binoculars-or-monocular/#comments?  Some good information.  I wound up purchasing a pair of Swarovski 8×25 Pocket CL binoculars, and I love them.  Not cheap, but extremely light and compact, with superb optics for a compact. They fit easily into a fanny pack, and only weigh around 12 ounces.  They have quite a bit of eye relief, so they are good for eyeglass wearers like me.

I also recently upgraded my “cheaper” pair of binoculars that I keep in my car.  Because I am a lifelong birder, my cheaper binoculars are still fairly high quality.  In this case, I purchased a pair of Opticron Traveler 8x32s.  They are of comparable quality to the latest Nikon Monarch 8x32s, with a tad more eye relief.  They are great, but bigger and heavier than the Swarovskis.  If weight is a priority, I highly recommend the Swarovskis.  If budget is more of an issue, I can very highly recommend the Opticrons.

Thanks all

Santa got me Vortex solo 8×25 ,  5.8 oz. Heading to Australia in Late January for 3 weeks. Lots or stuff to glass.
thom

Hope to see this thread keep going…

I have some 8×42 binoculars that are pretty good

My wife’s Samsung S23 takes pictures that are better – I can see details that I can’t quite see with binoculars

I had a Vortex 10×36 Monocular for a while. For the price its pretty good. Nice if you are backpacking and just want to see something a bit better.
If you are actually hunting or wildlife viewing (i.e. spending significant time behind glass) you want binoculars and the best glass you can afford. I switched to Tract binoculars and was pleasantly surprised at how much better i saw and how I didn’t get headaches on a hunt.

I’ve used these three over the years. I’m not an optics connoiseur, but all have worked well for me. Currently I go with the Tasco or Russian “spy” binoculars, depending on what I’m expecting to look for and want depth perception or not.

Russian military surplus “spy” binoculars from the early 90’s:

“Bicky” monocular with two lenses that my grandfather gave me 40+ years ago:

Tasco acquired sometime about 10 years ago, don’t know if they’re still made: