You've got the perfect fishing trip planned, and your gear is set for an early start. Or is it? While out on the lake, a good set of marine binoculars can provide a distinct advantage even over the best fishing sunglasses. With a wide range of price points, you can add a set rather inexpensively. Marine binoculars offer the best combination of features for heavy duty use whether on the boat or hiking to your favorite spot.

First and foremost, whether you are out on the water or at a dock, you need a set of binoculars that can stand up to movement. Why waste time worrying about delicate equipment that could shatter with a drop? No need. Marine binoculars typically have heavy duty armors that allow them to withstand a few bumps and bruises. Colors and styles vary considerably, so be sure to handle a few sets to get a feel for their grips and shells. You don't want these slipping out of your hands in the heat of the moment, and many sets are specially designed with textures that make them easy to grab and hold. With strong mechanisms made to handle movement, you're all set. Look for floating models, so if they do slip, you need not worry about sinking your investment.

Many binoculars listed for fishing and boating use include automatic focus. This can be used to ensure images are immediately focused without fiddling with dials. Otherwise both individual focus (IF) and center focus (CF) systems are found, each with their own benefits. CF is quicker and easier to use since you need only adjust it once for both barrels of the binoculars. With IF, you need not worry about focusing when objects are far away. While they do require that you adjust each barrel individually, they allow for more precise focusing, and they are more easily sealed against water leakage

Waterproof, Weatherproof or Weather-Resistant

Many binoculars are listed as weatherproof or weather-resistant, but only those labeled as waterproof will be guaranteed by the manufacturer to keep out leaks or fogging. Even if you're not planning to drop your binoculars, having a waterproof set ensures they are safe from mist, spray, or simply moist air, which is inevitable out on the water. These devices are nitrogen purged and fully sealed with O-rings, ensuring no moisture can get trapped between glass or prisms.

All the Important Numbers

For marine use, binoculars typically have a 7x magnification. This allows for a wide field of view and bigger exit pupils, which provide the best image even as the boat moves and your pupils aren't perfectly aligned with the binoculars. Image Stabilization can be an excellent extra for on the boat as well, and offers some correction to images when even gentle waves would otherwise cause a problem.

Objective lenses for marine use are typically about 50mm. This collects quite a bit of light without being too large to manage easily by hand, and also results in a good sized exit pupil. While you may not plan to boat at night, the extra light is also helpful at dusk and dawn, and when a sudden rain blows in. Multiple coatings are preferred and provide top quality images, and many sets offer "waterproof coatings" that can help keep leaks out while keeping images sharp. Anti-reflective coatings can make a big difference, particularly when you're looking at water and reflections bouncing off it. This can make it much easier to spot surface level fish even in the distance.

Porro prisms are the more popular choice in marine use, as their slightly slimmer size allows more space for built-in goodies. Typically marine binoculars have great eye reliefs so can easily be used by those with glasses. However, they may weigh more than most field binoculars, since they are built tough and use larger lenses.

Extra Goodies

Perhaps the most unique benefits of marine binoculars are in the extra gadgets often built-in for convenience. Rangefinders are often available, and can be helpful for locating buoys or estimating land distance. That said, typically old style grid rangefinders are used, which requires manual calculation rather than using lasers for precise, automatic results. Many fishing binoculars have a built-in compass. This can be especially handy whether you are hiking to a site or water hole.

Apart from high-tech gadgets, your binocular accessories can make a big difference too. Be sure to shop around to find straps and cases that allow you to suspend your binoculars comfortably from your neck, or on your belt. That way your binoculars are always within hands reach, yet not in the way. Some binoculars also have attached lens caps which make it easier to flip those caps off suddenly, without worry of losing them.

Erin Hughes is a contributing writer at TheBinocularSite.com, offering a wide range of articles revealing all the details for selecting good binoculars, including important features to consider, models available, and ways to find the best match for your specific optical needs. Whether binoculars are your answer, or you would prefer monoculars, spotting scopes, or telescopes, Erin has it covered.

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Originally posted 2008-11-28 11:38:58. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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