Binoculars for Fishing, Boating and Hunting


Using a pair of binoculars for these three you'll find many similarities and there's far too much fluff on the net and not enough meat. Here's some meat as I see it.

For Hunting:

Several pairs might be necessary but if I had to choose one it would be the 7x35s recommended for many years now by most of those who really get out in the woods and hunt. These glasses offer good magnification (the 7 power) and good light gathering ( see below) while not being so powerful you need a rest or a tripod to see much of anything. I also like 6x30s a close runner up or 8x30s which came in third due to light gatering. Like in fishing or boating, to go out with less than a waterproof pair is asking for trouble. For western hunting, especially glassing large expanses, I go to my 10x50s but would consider 12x50s also. They are bigger and heavier but I usally have a bino pack with these and spottng scopes/tripods along to carry the load when spotting. The light is usually good, distances are great and you need more magnification for western hunting in most cases. Also when out west, a small pair of 8-10x25s compacts are in my pocket to resolve horns from bush when stalking close. If I didn't have these and for many years I didn't, the 7x35s mentioned above work just fine as these are usually light and smallish binoculars.


For Fishing and Boating:

The 7x50s Marine Binoculars are your best bet for all around use. Get them with the built in compass if you can and the rubber coating for extra waterproofing and for the bumps and bings of boats on waves. Again the power is right and the weight isn't usually an issue. Thse are the flat out best, with modern coatings as far as light gathering capabilities go for finding bouys at twilight etc. These often come with a built in range finder for those of you who like long distance shooting and the compass helps give headings to another who's trying to watch the action.

Flats or Sight Fishing: From the boat the above work great but when wading I go to a pair of waterproof, pocket binocs such as my 8x25s. The higher power of the 8 is still easily held still
while giving a bit more magnification for resolving a tail at 200 yds or so. I also like the tens but these are getting a bit shaky. Speaking of shaky the usefulness of a bino that's a bit shaky decreases as light goes down and since sight fishing is must generally done under good light, the shaky factor can be fudged a bit. Waterproof is a flat out must!!!

Here's a bit on light gathering and Binioculars. You'll note that light gathering as in many bioncular functions are greatly enhanced by the lens coatings. Buy as good as you can afford and opt for multi-coated lens for a start.


Binoculars and Light Transmission
　
The power is the magnification of the binocular while the objective lens is that big front lens. A 7x50 pair of binos have 7 power and a 50mm objective lens.
　
Exit Pupil (EP) is the power divided into the objective and gives a relative number that tells us how much light will be transmitted through to the eye. The EP of 7x50s are about as good as it gets with nearly 7.1 while 7x35s give us an EP of 5. The human eye can dilate to as little as 3mm or as great as 8 in some cases. The EP needs to be bigger than the eye dilates. The young human eye can dilate to between 7 and 8 while older ones do good to get 5 in very low light. Another factor is that it takes a bit for older eyes to fully dilate while young eyes can do so more quickly.
　
The Relatice Brightness Index (RBI) endeavors to measure image brightness. It is computed by squaring the exit pupil. For example, 7x35 binoculars have a 5mm exit pupil (35/7=5). So their RBI is 25 (5x5=25).
A RBI of 25 or greater is considered good for use in dim light. Since you already have learned (above) how to compute the actual exit pupil size, and what it means, RBI is largely redundant.
　
Twilight Factor (TF) - power x Objective lens for instance an 8x32 set of binoculars gives us
256. Taking the square root of this we get 16 for a TF.
Common Binos:
PxO TF EP RBI
6x30 - 13.41 5 25
7x35 -15.65 5 25
7x50 -18.70 7.1 50.4
8x30 -15.49 3.8 14.4
8x42 -18.33 5.2 27.0
10x42 -20.5 4.2 17.6
10x50 -22.36 5 25
12x42 -22.45 3.5 12.3
12x50 -24.50 4.1 16.8

The twilight factor gives a better idea of what can be seen where the magnification can make up for loss of light and if you look, the EP of most of the higher powers are about all older eyes fan handle.

Lastly the coating count!!! Coatings and quality glass can over ride the above somewhat while power becomes a huge factor in dim light viewing as you have to be able to stabilize the binoculars and 8 power is about the max that can be stabilized without a rest or tripod. 7 for years has been rated tops all around with the 7x35s for lightweight carrying and good light gathering and the 7x50s for supreme light gathering while a bit heavier. With or without coating the advice of Jack O’Conner and may gun writers of days past still ring true as a 7x35 still reigns supreme as a carry along, general purpose binoculars when still hunting or stalking. Additionally looking around on board the many large and small vessels I’ve been aboard and seeing the dozens of pairs of 7x50s with respect to other powered binoculars it reinforces what the numbers say in that 7x50 is hard to beat for marine use, where peering through your binoculars into the fog or twilight trying to spot a channel buoy or oncoming vessel is all too common place.

Stripping Baskets

Here's the back of my stripping basket showing the stretch, military, web belt, affixed via nylon cable ties. I wear it just to the left of my center, sort of on my right hip and below my stripping hand.

This is the same basket with it's inside, loop cover on. The cover is a smaller basket that was an ice chest's sandwich tray and keeps the loops protected.

Here's the weed whip cover "protective," basket that I use to keep my loops standing tall while allowing me to carry a couple items in the bigger basket when traveling.

Here 's the photo of the inside of the stripping basket. This one was made from a Sterilite plastic basket from Walmart. The weed whip mono loops are about an inch wide mol and two inches high. They angle toward the forward right corner of the basket as it's worn, as my line exits from that corner when shooting or casting. The holes were punched with a heated jewelers screwdriver that was about the diameter of the weed whip mono. Once installed through the holes I melt a ball on both ends of the mono to prevent it from pulling out. The basket mesures about 13 inches by 10 on the inside and is about 5 inches deep. I use a slightly larger basket where space isn't a problem. This one is compact and a good all around basket.

These baskets are really great when fishing creeks, ponds, lakes or the ocean where your line can hang up on brush, rocks, etc. Also keeps your line from getting tangled in waves or current or from blowing off a boat deck into the prop.

I also have made baskets from oval trash cans and the foldable laundry cubes that measure about 12 inches on a side. I'll try and get it in as it works great from any small boat where you sit low and can place a basket between your feet. Pic will follow soon!