May
24
Trusty Leupold Binoculars Survive a Dunking
May 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I never expected it to happen to me. A year or so later I was on a canoe trip in the Adirondack Mountains region. I love those clear glacial lakes and refreshing cool or cold water. Of course I had my wonderful Leupold compact binoculars with me everywhere I went. I was a beginning birder at the time and I looked for new lifelist birds everywhere I traveled.
We hiked to several peaks as part of our tour. And my binoculars went with me everywhere. I saw lots of new birds and rejoiced with my new found friends. They even had evening slide shows or programs that I got to attend. Some taught me more about my Leupold binoculars than I ever new before. I always carried them inside my vest protected from drippy paddles or swinging branches.
Learning from the pros. That is what I liked most about this trip. Many discussed their favorite brands of binoculars. I was stunned to learn there were several people who swore the primary reason they bought Leupold Binoculars was because they were Made in America. Sure they have excellent quality but these guys did not want Austrian optics if Americans could give them the same quality. Wow. I did not know what to think about that new realization.
I loved taking solo evening swims and watching swallows and dragonflies catch insects while I listened to loons in the distance. I loved the moonlight canoe trips. Pre-breakfast walks to the red raspberry patch yielded exquisite breakfast treats. How could life be more perfect?
Well, then we did some serious canoeing in a high altitude swamp. That was the day I was so thankful that I bought waterproof binoculars. Three of us were assigned to each canoe. I was given the center because they needed a better balance.
We were about 20 yards from shore when the person behind me shifted his weight and the canoe wobbled. Each of us responded by wobbling in our own direction and within seconds we were capsized. Fortunately we were in relatively shallow water. When our feet found bottom we all stood up and used our paddles as hiking sticks to help us get back to shore.
I was the shorty in the group. The water was up over my waist when I surfaced to great humor around me. By the time we emerged from the cold mountain water we were all shivering in the summer sun. To avoid hypothermia risks our team went back to camp for dry gear.
That was when I realized my Leupold Binoculars had been soaking inside my vest dripping wet for the past 20-25 minutes or so. I was stunned and grateful to discover they were not damaged or even fogged up. I was able to dry them and use them. Just like me. That evening the waterproof properties and the physics of weight distribution in canoes became the primary topic for discussion. Leupold binoculars are all waterproofed and fog proofed and the interiors are purged with nitrogen. That is just one more measure of their quality.
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