Patrick at The Hawk Owl's Nest recently did a post about his first pair of binoculars and invited other bloggers to do the same. My first pair of binoculars actually belonged to my grandfather. As I recall, they were 7x50 WWII US Navy issued binoculars. I had nothing to compare them to but they sure seemed to have a sharp, wide-angled view. As a child, I would often spend a week as a guest at my grandparents house. Those binoculars were one of my main sources of entertainment during those times. -
I didn't have much of an interest in birds back then. I would glance at whatever birds were in the feeders but that was about as far as it went. I was more interested in stargazing and searching he skies for anything of interest. This included clouds, satellites, jets, and hot air balloons. There's probably not many kids these days that would be so entertained by a pair of binoculars. I spent hours at a time using them.
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There came a point when I decided to get my own binoculars. I don't remember the brand but they were 8-16 x 40 zoom binoculars, if I remember correctly. I don't know what happened to them but they didn't last long. The optical quality was not as good as my grandfather's.
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The first binoculars I used for birding were a $30 pair of 7x35 Tascos. They may not have been Swarovski's but they seemed to work just fine for me. They were ruined when I left them sitting in the sun. The cement that held the lenses in place must have melted.
Thanks for the fun idea for a post Patrick!
8 comments:
How wonderful that you still have those binocs that belonged to your grandfather Larry. I remember being fully entertained by them as a kid as well. Times were much simpler then.
Hi there,
I run a website Best Hunting Binoculars ( http://besthuntingbinocularsguide.com ) . I believe it would be beneficial for both us if we do a BlogRoll Link Exchange.
Do let me know if this is OK with you and we can proceed ahead.
Here are my details
Title : Best Hunting Binoculars
URL : http://besthuntingbinocularsguide.com
Thanks
John Border
How cool and I don't think I have a picture of my first pair of binoculars!
Sounds like they bring back lots of memories!
Sorry to hear the fate of your 1st binocs. I don't often spend much on things, but once I bought our current house, the next thing on the list was a quality pair of binocs. They've been a total boon. I think everyone should have good binocs.
Sorry I've been AWOL, btw. I'm playing tour guide for a Canadian visitor these days.
Jayne-I don't actually have them any more but I'm tying to locate them now. They were lost when my grandfather passed away but I hope to find them.they brought me a lot of nice memories.
John-I'm not really opposed to hunting but I'm not sure if I want to include it on my blogroll just because I'm not sure if it's a good match.I will check out your website and thanks for the interest.
Monarch-I guess I should have specified it was from wilkepedia.
Zen Birdfeedr-They sure do.
Lana-No problem-I am looking forward to having top line binoculars one of these days.
Larry, you have a great memory! I think my first binoculars were a fixed focal length I bought at Sam's Club a few years ago. I don't even remember when. Then, in 1997 or 98 Gus bought me a pair of Bushnell 7-15x35 bins for my birthday. They were the best gift he ever gave me! I still have them but they dropped on a stone hearth in 2004 and broke the zoom feature so I now have double vision! I keep wanting to get them fixed. Since then I have had 2 new pairs of bins. I keep working my way up. I have another pair of Bushnells and my latest-the Vortex Diamondbacks 8x42. All allow me to view the birds I so love. A toast to Binoculars and the person who invented them!
Very nice post, Larry. I've never owned my "own pair" until last Christmas and I treasure them.
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