What To Look For
Marine binoculars are used to spot navigation buoys and channel markers as well as see other boats and objects on the water. Even in calm waters, boats are not stable. High-power binoculars exaggerate the movement and make finding any object difficult. For that reason marine binoculars generally have a magnification of seven power or less. This means binoculars used for bird watching or hunting are likely too powerful for boat use. Marine binoculars should also be waterproof. Other options include a built-in compass and a device to estimate the distance to an object.
Common Pitfalls
Binoculars with small-object or front lenses and lacking multi-coated lenses will producer images that are less bright and clear than binoculars with larger-object lenses and multi-coated lenses. Other features to consider include the physical size of the binocular. Heavy binoculars may offer the best and brightest optics, but become tiring if worn around the neck all day. Marine binoculars that do not float or have floating straps are lost if they drop overboard. Rangefinder binoculars may be useful but the operator needs to know the height of the object being viewed to calculate the distance to it. This limits the usefulness of this option.
Where To Buy
Marine binoculars differ enough from binoculars used in other hobbies to limit their availability in sporting good and discount and department stores. Generally, marine-supply stores and online retailers offer the best selection. It is always advisable to try the binocular even if it is just looking across the store. This allows you to judge the brightness and clearness of the viewed image.
Cost
Marine binoculars vary widely in price. Good-quality marine binoculars ranged from about $500 to nearly $2,000 according to the website My Boat Gear in August 2010. The main difference is the amount and type of coating on the lenses. The coating reduces the glare off the water allowing all other parts of the image to appear brighter and clearer. Unfortunately, multi-coating is an expensive process and adds greatly to the cost of marine binoculars.
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