'Car bins' and road bumps (1 Viewer)

sammyboy · Apr 11, 2009

I was thinking today as driving on Britain's rather bumpy and uneven roads - how resilient are binoculars to these bumps? The UK authorities also seem overkeen on speed humps too, how big a chance is there of a pair of binoculars left in a car of being knocked out of collimation by typical day-to-day driving?

Would it be wiser not to leave binoculars in a car - or if you do are there ways or methods of storing them to minimise the chances of various humps/bumps causing miscollimation?

etudiant · Apr 12, 2009

Binoculars do not deal well with bumps, so ample cushioning is key. Unfortunately, while the seats are well cushioned, the glass will eventually fall off and hit the floor.
Better is to hang them from an elastic strap over the seat back. A harness is best, because it snugs them to the seat so they do not swing around.
All this of course assumes you live in an area where binoculars in a car are not an invitation to a break-in.
I do not, so I got a small Minolta rubber armored roof prizm glass for the glove compartment. They are robust, always handy, inconspicuous and serve well.

sammyboy · Apr 12, 2009

Thanks for the advice

Although the area I live in isn't too bad, I wouldn't be happy leaving the bins on show. Currently my car bins are a pair of Visionary Wetland 8x25 roofs, which are small but not very small, so probably can't hang them off the back of the seat. They're currently sat in a centre console of my car in their original case.

I have a small Ford Ka which has a tiny, almost pointless glovebox, so keeping them in there is out the question sadly!

BinoBoy · Apr 12, 2009

I've wondered about this too.

I keep binoculars in the trunk at all times because I stop at parks or lakes whenever time permits to take a walk and do a little birding. At first I kept my good bins in the trunk, but I have since bought some inexpensive porro prism bins (Bushnell Legend 8x32, Celestron Ultima 8x32, etc) so now I keep them in the trunk. They are surprisingly good optically and cheap enough that I don't obsess of them being stolen or shaken to bits. I keep them in the padded cases that came with them or in camera bags. I've been doing this for about a year and so far no problems. I've wondered if it would make sense to buy a piece of foam padding to put in the bottom of the trunk. The stuff they sell for sleeping on while camping should work. Another idea I considered was to buy a small styrofoam cooler and put foam padding in the bottom of it and use that to store binoculars in the car. That would take up more room, but should protect them from vibration and from other objects in the trunk.

Tero · Apr 12, 2009

I have had an 8x32 roof prism in te trunk for three years now. They have not gone out of collimation. Yesterday I drove 60km on gravel roads with pot holes.

I would take them out if they stand in extreme heat in the car. Cold seems to be OK, I have them, several pairs on and off, for 9 months at least each.

Fireform · Apr 12, 2009

Mine hang behind the passenger seat of my pickup, in a pajaro bag slung over the headrest. I do quite a bit of driving on unpaved roads and I doubt they feel much of it at all.

Steve Dudley · Apr 12, 2009

I've had a pair of Minoc 8x32 roofs in the glove compartment of my 4x4 for the last six years. I live on the fens and am off road constantly bumping my way around my patch. Not had a single problem with these or any other bino I've had bouncing around in the car.

I think the trick is 1) buy good and 2) keep em compact. Shorter tubes will reduce knocks.

sammyboy · Apr 12, 2009

Thanks for the replies everyone, sounds like I should be OK then! They're a fairly small pair of roofs I keep in the car so they should be sturdy enough to withstand typical knocks from daily driving.

I don't drive off road, though with the state of some UK roads, especially with added speed humps it does sometimes feel like your going green laning lol!

John Russell · Apr 12, 2009

Heard a story today about someone who deposited Leica Trinovids on a tyre of their car (!!!), forgot them, and then drove over them. Apart from a nick in the diopter knob they were undamaged!

Jos Stratford · Apr 12, 2009

John Russell said:
Heard a story today about someone who deposited Leica Trinovids on a tyre of their car (!!!), forgot them, and then drove over them. Apart from a nick in the diopter knob they were undamaged!

Mine got chewed by a young labrador - had previously demolished a couple of mobile phones, odd bits of furniture, countless shoes and a variety of other bits and bobs, but a whole day of him playing with my Leicas left them in need of a new strap, a few bite marks to the eye caps and the red leica bit of metal, but otherwise not a scratch and certainly no optical damage ...build them good do Leica!

Also, as for road conditions, my car suffers constant abuse from pot holes, off road driving and many others things worse than your average British road. I've hot the car roof on a number of occasions, but the bins sitting on the passenger seat are still perfect.

Tero · Apr 12, 2009

Well, John, that does not count at all. They were outside the car. They will have to stand up to more torture inside the car. Possibly greasy and messy fingers from snacks even.

ceasar · Apr 13, 2009

Jos Stratford said:
Mine got chewed by a young labrador - had previously demolished a couple of mobile phones, odd bits of furniture, countless shoes and a variety of other bits and bobs, but a whole day of him playing with my Leicas left them in need of a new strap, a few bite marks to the eye caps and the red leica bit of metal, but otherwise not a scratch and certainly no optical damage ...build them good do Leica!

Also, as for road conditions, my car suffers constant abuse from pot holes, off road driving and many others things worse than your average British road. I've hot the car roof on a number of occasions, but the bins sitting on the passenger seat are still perfect.

I met a guy whose Labrador thoroughly chewed up his Swarovski's. He sent them back to Swaro NA who put new cover's on them and returned them with a leather chew toy enclosed for his dog. It only cost him his initial postage. BTW, he had purchased them 2nd hand from a dealer in Alaska who had had them returned by the original purchaser who didn't like them!
Bob

Steve C · Apr 13, 2009

It has been my experience that the single biggest enemy of a car binocular is vibration. Even going along a relatively smooth highway imparts a lot of vibration, especially in the trunk or even sitting atop the transmission housing inside the vehicle. So keep them cased and padded.

I have had two pretty decent binoculars self destruct from life in the cab. Inside a car can be one of the most extreme binocular torture chambers there is IF you are not careful.

FrankD · Apr 13, 2009

I have not had any problem with my bins going out of alignment because of driving conditions...however it does not sound as if the roads around here are quite as bad as what you are referring to (yes, I was referring to PENNDOT...

).

I keep mine in the case on the backseat between the two car seats without any issues.

ceasar · Apr 14, 2009

Right now I keep mine wrapped in a scarf and covered with a baseball cap on the front seat, or on the floor out of the sun if the car is parked. With the season changing, I won't need the scarf any more though.
Bob

sammyboy · Apr 14, 2009

I think I need to either find a better place for the bins, or wrap them in something, maybe a Jiffy bag? The scarf wrapping sounds good though for protecting binoculars against bumps or vibrations.

Kevin Purcell · Apr 14, 2009

Steve did your bins die in your pickup ... I can imagine the kinds of roads you drive doing irrigation around Yakima (IIRC, that's what you do).

I can't imagine many UK roads are like that even in the boonies (Shropshire is not quite there!). And most Brits don't drive "trucks" built on a frame that might rattle the fillings out of your teeth on BLM land (I have farming family in Central OR!).

A Jiffy bag will keep out the dust but you need a little padding perhaps.

I'm of the opinion that we baby our optics too much (for good reason too) but that modern bins with glued in prisms are much less likely to loose alignment from even a big drop (bending the metal or knocking a prism out of a mount seem a bit more likely).

Don't let them slide around and if you can put them on something (or in something) that might reduce the vibration.

One of the nice features of Zeiss is the padded bags they provide that helps. A third party bag with some foam padding will help.

Steve C · Apr 14, 2009

Kevin

The binoculars had their prisms basically shaken loose. It took awhile. I am and always have been a farmer and yes, I do irrigation management now, but in those bygone days the binoculars were basically just left in the truck, almost always in the case. While I will concede that I was rougher than I should have been, and I also agree that most binoculars are treated like they are too dainty, it remains my contention that the vibration from even relatively normal vehicular travel can have tremendous cumulative effects.

Not that every binocular in a vehicle is at risk, just keep in mind that that just because they are the car binocular does not necessarily equate to a soft life. Just use some discretion in how they are padded.

Kevin Purcell · Apr 14, 2009

Thank, Steve. Just trying to get the calibration set

So these were older style (non-glued prisms)? How old were the bins?

Steve C · Apr 14, 2009

Kevin Purcell said:
Thank, Steve. Just trying to get the calibration set

So these were older style (non-glued prisms)? How old were the bins?

One was a Swift Nighthawk 8x40 porro from about 1968 and the other was a Swift Trilyte 8x40 from about 1972. The Nighthawk got fixed OK (actually better than new) by Nicholas Crista when he was still at Swift. The Trilyte was beyond hope. It could have been fixed, but Nicholas would have had to charge about $200. Not gonna happen with the good $200 roofs out there today.

Both of these I think suffered a gradual degradation that wasn't noticeable until after the breakdown and repair.

I have a cousin who has pretty well screwed up his Zeiss Classic 10x40 by leaving them in his pickup (another farmer) he thinks they are German and thus will not break. So they are good, but obviously not idiot proof. He didn't appreciate me telling him that too much either. He keeps them under the seat, in the case. Trust me, they are fouled up.

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