Anyone else have the oculars frost over from the moisture from their eyes when ambien (1 Viewer)

Bob A (SD)

Well-known member

• Nov 13, 2014

• #1

Anyone else have the oculars frost over from the moisture from their eyes when >>

the ambient temperature is a single digit or less? Drives me nuts

 

Pinewood

New York correspondent

• Nov 13, 2014

• #2

Bob A (SD) said:

the ambient temperature is a single digit or less? Drives me nuts

Click to expand...

Hello Bob,

My problem is that my eyeglasses fog up, and it does not take single digits, Fahrenheit. For me, they are part of the oculars. Please realize that my eyeglasses are not protected from my breath, while you may have some protection from the eye cups.

In single digits, or -13 or -14 iin Celsius, if I bring the binocular indoors, to a warm, humid environment, the objectives fog up. At 0ºF, -18ºC, the fog on my eyeglasses turns to ice. It happened to me in Minnesota.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood:hi:

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2014

Bob A (SD)

Well-known member

• Nov 13, 2014

• #3

Arthur,

It happens even if the binocs have been outside for hours. My eyes get close and things frost over.

Bob

 

R

ronh

Well-known member

• Nov 13, 2014

• #4

Oh yeah, at least between 10 and 20 F. The longer the eye relief the better, and lowering the eyecups so the eye steam doesn't get trapped in there with the cold glass helps. Also, keeping your views as brief as possible. And something that really helps is the modern coatings, which although only advertised to shed water and make cleaning easier, reduce fogging too.

Another issue is, you might be doing ok out on a dry cold day with the binocular chilled down, but things will frost/fog over when you come into a warm humid place like a warm car where people are breathing. (They will do that even if you beg them to stop.) On a day like that, my wife and I were out, she with her Swarotop coated SV, me with a Leica Ultravid BR without such a coating. We finished up at one place and got in the car to go someplace else, and my binocular was out of business for the rest of the day. We shared views with hers.

Ron

 

B

Binastro

Well-known member

• Nov 14, 2014

• #5

Wrap a scarf around your mouth and nose below -15C.
Only breathe below the scarf.

Some eyecups have small holes that help.

 

M

Maljunulo

Well-known member

• Nov 16, 2014

• #6

If it's that cold, I say "to hell with it" and wait until it is warmer.

Sometimes I wait for quite a while.

 

P

peatmoss

Well-known member

• Nov 16, 2014

• #7

Actually, the longer the binoculars are outdoors in cold weather, the more likely it is that condensation will form on the eyepieces. The condensation is basically dew, so as the surface temperature of the eye lens drops, the more likely that any water vapor (in your breath for example) will condense onto the lens. For me, this happens sometimes in cold weather, but I try to keep my bins warmer inside my jacket when not in use to try to minimize it.

 

Bob A (SD)

Well-known member

• Nov 17, 2014

• #8

peatmoss,
I've tried that approach too to no avail I guess Maljunulo has the best option.

 

NDhunter

Experienced observer

• Nov 18, 2014

• #9

Bob A (SD) said:

peatmoss,
I've tried that approach too to no avail I guess Maljunulo has the best option.

Click to expand...

Bob:

It has been a brutal start to winter, and I am farther north than you are.

I agree, just take a break, things will get better.

Take everything in moderation.

Jerry

 

P

poverty wagon

Well-known member

• Nov 18, 2014

• #10

Would some chemical hand warmers rubber banded to the barrels help? I remember reading about this trick for film photography. Cold weather could make the film brittle, so photographers would strap a hand warmer to the back of the camera body just to keep the film pliable. I wonder if hand warmers near the oculars could warm enough to keep them clear?

 

R

ronh

Well-known member

• Nov 19, 2014

• #11

If the hand warmer trick has been tried I've never heard of it. It seems reasonable. Keeping the binocular warm inside your coat is similar, and effective, but inconvenient depending on the outing. Like, whoops, there went a bird--I COULD have seen it, because my binocular is not fogged up!

Ron