I think I got that beat.....Once & only once many years back I took a new pair of Leitz 7x35 BA trinovids( when the cost was only a weeks pay) ..... ran over them with a 1/2 ton pickup to test how tough they were, pretty tough it finally took a couple of slams with a 2Lb hammer to crack one of the objective lens. Iam not really crazy. I was going to return them anyway because they had dust on the inside. I wrote them a nice letter about the truck run over( left out the hammer test) & they shipped me a new pair. That was when no fault really meant no fault. Well I think I have done enough with the start of this topic, best I keep my mouth shut & lay low til the next topic........GwenHonestly, only once....never before and never again. Honest. No, Really, Honest......
I have thought about it, Rivergazer....I mused as to whether switching the eyepieces between Nikon EII 8x30 and 10x35 would produce a wonderful hybrid....luckily I don´t have the expertise. But there are more technically-gifted folk than me who do stuff like that! Once, though, I dunked a very expensive pair of binoculars in a bucket of water just to see if they were really waterproof. Long story. Luckily, they were......
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Are You A Binoholic ???? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter gcole
- Start date
FrankD
Well-known member
...uh, this is really sad. Chalk me up for every number on the list....
...at one point or another. But I do have it under control...now.
I have settled on three bins.....
....and two spotters. There is the potentially less expensive alternative. Buying inexpensive astro eyepieces to try out on your spotting scope sure beats spending much more on bins.
...at one point or another. But I do have it under control...now.
I have settled on three bins.....
....and two spotters. There is the potentially less expensive alternative. Buying inexpensive astro eyepieces to try out on your spotting scope sure beats spending much more on bins.
Thinking if we can get this accepted as a DSM condition, then Medicare (or NHS) should also reimburse us for the bino purchases we make as part of our illness. Of course it would probably only apply to government issue optics, but I could be better with a SARD tuna can.
Pinewood
New York correspondent
Sancho,1. Do you lie about the number of binoculars you own? YES, ESPECIALLY TO MYSELF.
2. Do you purchase binoculars secretly? I put on an old cloth cap and close my coat when I walk into a shop.
3. Do you always feel you need "just one more" pair of binoculars? YES.
4. Is your binocular-consumption causing a strain on your finances? NO.
5. Is your binocular-consumption affecting your relationships at home or at work? NO
6. Do your friends and family express concern at your binocular consumption? NO
7. Do you constantly tell yourself "I can give up buying binoculars whenever I want", and yet never actually do so? NO
If you can answer "Yes" to even one of the above questions, you are definitely a binoholic.
I am hopeless, is there a twelve step program for me?
In fact, spending money on clothes or other items to excess is a very common sort of neurosis. The purchase is validation of one's worth for those who have feelings of inadequacy or of inferiority.
I simply, am always in need of another binocular.
Happy bird watching,
Arthur :brains:
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jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
My doctor told me that I had OCD, but the cannot be correct. The letters are not in the right order. 8-PB
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
1. Do you lie about the number of binoculars you own? Only to myself. BUT, never to others, nope, never :C
2. Do you purchase binoculars secretly? Thats a pretty personal question....
3. Do you always feel you need "just one more" pair of binoculars? No, i do not "feel" that way. Rather, it is an empirically grounded fact B
4. Is your binocular-consumption causing a strain on your finances? What finances?
5. Is your binocular-consumption affecting your relationships at home or at work?
What do you mean by "home" and "work"?
6. Do your friends and family express concern at your binocular consumption?
I ah, have not heard from them, ah, for a long time....:-C
7. Do you constantly tell yourself "I can give up buying binoculars whenever I want", and yet never actually do so? No, I do not talk to myself :eek!:, i mean if i did, that would be pretty weird....
2. Do you purchase binoculars secretly? Thats a pretty personal question....
3. Do you always feel you need "just one more" pair of binoculars? No, i do not "feel" that way. Rather, it is an empirically grounded fact B
4. Is your binocular-consumption causing a strain on your finances? What finances?
5. Is your binocular-consumption affecting your relationships at home or at work?
What do you mean by "home" and "work"?
6. Do your friends and family express concern at your binocular consumption?
I ah, have not heard from them, ah, for a long time....:-C
7. Do you constantly tell yourself "I can give up buying binoculars whenever I want", and yet never actually do so? No, I do not talk to myself :eek!:, i mean if i did, that would be pretty weird....
John Dracon
John Dracon
Sancho - Your list is a good start. I suggest there are a number of other symptoms pointing to an addiction, viz.,
8. Do you go on the Internet researching every evaluation done by the so-called expert (s) of your binocular of interest?
9. Do you become defensive when another binocular afficionado reads your comments and disagrees with your statements? Or worse, nit picks you?
10. Do you cling to the notion and somewhere, someplace, there is an optical genius waiting to uncover another major breakthrough in binoculars?
11. Do your friends consider you a bit of a binocular "bore"?
12. Do your ever visit pawn shops hoping to snap up a quality binocular for peanuts?
13. Do you go on BF binocular section at least once daily?
14. Do you use terms like "ergonomics," to explain away some cosmetic thing you just don't like?
15. Do you really believe that if the binocular costs more, it just has to be better?
16. Like the elderly man having lower GI problems and by mistake going to a psychiatrist instead of a proctologist, tells his friend he still has the same problem, but that it doesn't bother him anymore - in reference to finding out his binocular of choice is actually being made in China?
Yup! I'm a binoholic. Not all addictions harm others. Mine is self-inflicted - a happy problem. John
8. Do you go on the Internet researching every evaluation done by the so-called expert (s) of your binocular of interest?
9. Do you become defensive when another binocular afficionado reads your comments and disagrees with your statements? Or worse, nit picks you?
10. Do you cling to the notion and somewhere, someplace, there is an optical genius waiting to uncover another major breakthrough in binoculars?
11. Do your friends consider you a bit of a binocular "bore"?
12. Do your ever visit pawn shops hoping to snap up a quality binocular for peanuts?
13. Do you go on BF binocular section at least once daily?
14. Do you use terms like "ergonomics," to explain away some cosmetic thing you just don't like?
15. Do you really believe that if the binocular costs more, it just has to be better?
16. Like the elderly man having lower GI problems and by mistake going to a psychiatrist instead of a proctologist, tells his friend he still has the same problem, but that it doesn't bother him anymore - in reference to finding out his binocular of choice is actually being made in China?
Yup! I'm a binoholic. Not all addictions harm others. Mine is self-inflicted - a happy problem. John
Ah yes, xmeecosmic....but it possible to be passionate about a positive influence in one´s life, and also obsessive about one particular aspect of it. See the attachment to my post in the thread you mention....I pointed out that gadgetry and listing appeal to many birders, mostly male ones. I wonder if these are manifestations of the Asperger´s traits many claim are fundamental to the male mind? Most sporting/leisuretime interests in which males are involved also involve a degree of navel-gazing over the equipment involved.
Interesting that a lot of us (albeit in jest) talk about the "unhealthy" aspect of bino-collecting. I doubt hobbyists/enthusiasts of other pursuits feel quite the same about the stuff they collect, be they golf clubs or scuba-diving equipment or whatever. But do we feel more "guilty" about the wastefulness of having more than one or two binos because it´s an "enivronmentally aware"-type pursuit? Hell, I know plenty of people who change their cars every two years and don´t feel a smidgin of guilt. (I´m not defending my obsession here, just musing about it.)
Simon S
Well-known member
I met a chap who knew another chap who collected old gas stoves! I left the boot fair feeling normal!:-O
LOL!!!
That is quite amazing. Mrs. S. would make me sell (or dump) most of ´em. My absolute favourite is the Kershaw Sportsman....I would love a pair of those, I´d wear them on my head all the time!
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
LOL!!! I have bought a pair in a store and asked the guy not to give me a bag with the store-name on it......
Why? Most people reckon birding is pretty sad. Is being enthusiastic about optics any sadder than being obsessed with birds, or football teams, or trains, or vintage cars, or threshing machines, or stamps, or butterflies, or snowboarding, or.......(okay I´ll stop now
).
brocknroller
porromaniac
Paul,
Unfortunately, it might be none of the above, because what you describe sounds like a typical case of conversion disorder as defined by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 4th Edition, Text Revision, also known as the DSM-IV-TR.
While you have downscaled your habit both in monetary terms and in number of bins, you may have merely converted from an alpha roofoholic to a classic porromaniac.
If so, you will soon experience uncontrollable cravings for a Nikon 10x35 EII, earlier 8x, 10, and 7x "E" models, Nikon 8x, 10x, and 12x SEs, Nikon 8-16x40 XL Zooms, then there's the Prostar, the Astoluxes, and from there you will keep collecting Nikon classic porros all the way back to Nippon Kogaku.
If it gets bad enough you may even branch out into collecting old Zeiss ClassiCs, Zeiss Jenas, B & Ls, and hit the skids with old Tasco porros.
You will spend your entire life savings on porros. Yes, I'm talking from experience, this is my story, and now I'm living in a cardboard box under a bridge, left only with my 8x30 EII, because I had to sell or trade all the others for a winter coat, long underwear, refrigerator boxes, and cat food.
Fortunately, your porromania began with the 8x30 EII - the EII was my last purchase - so you may not end up like me, because you will eventually reach a gestalt and suddenly realize that there's no WF birding bin in the world that's better than your 8x30 EII!
FRITZ WAS RIGHT, BE HERE NOW! Keep saying that to yourself.
But if you do fall victim to porromania, don't be too proud to call your old partners, Peter and Mary. You don't want to live in a cardboard box, because it attracts too many mice, and then you will have to beg for money to buy cat food to get rid of them!
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