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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Do you keep your car/truck bins (1 Viewer)

gunut

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in the vehicle throughout the winter.....it gets down to 15/20 below here in winter...In the summer you can keep them under the seat where its cooler..but there is no hiding from the cold....
 
in the vehicle throughout the winter.....it gets down to 15/20 below here in winter...In the summer you can keep them under the seat where its cooler..but there is no hiding from the cold....

Waterproof or not, keep it in a sturdy zip-lock bag with a silica pouch or a few silica tablets inside. :cat:

Bill
 
That sure is cold..and I’m assuming it’s Fahrenheit.

My challenge is with a hot vehicle interior in summer. I keep a Habicht and a little Nikon at the ready both inside the centre arm rest. I took the risk and they’re holding up fine so far for two seasons. But, It gets nasty hot in there.
 
That sure is cold..and I’m assuming it’s Fahrenheit.

My challenge is with a hot vehicle interior in summer. I keep a Habicht and a little Nikon at the ready both inside the centre arm rest. I took the risk and they’re holding up fine so far for two seasons. But, It gets nasty hot in there.

Same here. I bring mine when it starts getting down below freezing.
 
I bought truck/car binoculars to keep there so they stay. It's north Alabama and not Wisconsin I'll give you that.....but stay in the vehicle they do.

Currently the truck binoculars are Vanguard Endeavor ED II which is parked outside all the time. They function as new and I'm thinking they are two years old. Car binoculars are the Conquest HD 8X32....which IS garaged. Used them yesterday during a ferry crossing and saw a brown booby. Function as new.

If worried about the weather ruing them....I don't know what binoculars you keep in your vehicle, but if it were me I'd just get some maybe a little more replaceable.
 
I'd think it'd be the heat rather than the cold that would be the more taxing of the two conditions. More pressure on seals, grease melting out of places, possible bubbling of rubber armor.

What can happen with the cold? A stiffer focus wheel?
 
I'd think it'd be the heat rather than the cold that would be the more taxing of the two conditions. More pressure on seals, grease melting out of places, possible bubbling of rubber armor.

What can happen with the cold? A stiffer focus wheel?

Then, in a warmer environment—if only for a few minutes—the cold bino becomes a vacuum as the air inside "shrinks," drawing in moisture-laden air in from the outside.

Bill
 
Then, in a warmer environment—if only for a few minutes—the cold bino becomes a vacuum as the air inside "shrinks," drawing in moisture-laden air in from the outside.

Bill

They lens also get fogged up just like your glasses when moved to a warmer area.
 
in the vehicle throughout the winter.....it gets down to 15/20 below here in winter...In the summer you can keep them under the seat where its cooler..but there is no hiding from the cold....

Neither. I don't store them in hot or cold locations mostly to avoid the problems that can come from a sudden change in temperature.
 
For more than a decade I kept a minimalist astronomy kit in the back of my minivan including a Fujinon Meibo 7x50 binocular. This is an individual focus sealed binocular. Granted I live in Southern California--not the harshest environment. I also regularly travel to an observing site at 5,000 ft which gets down in the teens Fahrenheit in the winter. I never saw any ill effect on the binocular and I continue to use it at night, though not as often as once upon a time. I am now more likely to be using either a smaller binocular with a 5mm exit pupil or a Canon 15x34 image stabilized binocular.

I also kept an Eagle Optics 8x25 reverse Porro in the glove box. A portion of that binocular had a rubber coating that became quite sticky. I assume that was because of heat and/or air pollution. I called EO asking them how to treat them, and even though the binoculars were many years old, they had me mail them back and they fixed the coating on the housing. I will really miss EO.

Now that I am birding more and astro-viewing less, I keep a mini birding kit in each of our two cars. In one I have the Sightron II 8x32 and in the other I have the Cabela's Guide 8x32. I am very comfortable using either of these binoculars, and at their <$200 cost, I worry less about something happening to them. It is also nice to have a decent loaner on hand when I do bring my regular birding kit.

Alan
 
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