• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

My home-made binocular harness (attached pictures).. (1 Viewer)

T

The Kingfisher

Well-known member
I was going to get me a new harness and found some different options on the internet. I found the "Ultra light bino harness" as an interesting alternative to the traditional harness. See this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTm-ZEfB5aE

It's a fairly simple thing that one should be able to do yourself, I thought. I googled this and found the following youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XBe6_0zK8s

With these youtube clips in my mind I designed my own binocular harness. After buying some different parts, it only took about 2-3 minutes to make the harness. Now, the snap hooks are white (really ugly, I know.. ;) ), but they should be replaced with black as soon as possible. The backplate is from my old harness, which I cut into pieces as it had begun to fray. Cost: about 40 SEK or 6 USD or 4,50 EUR or 4 GBP.

Anyway..my harness is made from something called "shock-cord" that can be purchased in stores that sell boats, kayaks, etc. I have tested various thickness of it and found that 3mm works really well. The length is about 2 meters and the cord material is elastic and durable.

I do not think I need to explain exactly how I 've done since you probably see it anyway at the attached pictures!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4775Bild1.jpg
    IMG_4775Bild1.jpg
    172.8 KB · Views: 2,042
  • IMG_4783Bild2.jpg
    IMG_4783Bild2.jpg
    107.5 KB · Views: 1,650
  • IMG_4788Bild3.jpg
    IMG_4788Bild3.jpg
    104.2 KB · Views: 1,718
Last edited:
Hi Kingfisher,

nice work! How comfortable is the result? Did you try with T-shirt only, is that still comfortable with the 42 mm bin?
 
dalat said:
Hi Kingfisher,

nice work! How comfortable is the result? Did you try with T-shirt only, is that still comfortable with the 42 mm bin?
Click to expand...

I tested the harness with a T-shirt and it does not feel uncomfortable. But it is not quite as nice as a regular harness I must admit. It's probably the only downside to this harness over the traditional I think.

The advantages are many: will not be as sensitive to wind, hangs tighter against the body, can easily be replaced with a new piece of shock-cord when you feel like it (you can buy 10 meters of cord to have some spare material at home), much cheaper, the harness can be temporarily used as a regular neck strap or diagonally across the chest so that the binoculars can hang on the side of the body, etc.

Today was the first time I really tested the harness in the field. It worked fine, but you can use the shock cord 4mm instead of 3mm to get a harness that does not stretch out as easily. The bino will then end up higher on the breast and get tighter against the human body. A 4mm shock cord shall withstand a weight of 59 kg. Thicker than 4mm should probably not be used, I think!
 
If you criss cross the lines on the back there would be no stress on the leather piece. It's a commonly used carry method for knife/pistol actually.
 
jzmtl said:
If you criss cross the lines on the back there would be no stress on the leather piece. It's a commonly used carry method for knife/pistol actually.
Click to expand...

How do you mean? Keep in mind that I only have one long string. One can make as in the picture, but the knot will still be in the same place and push against the plate as much as before. Or have I missed something here?
 

Attachments

  • 20131107_160427.jpg
    20131107_160427.jpg
    164.2 KB · Views: 403
Last edited:
The Kingfisher said:
How do you mean? Keep in mind that I only have one long string. One can make as in the picture, but the knot will still be in the same place and push against the plate as much as before. Or have I missed something here?
Click to expand...

I think he means...looking at your 3rd pic.... threading the strings through the leather piece to run from left shoulder to right armpit and right shoulder to left armpit...just try it out...:t:
Jay

PS.... anyway.....don't you think it's a bit like fitting a Rolls with cheapo wheel trims.. :eek!: :t:
 
Last edited:
Jayel said:
Don't you think it's a bit like fitting a Rolls with cheapo wheel trims.. :eek!: :t:
Click to expand...

No, not when the functionality is better in almost every way against a traditional bino harness... ;)

I can only think of one (or maybe two) benefit with the traditional harness, but at least 10 with "my" home-made harness. I will mention them eventually!
 
Last edited:
Jayel said:
I think he means...looking at your 3rd pic.... threading the strings through the leather piece to run from left shoulder to right armpit and right shoulder to left armpit...just try it out...:t:
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I've done. How do you intend it to become a binocular harness if you do not thread the strings through the back plate and make a knot there? Please, show me a picture of what you mean! |=)|
 
Last edited:
See the attached file..

What do you do with the strings now? :smoke:
 

Attachments

  • 20131107_184753red.jpg
    20131107_184753red.jpg
    216.4 KB · Views: 430
Last edited:
dalat said:
Hi Kingfisher,

nice work!
Click to expand...

The Kingfisher said:
I tested the harness with a T-shirt and it does not feel uncomfortable. But it is not quite as nice as a regular harness I must admit. It's probably the only downside to this harness over the traditional I think.

The advantages are many: will not be as sensitive to wind, hangs tighter against the body, can easily be replaced with a new piece of shock-cord when you feel like it (you can buy 10 meters of cord to have some spare material at home), much cheaper, the harness can be temporarily used as a regular neck strap or diagonally across the chest so that the binoculars can hang on the side of the body, etc.

Today was the first time I really tested the harness in the field. It worked fine, but you can use the shock cord 4mm instead of 3mm to get a harness that does not stretch out as easily. The bino will then end up higher on the breast and get tighter against the human body. A 4mm shock cord shall withstand a weight of 59 kg. Thicker than 4mm should probably not be used, I think!
Click to expand...


The Kingfisher said:
No, not when the functionality is better in almost every way against a traditional bino harness... ;)

I can only think of one (or maybe two) benefit with the traditional harness, but at least 10 with "my" home-made harness. I will mention them eventually!
Click to expand...

Nice work Kingfisher! I admire your ingenuity (speaking a birder and an artist and designer).
 
Last edited:
The Kingfisher said:
See the attached file..

What do you do with the strings now? :smoke:
Click to expand...


Last Word

Remember I'm only offering what I understood JZMTL to mean in suggesting you criss cross the strings to reduce stress on the leather piece...
So here's a rough sketch of how I suggested you thread the strings... and NO that is not exactly what you did...:eek!:
By the way you can fit the knot wherever it suits.............:-O
Cheers Jay.. ;)
 

Attachments

  • Shape.jpg
    Shape.jpg
    97.6 KB · Views: 281
Yep that's what I meant. When you thread through the leather piece, instead of taking the line horizontally through the leather piece, you make an X shape. So instead of the top one, loop it like the bottom one
 

Attachments

  • DSCN1427.jpg
    DSCN1427.jpg
    32.3 KB · Views: 318
jzmtl said:
Yep that's what I meant. When you thread through the leather piece, instead of taking the line horizontally through the leather piece, you make an X shape. So instead of the top one, loop it like the bottom one
Click to expand...

The only glitch with this wonderful homebrew is bigger binoculars.
Once the glass gets to the 1000 gram and up class, the shock cord just saws into your shoulders.
So Chandler Robbins would not be a candidate, but most of the 8x32 aficionados surely qualify as potential customers.
 
OK, now I understand what you mean. The X shape works just as well. Thanks for the tip! |=)|

Two things need to be mentioned about my home-made harness though:

1. The pressure against the leather is not very big. So it's unlikely that the leather would break.

2. If the leather should happen to break, the consequences would nevertheless be undramatic. The only thing that then happens is that the string ends up directly on the neck instead.
 
Last edited:
A thing I have not mentioned with my homemade harness is that it is still missing a little detail on it - a cord stopper. It will probably do that the pressure of the string against the small piece of leather is basically non-existent. One can certainly have a cord stopper even if you cross the string, but I wonder if it is as simple and easy to adjust the harness size then!?
 
Warning! This thread is more than 11 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

L
How to best attach ocular covers when using harness??
Replies
5
Views
938
pbjosh
pbjosh
K
  • Poll
How do you carry your binoculars?
9 10 11
Replies
205
Views
28K
Trinovid
T
Owlbarred
Non-metal binocular strap attachment clips
Replies
6
Views
1K
Owlbarred
Owlbarred
R
Cheapy little home-made binocular harness works great!
Replies
9
Views
5K
BryanP
BryanP
S
Binocular harnesses and slings?
Replies
6
Views
2K
dannat
D

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top