KorHaan
Well-known member
Hello everyone,
I'm always looking for ways to make my fullsized bins less cumbersome around my neck. Trouble is, I don't want to wear a bino harness because it's kind of a fuzz to put your coat on and off.
The functionality of broad neckstraps is overrated IMO; I've tried dozens and they don't work for me. My FL's still feel too heavy.
So I invented the counterweight on my neckstrap. To begin with, I hung the binocase on the neck end of the strap, with some weight in it. This worked well, but it looked like I'd grown a hump and it got in the way on my back while carrying a rucksack.
Then I came up with a buckle tied to the neck end of the strap, this was definitely an improvement as a counterweight. I used a so called karabiner, a buckle used by mountain climbers, available in every outdoors sportshop.
See the attached thumbnail: BUCKLE
Though reasonably comfortable ( the buckle of 125 grams on the neckstrap made my 740 grams FL's feel like 615 grams ) this bino carrier needed further improvement, and I came up with something else: the bino yoke.
See the attached thumbnail: BIN YOKE
I know it looks ridiculous, and one will have to face the more traditionally thinking birding mob, but guess what: it immediately worked! An old wooden coathanger and two pieces of strap attached made my bins virtually weightless; I noticed they were there, on my chest, but with my DIY yoke the weight is effectively distributed where it should be: round the shoulders.
Next weekend I will be visiting a binocular festival with Zeiss, Swaro and Leica stands, and I'm gonna wear this yoke thing. Can't think of the reactions, but I will post again after the festival and let you all know.
Greetings, Ronald
I'm always looking for ways to make my fullsized bins less cumbersome around my neck. Trouble is, I don't want to wear a bino harness because it's kind of a fuzz to put your coat on and off.
The functionality of broad neckstraps is overrated IMO; I've tried dozens and they don't work for me. My FL's still feel too heavy.
So I invented the counterweight on my neckstrap. To begin with, I hung the binocase on the neck end of the strap, with some weight in it. This worked well, but it looked like I'd grown a hump and it got in the way on my back while carrying a rucksack.
Then I came up with a buckle tied to the neck end of the strap, this was definitely an improvement as a counterweight. I used a so called karabiner, a buckle used by mountain climbers, available in every outdoors sportshop.
See the attached thumbnail: BUCKLE
Though reasonably comfortable ( the buckle of 125 grams on the neckstrap made my 740 grams FL's feel like 615 grams ) this bino carrier needed further improvement, and I came up with something else: the bino yoke.
See the attached thumbnail: BIN YOKE
I know it looks ridiculous, and one will have to face the more traditionally thinking birding mob, but guess what: it immediately worked! An old wooden coathanger and two pieces of strap attached made my bins virtually weightless; I noticed they were there, on my chest, but with my DIY yoke the weight is effectively distributed where it should be: round the shoulders.
Next weekend I will be visiting a binocular festival with Zeiss, Swaro and Leica stands, and I'm gonna wear this yoke thing. Can't think of the reactions, but I will post again after the festival and let you all know.
Greetings, Ronald