Binoculars for Trekking in Himalayas (1 Viewer)

[DrewskiMT]

I'm going on a 3 week trekking holiday in the Nepal Himalaya later this year (or once restrictions eased). The trek is pretty strenuous with long days, difficult terrain, high altitude with a group that moves relatively fast. Birding isn't the primary aim but keen to see what I can. The fast moving means less time to look at stuff on the trek but often more time in the afternoon once we have set up camp.

Was wondering people's thoughts about the most appropriate format for binoculars for this kind of trip? Both in terms of weight and also objective (e.g. 8x or 10x)?

I've a pair of 8.5 x 42 that are super but heavy and was thinking about alternatives.
(I've a clear idea of what brand/models I'm interested in so my question is just about weight and objective size).

thanks

I have Travelers and Conquest HD in 8x32s. I live in Montana and hike with both up sizeable mountains. If you need maximum eye relief for wearing eyeglasses then Conquest. If you dont need maximum eye relief for glasses with lenses that reside far from your eyes, the Travelers hands down for hiking/backpacking/trekking. If you want to spend 3x more money then probably Swaro Compact CL may work as well. I really cant say a bad thing about the Travelers though. They are excellent, and light as a feather, and as compact and small as any proper Xx30 bino out there. Cant go wrong in my book. Around the neck you really feel the extra weight of the Conquests. I barely notice the weight of the travelers.

 

[Stephen Prower]

Leonardo_Simon​

Weight weanie considerations

Trekking in the Himalayan mountains, I believe weight counts!
If it helps, I'm trying out an 85gm Specwell 10x20 6* fov telescopic monocular*. It's usable.
Reach at 10x magnification is perhaps the same as for a 6x binocular. In spite of 10x magnification, I can easily hold the Specwell steady two-handed. It has virtually no eye relief. Accurate eye placement, as one would expect from a 2mm eye pupil, is critical. With monoculars I adopt two-eyed viewing. It's quite easy in two-eyed, two-handed viewing to block the ghost image, but I'm as yet only testing the Specwell, and doing so only in undemanding English conditions of ambient light.
If you're not familiar with monoculars, you're warned that a 6x binocular makes for easier--I'd say, as a matter of impression, much easier--viewing than a 10x monocular, and would be, for most purposes that require an optic, a more useful tool. And to keep matters in perspective, I observe that the very usable Olympus 7x21 PCIII weighed only 184gm, or the Opticron MCF 7x24 262gm.
In the present context I don't mention price save to say that the Specwell is a high quality optic sold as a visionary aid in let's say on Bird Forum possibly a pricier market than optics for birdwatchers!

Stephen

* A speciality of the Specwell is near viewing. If you're into that, the close focus distance is 40cm. But at 10x magnification, if I am right, the depth of focus will be very limited, so that actually finding eg a small butterfly target in a grass meadow might be a struggle!
The Specwell can also , as usual for a monocular, conveniently serve as a magnifying glass

 

[Troubador]

I have Travelers and Conquest HD in 8x32s. I live in Montana and hike with both up sizeable mountains. If you need maximum eye relief for wearing eyeglasses then Conquest. If you dont need maximum eye relief for glasses with lenses that reside far from your eyes, the Travelers hands down for hiking/backpacking/trekking. If you want to spend 3x more money then probably Swaro Compact CL may work as well. I really cant say a bad thing about the Travelers though. They are excellent, and light as a feather, and as compact and small as any proper Xx30 bino out there. Cant go wrong in my book. Around the neck you really feel the extra weight of the Conquests. I barely notice the weight of the travelers.

I agree and would add that both Conquest HD and Opticron Traveller ED are both fast-focusing which can be important if you are interested in butterflies and dragonflies as well as birds as it allows a quick view of a nearby dragonfly combined with the ability to rapidly focus on a distant bird and then get back close again for a view of a nearby butterfly. This is a real asset when visiting new species-rich environments. I wouldn't be tempted by a 10x32 though because trekking at altitude will cause additional bino shake due to the effort required and at altitude there is a high probability of gusting winds, all of this cancelling out any advantage extra magnification may have.

Lee

 

[DrewskiMT]

I can only speak for myself, and myself impressions of these instruments, and the sample variation I received from my copies of these purchases, but I believe I have good samples of each bino.

Just finished birding house finches with a bunch of 8x32s including the most recent versions of Swaro EL, Conquest HD, and Traveler BGA ED WP. Some brief takeaways. The Conquests and Swaros are neck and neck. I can’t really tell a meaningful or significant difference in image quality. Both are 10 out of 10 in sharpness, brightness, color accuracy for me. I love the image in both. I find getting a good clean blackout free and glare free image is a bit easier with the Conquests. There really isn’t much difference to me at all between them, and I have good healthy young 35 year old eyes. The Travelers are a big step down/behind in sharpness and clarity, and ease of eye placement for clean clear images. I would rate them at 7/10 or 8/10. The Zeiss really is worth 2x the price of the Traveler. It just is. If you are serious about image quality, and can afford $1000 binos, Conquest HDs, hands down, all day every day. The Swaro is most definitely not worth 2x the price of the Zeiss however. It very well may be the best instrument, especially ergonomically for some hands, but it comes at a tremendous price. Whether you want to carry 8oz’s / half a pound extra on your chest/neck is your call as well.

On a long backpack/trek, ounces matter. Big time. I would advise trying side by side if possible Monarch HG 8x30s, Swaro CL 8x30, Conquest HD, Swaro EL, and Travelers if you can find any of these locally, or purchase and return from online. You really do get what you pay for in the optics world.

Ultimately, at the same price level, binoculars are an ergonomic choice and focus wheel feel and eye placement-ease of view choice. The machine must match the person. The venn diagram of weight, user ergos, price, image quality can only be determined with multiple binos in the hand. Anything else is just guessing at your user experience. PM me with additional questions.

Cheers.

 

[leonardo_simon]

Thanks all -- trip to Nepal didn't happen so instead spent 8 days Trekking in the Pyrenees (probably longer/harder days than I'd have had in Nepal)

Anyway, based on the advice here I took a pair of 8x32's weighing around 600g. Wore them round my neck using standard strap. They were fine and I found then considerably less of a burden than the heavier x42's would have been.

 

[Maljunulo]

Thanks all -- trip to Nepal didn't happen so instead spent 8 days Trekking in the Pyrenees (probably longer/harder days than I'd have had in Nepal)

Anyway, based on the advice here I took a pair of 8x32's weighing around 600g. Wore them round my neck using standard strap. They were fine and I found then considerably less of a burden than the heavier x42's would have been.

I'm rather curious why you don't identify them.

Zeiss SF?

 

[dries1]

That is coorrrrrect,.....glass ID papers please.

 

[leonardo_simon]

I'm rather curious why you don't identify them.

Zeiss SF?

There’s so much discussion about different brands/models of binoculars on the forum —— so much —

& my original question was really about how to achieve the best compromise between weight and useability on a strenuous trek rather than getting into details of a specific model.

other questions — what’s best strategy when the walking become scrambling/climbing - stuff them down your jumper? (Then they attract condensation) Take them off? (Not much use in the bag are they?) What about the inevitable condensation on wet days when the weather is not quite so bad enough to put the bins in your rucksack? I;ve still not resolved whether it’s really best to have hanging round neck - so I’ll try a harness next plus perhaps attach to rucksack straps…..maybe even try smaller bins (e.g. x25) as perhaps anything is better than nothing when you’re struggling to breathe and some vulture passes by beneath….. there are so many other things to think about & this forum does have a tendency to go massively overboard on the technical details of a specific binocular…

Also, money comes in to it….. what one person can afford another can’t justify…..so hoped to keep the thread general — but perhaps thats hoping too much!

 

[Troubador]

There’s so much discussion about different brands/models of binoculars on the forum —— so much —

& my original question was really about how to achieve the best compromise between weight and useability on a strenuous trek rather than getting into details of a specific model.

other questions — what’s best strategy when the walking become scrambling/climbing - stuff them down your jumper? (Then they attract condensation) Take them off? (Not much use in the bag are they?) What about the inevitable condensation on wet days when the weather is not quite so bad enough to put the bins in your rucksack? I;ve still not resolved whether it’s really best to have hanging round neck - so I’ll try a harness next plus perhaps attach to rucksack straps…..maybe even try smaller bins (e.g. x25) as perhaps anything is better than nothing when you’re struggling to breathe and some vulture passes by beneath….. there are so many other things to think about & this forum does have a tendency to go massively overboard on the technical details of a specific binocular…

Also, money comes in to it….. what one person can afford another can’t justify…..so hoped to keep the thread general — but perhaps thats hoping too much!

Simon, we have never been up mountains such as you are planning to do but we regularly and intensively use binos on the Western Isles of Scotland here you are in the Atlantic Ocean with winds coming over the ocean and either dumping rain clouds over your head or blowing the clouds away. So there is always wind and I can imagine that at Himalayan heights wind is going to be a big factor. Don't know if you have a dry season there but suspect that high mountains will always generate rain. So I am guessing you will end up wearing a jacket to protect yourself from wind and rain. We do this all the time even in mid summer. We never put binos in backpacks and in normal rain the rainguard is enough protection but when the rain/wind gets heavy or we need to scramble over rocks, we sometimes slip the binos under the jacket. We always have the binos around our necks as any other solution means you miss birds and animals while you are fumbling to retrieve binos from wherever, and remember that you may not be standing on a track or flat ground when something interesting appears. You could be on loose rocks or other unstable surfaces so balancing to recover binos from backpack won't be easy.
Summing up: we find binos around the neck is best and to wear a jacket and use this for temporary bino protection as required. We have never had any problems with fogging even when we are hot and sweaty inside the jacket. Normally the binos are in here for only a few minutes at at time. That is what works for us. Good luck on your trip.

Lee

 

[Chosun Juan]

other questions — what’s best strategy when the walking become scrambling/climbing - stuff them down your jumper? (Then they attract condensation) Take them off? (Not much use in the bag are they?)

The best policy is undoubtedly don't fall over !

Seriously - ice is very hard and very slippery !

Are you talking trekking or climbing ?

I think you already hit upon an appropriate format, x32. My recommendations would be the Swarovski 8x30 B new Companion, or, Swarovski 8x32 SV, or 10x32 SV, or Zeiss 8x32 SF, or 10x32 SF.

** [EDIT]** I should have added that perhaps if you have the Swaro 8x32 SV that a higher magnification option might be to carry the Swaro doubler attachment for this bin - giving you 8x and 16x ...... ?
I was carrying my 800mm lens through there which is the same mag, and the close up views are very worthwhile ** 👍

Probably the best way to carry them would be to clip onto backpack harness straps, or sling, or get a dedicated chest harness and padded camera bag etc that could take both, or have a pocket for it. Very easy to access from right in front of you.

The other tips would be Gore-Tex Gore-Tex Gore-Tex ! Shell's, jackets, boots, tents, backpacks, rain covers etc. Make sure your gloves and beanie are lined with Windstopper Gore-Tex too or you might lose your fingers /mind.

Carry and

Drink much more water than you think, and take it easy on the ascent - altitude adaptation is individual - allow extra days in the schedule to stay put. I don't ever think I felt too well above about 3900m. Over 4600m I could have quite happily sat down in the sun and died (many thanks to the Sherpa who walked over and insistently convinced me to fill my gullet with hydralite drink) , and above 5400m I was having the most fantasmagorical visions !

Enjoy !

And don't put yourself in the position of being a prey animal - it's no fun ! 😄


Chosun 🙅‍♀️

 

[dries1]

Don't take it personally, folks here don't really care what binocular you take on your travels (just some humor). Some photos of the scenery would be nice though.

 

[leonardo_simon]

UPDATE - trip happened this year, delayed by the pandemic.

Anyway, simple answer to my original question (relating to the weight of full size binoculars causing neck strain) = a harness worked fine, rucksac straps didn't interfere, and I used a peak designs capture clip to carry the camera...... thanks all