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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kabsetz" data-source="post: 3575527" data-attributes="member: 10167">Having seen a number of binoculars and scopes that have suffered various accidents, my non-scientific impression is that magnesium is more durable than aluminum or fiberglass composites, but when it gives it cracks. Aluminum, in turn, will dent, bend or deform rather than crack. Therefore, unless the optics get badly out of alignment, one can keep using a fallen aluminum-bodied scope, but with magnesium it either survives with barely a scratch or it cracks and becomes unusable.Older Kowa 823s with their composite bodies also were reasonably durable but would fail catastrophically once their limit was reached. The material thicknesses in these is very thin indeed. It is a balancing act between lightest possible weight and reasonable durability.Since scope optics require very high precision alignment in order to perform at their best, it is generally a very good idea to not let them fall or get bumped anyway, even if and when their bodies seem to take the abuse well. You can never know what kind of an impact will compromise the image.Kimmo</blockquote>