BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="CLRobles" data-source="post: 1510853" data-attributes="member: 76360">Sure, The rain we have been getting here has been much like monsoon type weather. Usually we see these storms come later in the year, July and August, but they seem to have hit us early this year. The weather will generally blow in with a fair amount of wind and dust. Then the wind will let up some and it will start to sprinkle or drizzle out followed shortly by a lite but steady rain. Then most times a short but heavy down poor that will last no more that a half an hour. After the heavy down poor it will lighten back up to a light rain or drizzle and then just blow out completely. This "Monsoon" type storm will generally last no more than a couple of hours.Now to glassing in the rain. I have been caught several times now when these storms roll in and have purposely stayed out to check the sealing and performance on my new, and very cherished SE's. As stated before I take all three (8x32's, 10x42's, and the 12x50's) with me when I go out. The 12's are a tripod only deal for me because although I can hand hold them for a short period their true brilliance is only appreciated when on a tripod. When the weather starts in I'll pack the 12's and bogen away so they have never gotten wet but only because I don't want to be breaking down the tripod in the rain...haha.  I don't have objective covers for either the 8's or the 10's so they go completely unprotected. The eye pieces have the Nikon rain guards (curiously enough the 8's came with a large oval rain guard that covers both eye pieces where as the 10's came with a smaller unit that just covers each individual eye piece with a flexible bridge that connects them?)Now I have never stayed out in heavy down poors, not because of fear of hurting the binos but I just can't stand drowning in the rain. But during the sprinkles, drizzle, and light rain I have used them just as I would my EL's without fear of any leakage. I did not tuck them under any jackets, use a bino coat or anything! I just left them around my neck with the rain guards on and when I was in position I would just glass with them without fear. Sometimes being out in a drizzle or light rain for as long as an hour with the bino being in the direct weather. I have not encounter any dust or water getting into either the 8's or 10's and have had no issues with fogging or excessive water build up on the objectives. They have performed flawlessly FOR ME, as well as my EL's which have never given me any problems either. When I get home I take the time to carefully clean the entire bino. The exterior with a clean, soft, damp cloth and the lenses with Nikon's optics maintenance kit.And to date no issues using my SE's in the weather. At this point I would rate the SE's as weather resistant but this is just my personal experience so please use your own with caution and at your own risk! The real test will be this fall and winter when we throw snow at them :t:</blockquote>

Verification