Re: [MDOsprey] Re: Pelagic birding/bins
MHoff36100@aol.com
Sun, 18 Jul 1999 18:05:40 EDT
William --
Having been on a few (!!) pelagics and having had my binoculars
salt-encrusted many times, I'll offer some pointers. If you have truly
waterproof bins (high quality Zeiss, Leica, etc.), salt spray will not be a
problem. Just thoroughly clean the body with a damp towel or old tee-shirt,
using tap water, when you get home. If they are really bad, do the cleaning
multiple times, each time with a clean towel. Towel dry to finish. The lenses
should only be cleaned with soft cotton or special lens cleaning fabrics and
lenses cleaning fluid or water. You might also want to take the lens cap off
to do a better job of cleaning the lenses. The biggest risk is scratching the
lenses while cleaning, so be real careful about this. Try to blow off any
large particles. You can imagine a piece of salt dragged across the surface
of one of those multicoated lens finishes! If you have top-quality bins and
faith in your manufacturer, you can hold them under the running facet to
clean, but I've never had the nerve to do this. My 10 year old Zeiss 10x40s,
which are supposed to be sealed, now develop internal fog during very wet
conditions.
I you have less quality bins, you need to be very careful about getting them
wet at all, but the basic cleaning procedure would be the same.
Generally on pelagics, I would suggest using a rain guard on the lenses, as
the spray will accumulate and blur your view. Also, depending on how rough it
is (i.e., if there is heavy spray), I would recommend keeping your bins tuck
inside a half-open jacket. This is how I normally do it and it works fine.
Also on a really wet trip, your hands can get very salty, and it is good to
periodically clean them with a wet towel. You can also do interim cleanings
of the bins then as well.
Another way to achieve the same result (and protect the rest of your bins as
well), is to hang a small hand-towel (say 5 x 12") over you bins (half the
towel in front and half behind, with the fold over the eye pieces). This
protects both the lenses and the body. When the puffin flies by, move the
towel to one side.
Good luck,
Mark Hoffman
Mhoff36100@aol.com
In a message dated 7/18/99 12:08:23 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
tern@visuallink.com writes:
> Hello all,
>
> This is really a request for information. I am headed to Maine in
> the next several weeks. I am planning a Pelagic trip to see Puffins and
> hopefully a few other pelagic species. This will be my first pelagic
> experience. What I am wondering is what are some of the things I need to
> consider to make this a successful experience. I am especially concerned
> about my binoculars. I vaguely recall talking to a birder last fall about
> damage to his binoculars from salt spray. How big of a problem is this and
> what reasonble steps can one take to protect your binoculars???? My
> binoculars are water proof thats not my concern but rather the effect the
> salt spray might have upon the coatings on the lens. Thanks in advance....
> William Leigh
> Winchester Va
> tern@visuallink.com