If you’re on this page, it means you’re new to optics and don’t know how to protect binoculars from getting faulty. Right? Worrying about the safety of binoculars is important as they cost a serious amount of money and if they stop working properly, then it is like you’ve wasted your budget.
But the question is what steps should be taken to keep the binoculars away from malfunctioning and keep them protected? This is going to be our topic and we will drill down and let you know what steps and protective measures you need to follow so that you don’t lose your optics.
Before we go down, it is important for you to know what are the issues that usually cause problems for your binoculars. The prominent factor is the connection of binoculars with dust and debris which indirectly widely affect the working of binoculars.
Apart from that moisture that goes inside the binoculars causes fogging of the lens and makes your binoculars unusable. These are the most important factors, however, there are many more which can have a bad impact on the performance of your binoculars. Let’s drill down and know more about how to protect binoculars from these issues.
1- Keep your binoculars away from dust
Almost all outdoor activists face this problem of coming on binoculars and affecting their performance. But there are ways that can help you to keep your optics away from the dust, debris, and other contaminants that you usually come across while enjoying outdoor activities.
Using a carry case, or neck strap for a binocular harness helps in this case as you keep your binoculars packed in the box or pouch. When you need to use it, you can immediately remove them from the pouch and start using it. Once you have completed watching with them, put them back in the pouch
The dust and debris usually affect your binoculars when you hold them in your hands while walking. This is totally wrong practice and you should always avoid doing so as it can destroy binoculars. Not to forget, binoculars are very sensitive to dust and if the debris goes inside, the lenses will stop working.
Whether you use binoculars more often or go outside seldom, keep your binoculars clean. We have seen our friends cleaning binoculars on a regular basis and their optics don’t get faulty at all. Whether you use it or not daily, but you should take them out of the pouch and clean them completely to ensure that nothing remains on their body to cause problems.
If you see dust or any other particles on the body, then use ethyl or isopropyl alcohol with a microfiber cloth to remove all the dust and other contaminants. In the previous guide, we have given methods about how to clean binoculars. You should read that if you’re confused about the cleaning of binos.
3- Keep them away from moisture
Moisture is literally the worst empty binoculars and you want your optics to stop working and expose them to water. Not, just joking! When you use your binoculars near water places, the chances are high that moisture will go inside the binoculars and cause the lens fogging and you won’t be able to get good visuals.
Have you ever seen a blurry image through a mobile camera or binoculars? This blurry result is due to the fact the moisture has affected the lenses and made them foggy. So, we suggest you keep binoculars away from moisture. If you’re no option but to go near water places, then keep cleaning binoculars to ensure that moisture does go inside them to disturb their performance.
4- Store properly
Storing binoculars in places that are full of dust, debris or even moisture is like destroying your money with your own hands. When you put them in a wet place for a few hours, the fungi grow there and it totally disturbs the performance of your binoculars. Before the store, make sure to check the place if it has any sort of moisture or not.
5- Don’t use them with dirty hands
If your hands are dirty, don’t touch your binoculars as the dirt can go on the binoculars and destroy them. However, there are many outdoor activities in which your hands remain wet or dirty, then you have no other choice except to hold your binoculars with dirty hands. If you’re in such a situation, then make sure to clean them after usage.
Above mentioned steps can reduce the chances of your binoculars getting faulty. But did you notice that dust particles and moisture are two major reasons that cause the problems or affect the performance of your binoculars? We have got another solution if you cannot keep your optics away from dust and moisture.
While purchasing binoculars, make sure to buy waterproof binoculars with dust-proof lenses. These binoculars come from nitrogen or argon purging which stops the moisture or dust particles from going inside the binoculars and causing problems. Although these binoculars are slightly more costly, they ensure that you won’t have to take extra care of your binoculars.
The lenses must be scratch-resistant and dustproof, which means that accidental falls from a certain height won’t put any bad impact on them. Moreover, the coating present on the lens will protect them against dust.
Conclusion
Binoculars are sensitive and fragile equipment and you should take extra care of them to ensure that they remain with you for years. We have given all the guidelines and steps that will help you protect your optics. However, choosing waterproof, shock-resistant, and scratch-resistant lenses can make your life easier.
I am Richard from Michigan, and who has a craze for hunting. I have been around optics especially binoculars since 2001 and have gotten decent experience while using them to hunt. I have made this website to share my experience with those who are new in the field. My guides & reviews will help my readers to get in-depth information about binoculars. Let’s hunt for binoculars NOW!
