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If you've been sailing for a few years, the chances are that your binoculars have seen better days. They're one of the most useful things on the boat - and one of the most taken for granted. It's probably more than a year since the lenses even had a good wipe.
But in binoculars, as in every area of boat equipment, the technology has moved along, and if you haven't had a new pair for a few years, you'll really notice the difference. You can spend as much as you like - or can afford - on new binos, from less than £50 to more than £1,000.
Still sailing with the under-£50 pair we bought for our first boat nearly three decades ago, I recently used a new pair while sailing with someone else, and was astonished at the difference. One of the best things about them was a built in compass - which made taking bearings simplicity itself.
I don't think I'd like really expensive binos - I'd be too afraid of dropping them overboard. But I really would like to upgrade the current pair. Flipping through the chandlery catalogues, I picked out the Steiner Skipper binoculars with compass.
They have a dazzling range of features - “top quality professional 7 x 50 binoculars offering tremendous clear vision with easy to read, stabilised, illuminated compass, sports autofocus, rubber armoured, water pressure proofed to two metres, dry nitrogen filled.”
All that, and they come with a ten-year guarantee, and have a pleasing compact design.
Currently Force4 is offering them at a reduced price: £299.95. They really would make an ideal gift. Are you listening, Santa?
