I was in a discount store today (Lidl is a local German discount store in the UK), where they have some good prices on various items such as Malt Whisky and came across some cheap 10x50 binoculars (German made Bresser Travelview 10x50 porro's) costing £12 or around $24 basically the same as the ones here,

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/bresser/travelview/10x50/porro-prism/tvbino.html.html

The optics appear clear and bright and the construction solid and precise. With $25 Binoculars I wouldn't really be at all concerned using them in a harsh environment as I would with an expensive pair.
The card that came with the Binoculars states a 5 year manufacturers warranty.

Cheap binoculars - Any views on the subject?

Any Binocs are better than no binocs.

I carry a small set of binocs in my Boat BoB and a Long glass in my home BoB/camping equipment.

I was in a customers home yesterday (also a friend I trap shoot with) and showed him the 7X50 Tasco binoculars I just bought at a garage sale for $12.00 while I was on my way to clean the carpet in his home. He reaches over on a table and shows me the Tasco binoculars (7X35) that he got at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago on clearance for $10.00

Wildman is right, any is better than nothing and more is better when you need it. And I have a small pair or Tasco's in a BOB.

I don't know much about Bino's but recently inquired with some of my 'in the know' hunters and hikers. My thought was why do some pairs of 10x42 cost $100 and others $700. I found it comes down to ability to draw light into shadowed or darker areas using different gasses and glass coatings.

I think for the price ~$24, its worth the investment to have something around, it that is within your impulse buy limit.

For about that price I just bought the Brunton 7x18 monocular for my EDC bag at REI. I am really impressed so far. Its great for about 150 yards but that's more than enough for EDC. I was able to inherit a pair of 8x42(?) Steiners that are military issue and have a high speed coating on them and they are good to about, geesh, I think 600 yards when I used them on a boat last month.

There is certainly a place for inexpensive, as opposed to cheap and poor quality, binoculars. For one thing they can be loaned out. You wouldn't allow your six year old kid to use your $800 Steiners without direct supervision. But a pair of compact, 7x30, Bushnell binoculars going for $15 you can let them have, hold, and use as they see fit. If they drop them in the swamp or leave them on the lawn, where you murder them with the lawnmower, your not out much.

On the other hand, often for that same $15 you can find binoculars that are so poorly made that they give you a headache in five minutes of use. Lens flare, rainbows, optical distortion and the two scopes pointing at different targets can be so bad as to make a pair of binoculars impossible to use effectively. So there are limits as to how cheaply built you can go.

The Steiners could probably handle rough use by any kid and come through it fine.

There is something to that ... Steiners are tough.

< In the background little Johnny starts breaking rocks by swinging the binoculars on their strap and Jane packs mud into the objective lens housing and proceeds to stir it with a stick.>

They would probably come through it still usable. But somewhat worse for wear. It certainly wouldn't do them any good. I'm not one to baby my equipment but I buy quality gear it generally shrugs off the unintentional abuse and lasts a lifetime with just light cosmetic damage to show its age.

But this is predicated on a baseline of reasonable use and common sense care. Neither of which children are known for.

If you catch your kid getting ready to use your Steiners to hammer nails you break down the door rushing out to stop them. If you saw your kid doing the same with their $15 Bushnells you plan on giving them a stern talk about taking care of equipment and you might pick up your video camera to get the shot. Hoping to send it off to a TV show or have a Youtube hit.

I wonder if these are any good?

http://countycomm.com/optics.htm



This monocular is a copy of a famous German one that you have probably seen in some of the fine optical houses, but who can afford over a hundred dollars for peeking with just one eye. These copies are so good that you will buy several and give them as gifts. What a hero you will be. You can afford to own several and leave them where you will use them instead of locking them up in your safe afraid they may get lost or damaged. These are good quality at a great price. These rate a 10 in coolness factor. Overall quality is a 9+ due to its Japanese glass optics, aluminum body and rubber-focusing ring.
$9.75

I have a 10X25 power Monuocular that I keep in my van, it cost $15.00, had it for 7 or 8-years and it works good.

For survival situations where weight and bulk are a concern monoculars are a bargain. You don't want to be spending hours looking through a monocular as this is uncomfortable and causes headaches but for general survival uses, like scoping out routes and hazards or orienting yourself to the surroundings, don't require long term observation so a monocular works just fine.

In an ideal world the monocular you get would have fully coated lenses, would be nitrogen filled to prevent internal condensation, would be shock proofed and would be waterproof to a significant depth. We don't live in an ideal world and a cheap but well built monocular might be profitably pressed into service as long as it meets the minimum standards for quality and durability.

I bought the original monocular many years ago. Most of the time it sit in a camera case.
Last year I bought two pieces of the countycomm monocular and they are very similar to the original except the optics is Japanese.
It is very easy to hold & use. I do not have any problems using for long period.

I have some pretty high dollar binoculars, and several pair of el cheapos (stashed everywhere), mainly 'cuz they are there when I need a look at something, and the good ones might not be. Cheapies, while usually not all that sharp a view, are better than nothing. But most will give you a headache if you look thru then for too long a time...

The best cheap bins I have come across are a pair of Olympus 7x21 PC 111 Classic compacts I bought new for $60 Aust. I know its more expensive than the bins being discussed here but they are light, compact, and have reasonable optics for the money.

Amazon have the bins mentioned above for $21.70 US.

10x50 is an interesting size. The "x50" means they will be pretty big and heavy. I have some 7x50 which in practice are too much to carry around unless I know I am going to need them. (Lovely to use, though.)

The "10x" is the magnification. 10 is pretty high. High magnification has two drawbacks. The first is that it exaggerates wobble. 10 is about the highest that's really usable without a tripod or other stabilisation.

The second drawback is that for a given aperture, higher magnification means a dimmer image. However, in this case the aperture is 50mm so even with the high magnification it should be bright enough. (The core statistic is the "exit pupil", which is the ratio of the two numbers and also the width of the pencil of light which leaves the binoculars and enters your eye. Less than 2mm is generally too dim. 10x50 yields an exit pupil of 5mm, which should be OK.)

I would be concerned about the quality. In optics, quality is expensive and £12 is cheap. However, if you've looked through them and they seem OK, and you can afford to lose the money if they don't work out, and you also have the storage space to keep them when they are not being used (as opposed to a house full of clutter and a wife who is no longer sympathetic about gadgets), then by all means go for it.

Have you thought about what role they would have for you?

I have a pair of cheap Meade folding roof prism 8x22 binoculars. I picked them on an a whim when I was wandering around in a Big 5 Sporting Good store (certainly not known for handling top line merchandise!) They were on clearance for $6.99 (or was if $7.99?) Anyway, ridiculously cheap. They are much better than I was expecting, not up to the nice-ish pair of 10x50 Minolta's I have, but very good for price I paid. I take these cheapies when I go hiking, and they serve that short-time-use purpose beautifully. Actually, I find myself impressed with these cheapies, not making excuses for them. That's awesome.