Don’t ever say it could not happen to you. I helped those guys who capsized in the frigid waters of a river near my home in the swamp. But not me. About a year later. I traveled to the Adirondack Mountains for my vacation. I love the coniferous forest, the mountains, the clear lakes. Naturally, as a beginning birder I carried my precious Leupold compact binoculars with me everywhere. My quest for lifelist birds had begun.
We hiked to several peaks as part of our tour. And my binoculars went with me everywhere. I saw lots of new birds and rejoiced with my new found friends. They even had evening slide shows or programs that I got to attend. Some taught me more about my Leupold binoculars than I ever new before. I always carried them inside my vest protected from drippy paddles or swinging branches.
Learning from the pros. That is what I liked most about this trip. Many discussed their favorite brands of binoculars. I was stunned to learn there were several people who swore the primary reason they bought Leupold Binoculars was because they were Made in America. Sure they have excellent quality but these guys did not want Austrian optics if Americans could give them the same quality. Wow. I did not know what to think about that new realization.
Even dragonflies were busy in the early evenings when I went for my swim in the lake by the lodge. After watching the swallows diving in the air for insects, I swam to shore, only a little chilled and I would head off in dry gear for a campfire event. I loved the late night moonlight canoe trips and sunset solo swims. Pre-breakfast walks to the red raspberry patch yielded exquisite breakfast treats. I thought this was a close to perfect as life could be for me. Loons called in the distance but I could not see them in the dim twilight. A friend promised to take me out to see their nest the next day. I was thrilled.
The day I learned the value of waterproof binoculars we were canoeing at a high altitude swamp. Three of us were assigned to each canoe. I was given the center because they needed a better balance and I was the shortest person. I wondered about that strategy.
We were about 20 yards from shore when the person behind me shifted his weight and the canoe wobbled. Each of us responded by wobbling in our own direction and within seconds we were capsized. Fortunately we were in relatively shallow water. When our feet found bottom we all stood up and used our paddles as hiking sticks to help us get back to shore.
Being the shortest one in the group I was in water up over my waist when I surfaced. We were all shivering in the summer sun by the time we got out of the cold mountain water. Aware of the risks of hypothermia, we three returned to camp for dry gear.
That was when I noticed my Leupold Binoculars had been soaking inside my vest dripping wet for the past 20-25 minutes or so. I was stunned and grateful to discover they were not damaged or even fogged up. I was able to dry them and use them. Just like me. That evening the waterproof properties and the physics of weight distribution in canoes became the primary topic for discussion. Leupold binoculars are all waterproofed and fog proofed and the interiors are purged with nitrogen. That is just one more measure of their quality.
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