Most Worthless New-Age Product Feature: Bino's with Twist-Up Eyecups

Ryan - hang onto your regular rubbers until they're shot.

WesternMD - you're right. Leo now makes Redfield, but these eyecups "feel" different than the ones on my Yosemites, but I'm sure they'll suck.

I'm convinced that this is just a case of manufacturer-planned obsolescence.

Hear me out:

Back in the day, we bought a pair of bino's, and hung onto them for 5-10-15 years. There are (ballpark) 40 million hunters in the US. If an average pair of glasses runs $100, you're looking at a potential sales volume of $4 Billion every 10 years. That's $400 Million every year, split between maybe a half-dozen large manufacturers.

If you can cut the life expectancy of a pair of binoculars in half, you're going to effectively force your target demographic to purchase new glasses twice as often. This doubles the numbers.

Follow the money.

The advent of the the mechanical eyecup, has shortened the life expectancy of the product by at least 50% (in my opinion). I guess they're gambling on the fact that consumers won't go so far as to mail them back, and instead of seeking warranty work, they'll just go out and buy a new pair.

This isn't a technological innovation or upgrade in quality - this is a calculated gamble to dupe consumers into spending twice as much money on binoculars.

 

Quick
You make me laugh my 'ss off with your saying's and findings. Always wanted to comment on what you say and finally the time has come. I own some Stieners and have had them for 14 years and love the twist up cups. I wear glasses now and have a use for them. I used them a few weeks back at a concert and voila, we had friends whom didn't wear glasses, so like you mentioned ,twist up twist down, LOL. They work and still do. I love the comfort they allow with the twist up cups and eye relief they allow when not using glasses though,plus they allow no light in with the cups up to interfere with viewing long distances.
Rocky

 

YF - Maybe you're right. Maybe yours didn't break. I've been eating through them like Tastykakes.

I guess it's what you expect out of your glasses. My dad could use a pair of basic twister eyecups for 20 years and never have a problem. His binoculars live on his bedroom dresser, and never leave the porch. You're having good luck with yours, and I can respect that. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of great reviews on various vendor sites - people just like you who like the product and are as happy as magpies.

I beat the piss out of mine, and I expect them to function. They don't, and that angers me. Since 1/1/10, I've put $600 worth of glasses into my car, and not one pair has survived.

Some people take great care of their gear. I don't. I abuse everything to the point of failure and replace. I don't baby anything. The problem is that the failure point on these glasses is coming all too frequently.

 

Yep, I have a pair of 6 year old Leupolds with the twist up eye cups and those stupid things started messing up about 3 years in. They're now in the permanent up position, which is good for me. However, I've contemplated on contacting Leupold about it and getting the repairs. Stinks when you spend 400 bones on good glass and they use cheesy plastic eye cups.

 

Yeah, they stink. My Leupold's have them and I think I'm going to try Finch's trick with the zip ties. On another note I had my binos broke last year flying out to MN and Leupold replaced them for free. Good CS, but still crappy eyecups.

 

A lawyer with a conspiracy theory. What is the world coming to?