Dear Tweeters,

Both of the scopes I have used extensively have been
very durable.

Last weekend, my 80 mm straight Swarovski scope fell
down onto hard gravel, when an unexpected wind gust
barreled through. The same thing has happened at least
twice before--once when a scurrilous dog came after me
(the scope landing on a dirt road), another time on a
concrete walkway in Iceland in a gale. No problem. The
grey paint is a bit worn here and there, but there has
been nary a measurable difference as far as function
is concerned.

My all-time best scope durability miracle story
involves my old Bushnell Spacemaster. This scope will
always remain on my roster as a dependable backup. In
1991, a Swainson's Hawk had caused me to stop on
Highway 395 in northern California. After looking at
the bird for a while, I was putting things back in the
car, and gormlessly placed the scope (and its
not-so-trusty cheapo Velbon tripod) on the vinyl top
of my 1971 Dodge Dart. A few minutes later, after the
slant six engine had effortlessly accelerated us to
sixty miles per hour, I looked through the rear-view
mirror in horror, as the scope rig went flying off the
top of the car, landing on the brand-new black asphalt
of the highway. The Velbon was so badly damaged that I
had to buy a roll of duct tape--but the Spacemaster
was untouched. This scope, I might add, was not the
rubber-armored model. That is why I think rubber armor
on optics must be a rather worthless add-on. Maybe if
my Spacemaster had had rubber, it would have bounced.
That could have damaged it!




Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com


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