birdsoup

Binoculars can be a real pain in the neck.  Literally.  After an hour of birding with heavy binoculars dangling from your neck, your neck gets sore.  You feel a dull pain.  Shoulders ache.  It feels like an anchor hanging from your neck.  Sudden jolts and jarring pain shoot through your neck whenever you stoop under a limb or jump from a rock to rock. 

 The problem isn’t that your binoculars are too heavy.  Usually the pain occurs because the neck strap is often inadequate.   Typically the strap is a thin, stiff strip less than one-half inch wide.  Sometimes it is no more than a thick cord.  Sometimes it is rigid hard plastic.

 This simple neck strap may seem unimportant but is the key factor in much neck pain.  The full weight of your binoculars is transmitted through this thin strap directly into your neck.  In technical terms the pressure per square inch of strap is high.  And it is continuous.   It may seem even higher when you bend under a branch or scramble over a rocky stream.  Binoculars bounce and sway cutting deeper into your neck.  No wonder it hurts.

 One solution to reducing pain is to get smaller, lighter-weight binoculars.  Compact-sized binoculars often weigh less than one-half larger models.  Less weight means less strain.  And yet, you don’t have to forego a good image.  Quality compact-binoculars produce brilliant, sharp images, often a better image than the one produced by lower quality full size models.  Bigger is not always better.   And I like the idea that the small size allows you to easily slip them into a purse or pocket making them ideal for taking them to the theater or a sporting event.  I took mine with when my wife dragged me to the ballet.

 If you like full size binoculars there is another, less expensive pain relief.  Get a new neck strap.  Factory-supplied straps that come with new binoculars are often too narrow.  A wider strap, at least twice as wide as your current strap, will distribute the weight over a greater surface area lessening the intensity of the strain at each spot around the neck.  Switching from a strap that is one-half inch wide to one that is two inches wide reduces the pressure per square inch by 75%.

 Check out professional photographers or paparazzi who often have several large cameras with long, heavy lenses draped around their necks.  They all use wide neck straps, often 3 or 4 inches wide.  Learn from these pros.

 In addition to a wider width, some strap manufacturers add additional padding or cushioning to the strap resulting in a thicker, softer strap that is easier on your neck.  The type of material used for the strap is also important.  Straps constructed from soft woven fibers or from thick, foam-rubber type of material not only spread the weight but also cushion impacts.  Now, when you duck under a limb and gravity tugs at your binoculars, instead of cutting into your neck, the strap stretches absorbing muck of the shock.

 An even better solution is to utilize a binocular harness or strapping system rather than the traditional neck strap.  A harness completely eliminates all weight from your neck, instead transferring it to your stronger, wider shoulders.  In principal, a harness consists of two separate loops neither of which goes across you neck.  The loops go over and under your shoulders, meeting in an X-type configuration in the middle of  the back with the binoculars attached in the front.  This design is surprisingly effective.  Binoculars feel significantly lighter, with absolutely no strain on the neck.  As an added benefit, the harness holds your binoculars close to your chest which prevents all swinging and swaying of your binoculars even if you are running or stooping.