It took a cold, dreary day to prove to me that waterproof binoculars can come in handy when you least expect it. About a year ago I went whale watching with some friends. It was a trip I was looking forward to and I was very disappointed with the weather and almost stayed home. We were three hours out of port before we found our first whale, and due to the long time it had taken us to find it, we were told that we could not stay too long before we had to head back in.

I should have realized that my glasses were going to be a problem! They kept fogging up, plus my digital camera was useless because the sea mist kept my lens wet, thus making picture taking impossible. I was so upset because I could not even see, much less get a good picture of the whale that I almost cried. Luckily, one of my friends came to my rescue. She handed me her binoculars and I could see the whale clearly - almost as if it was right next to the boat. I was surprised that they didn't fog up, or that the lenses weren't affected by the ocean spray until my friend explained to me that they were waterproof binoculars and were made for just this kind of day.

She told me that she had received them as a going away gift from her mother before taking a cruise. Her mother had been on a cruise the previous year and had been upset that she could not use her regular binoculars on many occasions because the lenses kept fogging up. Another passenger noticed and recommended that she get a pair of waterproof binoculars. Needless to say, she bought a pair at the next port and never had any problems with fog or spray for the rest of the cruise.

She also bought her mom a pair as a birthday present, because her mother liked to watch birds from her deck and complained about her binoculars fogging up in the summer when she brought them out of the air-conditioned house.

Well, needless to say, I bought myself a pair of waterproof binoculars as soon as I could. I got a chance to see their value, once again, a few weeks later when I was canoeing with my boyfriend. I was busy looking at birds and got caught by surprise when the canoe hit a low branch. I was jolted off the seat and dropped my binoculars into the river. Luckily, I was able to grab the strap before they were completely submerged. I just dried them off and continued my birdwatching. I explained to my boyfriend that since they were waterproof, they could be completely submerged in water and still stay completely dry inside. From then on, whenever he went fishing, he would ask to borrow them until I finally bought him a pair of his own.

I never realized how much I needed waterproof binoculars until I owned a pair.