When you buy binoculars you probably aren’t giving much thought to the history of the technology, or how these seemingly simple devices have been put to extensive use by the military. Until it was replaced with new prism technology, the earlier Galilean model was used in the 1800s by military campaigns all over the world. One of the main differences between military and civilian binoculars is in quality and durability. Military binoculars are built to stand up to extremely difficult conditions, and thus are far more sturdy than the usual civilian pair. They tend to avoid fragile components, and for this reason use individual eye-piece focusing rather than a central focusing unit. Usually the prism sets are given an aluminized coating so that if they get wet the reflective properties won’t be lost.

Military binoculars come equipped with some very specialized tools. Binoculars used during the cold war were often fitted with sensors that could detect infra red emissions. Today, military binoculars are most often seen with filters that block laser beams and a stadiametric reticle which helps to distance and range when looking through the field of view. Some are also able to pinpoint location as well, and contain specialized compass technology. Binoculars used at sea require even more specialized technology, both to stand up to the harsh saltwater environment, and also to counter the vibrations and movement of the boat. Many naval binoculars are mounted to provide more stability, however hand-held models are also used. These usually contain large prism sets and have specialized eyepieces, both of which allow the image to be more easily seen regardless of the movement of the boat. In World War II, some navel binoculars used to find enemy gun ships weighed in at over ten tons. These powerful binoculars had objective lenses up to fifteen meters apart. These are now basically obsolete, however it does show how powerful binocular technology really is.

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