Bushnell Spectator

Bushnell X-Tra Wide

When I was four-years old my mom and dad were concerned.   I sat way to close to the television.   I had trouble looking at books.  There were other indications that my vision was problematic.   They took me to an optometrist in Johnson City, Tennessee.  After a few quick tests he was able to quickly diagnose I had a crossed eye and astigmatism.   I walked out of that doctor's office wearing a pair of the ugliest eyeglasses you will ever see. 

Oh, I didn't think they were all that bad.  I thought it was kind of cool actually.  I felt grown up having a pair of glasses.  My parents were encouraging my enjoyment since they were well aware it was improving my vision and ultimately my chances of academic success. 

That all changed when I went to Kindergarten later that year.   From the first day I was a student until mid-way through fourth grade.  I was the ONLY kid in class who had glasses.   As you can imagine, kids are cruel.   The glasses I thought were so incredibly cool were maligned, impugned, and the target of ridicule by classmates.   I tried not to let it bother me, but a kid can only take so much of being called "four-eyes."  

As time advanced along with technology, the world of opt homology finally developed a contact lens that would agree to my condition and enthusiastically I ditched the glasses my senior year in high school.  I was never so happy to get rid of something.    The contacts were fine until I started my present job--which calls for me to be up by 2:30am and at work a little before 4:00am.   The human body doesn't tolerate having discs of glass planted on the eyeball at that hour, so eventually I got rid of the contacts too.  

My vision still isn't perfect, but I can still pass the DMV's minimal test.   I detest the thought of ever donning another pair of glasses.  I resist the idea every time my wife brings it up.  Typically it digresses into one of the few times we ever argue. Deep in my brain I suppose that schoolyard bullying left unhealed scars, but I'm no psychiatrist.  

Anyway, I relate that history to you because it does cause some difficulty.    I can tell it's a deer from my deer stand, but at times have trouble telling if it's a buck.    When I'm calling high school football games, distinguishing numbers can be problematic--especially in places like Charleston's Laidley Field where the press box is high above the action.    However, the good folks at Bushnell have remedied some of those problems.

Recently, I received a set of Bushnell Spectator Series binoculars.  Binoculars have always been problematic for me.   Focusing is always a problem since one eye is so much stronger than the other.   I was constantly fiddling with the focus mechanism and missing the action.   Amazingly, my new field glasses have no such mechanism.  Somehow, Bushnell has a function called "PermaFocus."  It doesn't matter if the subject is 20-yards away or 100-yars away, it remains in focus.    Don't ask me how they did it.

My football broadcast partner Greg White has a pair of the Bushnell "X-Tra Wide" variety.    I compared the two models during our game last Friday night between Riverside and George Washington.  I placed the right side of the field of view on the 50-yardline.  Through my 8x40 model I was able to see 10-yards of the field.   Greg's "X-Tra Wide" model allowed for a 25-yard field of view.  However, naturally my magnification was significantly stronger than his.  Where in his model you'd see a player from head to toe, I'd see him from head to belly.

Although functional for hunting and bird watching applications, Bushnell markets these particular models for sporting events.   They are designed for fans of football, basketball, and NASCAR events to help get closer to the action from the nosebleed section.  

Finally, the other aspect of these binoculars that struck me was their light weight.  Bushnell says the product weights 27oz.   That's considerably less than the old style binoculars I previously used.   The eye-relief with a rubber coating is also far more comfortable. 

You can learn more about both the X-Tra Wide and Spectator series from Bushnell by clicking here.