These Classic Binoculars Have Seen Some Things
By Guy Venter
Here at Field Ethos, we admire outdoorsmen who value classic gear. These are guys who, when they find a great piece of gear that does its job without fail, use it for years, sometimes decades. Instead of chasing the latest and greatest, they stick with what has always worked and still does. We also admire companies that make gear good enough and tough enough to stand the test of time. Gear that a good company will stand behind for years, if not for life. That’s why we were happy to hook up a friend of ours, Guy Venter a legendary professional hunter in Africa (and the refined gentleman who started the ‘Cheers Buggers!’ phenomenon) who was looking for some new eyecups for his binoculars, with our friends at Leupold. I’ll let their correspondence tell the rest of the tale.
The request:
From Guy (Rhodesian Professional Hunter) to Skipper (Leupold Optics)
“Let me just give a brief background to these fine old optics. They are 8x25s if I’m not mistaken.
I was given these binoculars for a trip back in 93. I have literally carried them on me every hunting day as my working binos since then. I used them mostly on Elephant and dangerous game up in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Back in my heyday, I would hunt between 180 and 200 days of every year. These days not so much, but I still carry them on plains game and odd Buff hunts in South Africa. The reason is they’re light and are no burden to hump around. They look a bit shoddy now, but I still can see perfectly through them. The front of the two tubes has worn to a sharp edge that could easily cut you if one is not careful.
If it’s at all possible to find a set of eye cups I would be deeply appreciative. Attached are some photos.
Regards”
Leupold’s (Skipper’s) response:
“Believe it or not (and honestly, it surprised me) we DO have the eye cups available! I’m happy to send you several sets. What’s your shipping address? My International Team will get them out the door. I’m glad we still had the gear for those old binos–they’re older than half my marketing team.”
May they keep spotting plains game and the odd buff for years to come.
