Double Your Power

for binoculars

Put a doubler over one eyepiece, and voila! your binocular does double duty as a mini spotting scope. Several binocular manufacturers make them for their binoculars.

The most versatile doubler is the Vortex 2x Doubler. It works with all 32mm or larger Vortex binoculars. It holds on by friction or pressure, with no threads to match up, and as a result it works with the binoculars made by many other manufacturers as well.

It's a nifty gadget, because it is small enough to carry in a pocket and weighs under 5 ounces. So if you it's not convenient to tote your scope, for example on a business trip, you can take this along instead.

And when you really need that extra magnification for a great bird on the far side of the lake, you can use your doubler to turn an 8-power binocular into a 16-power scope. Or make your 10-power binocular give you 20-power magnification.

Zeiss makes something similar, but it triples the magnification. It will turn one side of a 10x binocular into a temporary 30-power spotting scope. The Tripler is designed only for Zeiss Victory FL and Zeiss Conquest binoculars.

You would of course need to stabilize the binocular in order to be able to use this degree of magnification. Leaning the binocular against a tree or on the window of your car can take care of that issue.

Note that Zeiss does not recommend trying to use two doublers at once. They suggest it be used only with one side of a binocular.

One other great multiplier for a binocular is the Swarovski Doubler. (In England they call it a Booster.) Like the Vortex Doubler, it doubles the magnification of one side of a binocular. It is made to work with Swarovski EL binoculars.

The Swarovski Doubler is pretty easy to assemble! Simply unscrew one of the binocular's twist-in eyecups and screw on the Doubler. The Doubler has a twist-out eyecup that lets it work both for people who wear glasses and those who do not.

—Michael and Diane Porter