waterproof

These binoculars are among the finest available. Period! I've taken great pleasure in using a pair for studying birds, insects, landscapes, and other wonders of nature. They have all the attributes one would hope for in binoculars. They're optically exceptional. They're comfortable to use. They're waterproof. They're rugged.

One of my favorite attributes is that they can focus very close. I can watch a tick crawling across my foot, a butterfly at a flower just outside my window, or a starfish in a tide pool I'm standing in. They're wonderful!

As I again checked the Amazon page on these binoculars, I saw the exhortation, "Hi Roger, you purchased this item--please tell us what you think. Rate it." Ironically, I wrote this review long before I got the pair I ordered from Amazon. With each subsequent message of delayed shipping, I saw the same exhortation: "Hi Roger, you purchased ... Rate it." Just as if they'd actually been delivered. In fact, I didn't receive them for a few months, after *many* delay notices.

Sending in a review was the only communication method I tried during that time that I know actually got someone's attention. Because it was more a review of Amazon's service on that particular order than a review of the binoculars. Imagine my surprise in seeing my edited review posted on the Amazon web site - helping Amazon to sell more of these binoculars - when Amazon still hadn't managed to deliver mine.

The portion of the review that pertained to Amazon was, of course, censored. And that leaves me wondering how many other reviews that I read here are edited to tell us only the good stuff.

Under the circumstances, I'm asking that Amazon do one of two things. Publish this review on the Amazon web site in its entirety, or remove it completely.

[Edited 10-18-03]

PS - They really *are* great binoculars!