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Review: Leupold Yosemite 6×30 Binoculars

The word is out on the Leupold Yosemite binoculars (bins). If you read any forum dedicated to optics you will find people praising these bins for their brightness, clarity, and ergonomics. Their performance is unmatched by bins costing two to three times as much money. So how good can a pair of $80 bins be? In this post, we will take a look at what makes the Leupold Yosemite 6×30 binoculars special and we will learn a little about binoculars along the way.

Porro Prisms

The Yosemites use porro prisms instead of roof prisms. Porro prism bins will generally cost less than roof prism bins. They will also generally outperform low priced roof prism bins. The old rule used to be that you would have to spend three to four times as much on roof prism bins to get equal performance to a good set of porro prism bins. That rule is not quite as true today thanks to the proliferation of quality, low cost imported glass, but it is still true that inexpensive porro prism bins will outperform similarly priced roof prism bins. If you are on a budget, porro prisms will yield the best bang for your buck. Porro prisms will generally offer wide field of view, great depth of field, and a more three dimensional looking image than typical roof prisms.

The biggest drawback of porro prism bins is that they are typically larger because of how they are constructed. Roof prism bins can have straight barrels which means they can be more compact. Porro prism bins have two 90 degree turns incorporated into the construction. This makes the barrels larger. Even with these larger barrels, the Yosemites are still quite compact at only 4.6 inches long and 6.3 inches wide.

Exit Pupil

The Yosemite is also offered with 8x magnification and the same 30mm objectives. These are also quite clear but will be dimmer than the 6x model. This is due to exit pupil. Exit pupil is basically the virtual aperture that is created by your bins. Only light that passes through this aperture can be transmitted to the eye. The human eye is dilated to about 4mm in bright light and opens to 5-9mm in low light situations. The larger the exit pupil of your bins, the more capable they will be in low light. If the exit pupil is too small, the bins will appear dim because they are not transmitting all the light that your eyes can receive.

Exit pupil is calculated by dividing the objective size by the magnification. In this case, 30mm divided by 6 magnification, equals an exit pupil of 5mm. Using the same formula on the 8×30 model we get an exit pupil of 3.75mm. So, as the magnification increases, the objective size must also increase in order to provide the same amount of light. As objective size increases, so does the size of the binocular. The 5mm exit pupil of the 6×30 Yosemite bins mean that they will provide enough light to work very well at dusk and dawn while still being compact.

Magnification

Some of you may be thinking that 6x magnification is not enough. However, most binocular users are surprised to find that they can actually see more detail with lower power bins! Bins with higher magnification not only magnify the object you are viewing, but also the shakiness of your hold. Sometimes you can even see your heart beat. Most users would get more out of their bins if they stuck with 6-8x magnification.

Other Features and Specs

  • Rubber Armor for toughness and improved grip
  • Available in black, tan, and camo colors
  • Center focus wheel
  • Right eye diopter
  • Waterproof/dust proof
  • Comes with lens covers, soft case, and neck strap
  • Leupold Lifetime Warranty
  • Eye relief: 20mm
  • Field of view: 420 feet at 1000 yards
  • Weight: 17 ounces

So What?

Everything above may not mean much to you so I will break it down. These bins are light weight and compact. They carry very light and don’t take up much space in a pack. I have found them to be very durable and very easy to use. The focus wheel is stiff enough without being too stiff and the diopter stays set. The eye cups work well and seem well made. These are constructed very well, but the real story here is the optics.

If your only experience with bins are cheap compact models from the grocery store, these will blow you away. They are extremely sharp and bright. They offer excellent low light performance. The colors are bright and true to life. The optics are just excellent. To put it in perspective, they are slightly brighter, clearer, and sharper than my $250 8×42 Nikon Monarch bins. I can actually see more detail with the 6x Yosemites in some scenarios than I can with the 8x Monarchs. That is impressive for a $80 pair of bins.

ESEE Knives Micarta Izula Scales

Here is the Izula with a simple cord wrap. Click to Englarge.

The ESEE Knives (formerly RAT Cutlery) Izula is already one of the finest small production fixed blades on the market. It is compact, yet usable, light weight, brute strong, and comes with one of the most versatile sheath systems you will ever find. How do you improve on something that is already so great?

Here is the Izula with the new bolt on Micarta scales. Click to Enlarge.

ESEE has released bolt on Micarta scales for the Izula. These scales offer a huge upgrade in grip on this pint size blade. With the scales in place the thickness of the Izula’s grip is quadrupled which makes the knife much easier to hold! The canvas Micarta also has a texture that further enhances grip. The scales are also designed to maintain the usefulness of the unique loop at the end of the Izula’s handle. This loop can be used for a number of things, including clipping the Izula to a backpack strap.

The kit comes with the screws and scales needed to install the scales on your Izula. It couldn’t be easier to install them. Simply snap the two scales in place and then affix both screws. I used blue Loc-tite on the screws to make sure that the screws wouldn’t loosen with use.

These are in stock now at many ESEE dealers.

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Review: Nite Ize Figure 9 Rope Tighteners

There is no substitute for a working knowledge of knots but sometimes a well designed piece of gear can make your life a lot easier. This is the case with Nite Ize Figure 9 Rope Tighteners. These little things are deceivingly simple in construction, extremely versatile in application, and shockingly easy to use.

The Figure 9 comes in 3 sizes to handle different diameters of rope and different sized loads. They appear to be cast from aluminum and are very light weight. There are directions for their use laser etched directly on the Figure 9, though you will probably never need to reference them once you have used them a couple of times. Nite Ize makes them in both bare aluminum and black-coated finishes.

I have some of the largest ones (“big” size) that I use with climbing rope in my truck in place of ratchet straps. I have found them to be much more versatile than ratchet straps for securing loads, though there may still be times when the compound leverage of the ratchet strap is needed.

I also have several of the “small” size. My favorite use for them is to tighten the guy lines on my poncho/tarp tents. I have really come to appreciate the usefulness, light weight, and small pack size of a simple poncho or tarp in place of a tent when hiking. There are few more versatile pieces of gear than a simple GI Surplus or Ultra Sil-Nylon poncho. These Figure 9s make pitching a tight, crisp tarp/poncho tent fast and easy. They also make taking it down fast and easy. I can take down my poncho tent in less than 1 minute thanks to not having to pick apart knots.

The “small” size works well with paracord which I am sure many Jerking the Trigger readers use frequently. It also works well with braided spectra line, tether cord, and my favorite, jute twine. I typically keep a roll of jute twin in all my kits since it is cheap, it doesn’t stretch like paracord, and it makes an excellent tinder for fire starting. Nite Ize does not recommend that you use twine with the Figure 9 but so far I have not had a problem. Twine can fray relatively easily so I certainly wouldn’t use it to secure a heavy load in any application where I had to keep reusing the same piece of twine.

These Figure 9 Rope Tighteners make a great addition to your emergency shelter or general purpose tool kit.

Diamondback Tactical Short Open Top M4/M16 Magazine Pouch

I have been using Diamondback Tactical’s (DBT) Short Open Top M4/M16 Magazine Pouches for almost 2 years. They are sold under DBT’s Battlelab tactical nylon brand. I have used both the MOLLE version and the belt mounted versions. Both are excellent products at a very reasonable price (about $16 per pouch).

 

 

PMAGs work very well with this pouch. Click for a larger view.

 

These work great on a MOLLE belt which is where I use mine most of the time. They will also work on chest rigs and plate carriers. The strength of this pouch is the speed at which it presents the magazine. It is purposely cut short to allow a full grip on the magazine which promotes speedy, fumble-free reloads.

 

This is the MOLLE version. Click for a larger view.

 

The pouch itself is very simple. It is essentially just a an open top “box” made from 1000D Cordura nylon. The magazine is retained two ways (other than gravity). There is a shock cord  retainer strap that loops over the magazine to keep it in place. The pouch is also lined with a textured rubber material that provides friction so that the mags actually stay in place pretty well without the shock cord retainer. This liner also serves as a wear resistant layer that protects the already wear resistant nylon.

 

 

Note the interior rubber lining. Click for a larger view.

 

I have found these to be very versatile. I use them primarily with 30 round AR mags. I have found that they fit with USGI, PMAGs, ARC, and Lancer magazines. I have also found that they work very well with my favorite AK magazines, the 20 round Hungarian Tanker Mags. In fact, these are my favorite pouches that I have ever used for these Hungarian Tanker Mags.

 

 

Hungarian Tanker Mags fit perfectly. Click for a larger view.

 

These pouches offer reasonable retention without the bungee retainer in place. If you turn the pouch upside down and shake it when it is holding a loaded mag, the mag will fall out readily without the retainer. However, in 2 years and countless drills of all types, I have yet to loose a mag out of one these pouches with or without the retainer. The rubber lining is sufficient to keeps the mags in place unless you are upside down.

I am currently using these as my primary mag pouches on my belt rigs. They serve that purpose very well. They offer the kind of speed that you need to really leverage the advantages of reloading from the belt. In a training situation where I am expected to bring more ammo to the line (I don’t recommend more than 2 or 3 primary mags on your belt), I simply feed these pouches from a chest rig so I can reinforce going to the belt for my reload.

These are great pouches that would work well on a belt rig or as a speed reload pouch on a plate carrier. This Regular Guy recommends them highly.

Update: I recently ordered three more of these pouches and found that the new ones seem a bit tighter which is welcome. They still work well with AK mags but seem to have a bit more grip on my AR mags.

 

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Review: Slip 2000 EWL

This is really good stuff!

I have spent a year, as of this month, with Slip 2000 EWL. I am very pleased with the performance offered by this lubricant. I have used it in Glocks, AR-15s, AK-47s (yes, they do need to be lubed), a Ruger 10/22, and even to slick up flashlight tailcap threads. It has really performed beyond my expectations. It can be difficult to quantify the performance of a weapon lube but I have noticed a few things that should be testable and repeatable that I can share.

  1. Slip 2000 EWL does not evaporate nearly as quickly as Breakfree CLP. When I received my first order, I degreased two AR-15s. I lubed one with Slip 2000 and one with Breakfree CLP. The one with Breakfree looked mostly dry after 3 days while the one with Slip 2000 still had a sheen like it was wet.
  2. Slip 2000 EWL does not run as readily as Breakfree CLP. This is obvious. This makes Slip 2000 EWL more suitable to applications like lubing the Glock that I carry (though I prefer a light grease). It does not run immediately out of the gun all over me and my holster.

The thing that I am not sure I can repeat or prove is that the Slip 2000 EWL makes new guns feel smoother, faster than other lubes. My DDM4 really seemed to slick up after it’s first range trip with this lube. It could be my imagination but others have relayed similar testimonials.

If you run an AR you need a high quality, reliable lubricant. Slip 2000 EWL would be a great choice.

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