The Best Compact Binoculars for Paintball

What Does “Best” Really Mean?

There’s no single “best” pair of compact binoculars because they can be used in a variety of situations.

Take these 5, for example:

• Watching live sporting events
• Hunting
• Birding
• Astronomy
• Paintball/airsoft (duh)

You’ll need a different type of binoculars to watch a fast-paced sporting event from 100 yards away than to view stationary stars from 100 trillion miles away (at night).

What’s Important For Paintball & Airsoft Players?

Consider these 5 aspects of a typical day on the field:

1. Field Size: Outdoor playing areas can vary greatly in size from 15 acres to 150 acres. If those areas are square, that’s about 800-2,500 feet long. You’ll want solid magnification but usually, you’ll only be looking a few hundred yards downfield at the most.
2. Target Activity: Usually your targets are trying to move slowly and stealthily to avoid detection, but they’re also capable of moving quickly. You don’t want binoculars with a very narrow field of vision, making it hard to track moving objects.
3. Your Activity: You’ll definitely be running, so you’ll want binoculars that are compact, lightweight, and durable. You’re probably sweating a lot, too, so fog-resistance is a must.
4. Lighting: Usually you’re playing during the day, but this depends on how “woodsy” your field is and the types of games you play. If you like playing in dim or dark conditions, you’ll want binoculars with wide objective lenses to capture as much of the limited light as possible for brighter images.
5. Weather: You could be playing in any weather conditions, so this is personal. If you might encounter wet conditions, water-resistant or waterproof binoculars are a must.

Now we know the type of binoculars we’re looking for.

But how do we evaluate the specific models that meet our needs?

We turn to the specs!

9 Technical Specs You Need To Know

There are dozens of technical specs that manufacturers list for each pair of binoculars, but these 9 are the most important for us:

1. Magnification: Also known as Power, how many times closer the binoculars make an object appear
2. Objective Lens Diameter: Width (in mm) of the lenses closer to the object you’re viewing (not the eyepiece)
3. Field of View @ 1,000 Yards (FoV @ 1,000): Actual width (in feet) of the field of view 1,000 yards downrange
4. Apparent Angle of View (AAoV): Angle (in degrees) of the magnified field you can see when looking downrange
5. Eye Relief (ER): Optimal distance (in mm) from the eyepiece to your eye
6. Weight (Wgt): Self-explanatory, measured in ounces
7. Dimensions: Self-explanatory, measured in inches
8. Waterproof (WP): Yes or no, are they sealed with O-rings to prevent moisture from getting inside?
9. Fog Resistance (FR): Yes or no, are they filled with an inert gas (like nitrogen) to prevent fogging?

Now let’s take a look at our roundup of the 11 best compact binoculars in a side-by-side comparison table.

Note: To keep things simple, I’ve abbreviated column headings using the shorthand from each bullet point above. I’ve also combined Magnification and Objective Lens Diameter into the MxD column because this is the most common way you’ll see binoculars described.

Rk	Model	MxD	FoV @ 1,000	AAoV	ER	Wgt	Dimensions	WP	FR
1	Carson 3D Series HD	8×32	392′	60°	19.5 mm	19 oz	2.1″H x 5.1″W x 5.1″L	Yes	Yes
2	Leupold BX-1 Yosemite	10×30	351′	67°	15.5 mm	17 oz	2.7″H x 7.8″W x 6.8″L	Yes	Yes
3	Leica Ultravid BR	10×25	273′	52°	14.6 mm	9 oz	1.5″H x 4.4″W x 4.4″L	Yes	Yes
4	Celestron Nature DX	8×32	388′	59°	17.5 mm	18 oz	1.8″H x 4.9″W x 5.0″L	Yes	Yes
5	Zeiss Terra ED	8×25	357′	52°	16 mm	11 oz	2.6″H x 4.4″W x 4.5″L	Yes	Yes
6	Bushnell H2O	8×42	410′	62°	17 mm	27 oz	3.0″H x 7.9″W x 6.0″L	Yes	Yes
7	Steiner Safari	10×26	312′	59°	15 mm	10 oz	1.8″H x 4.0″W x 4.4″L	Yes	Yes
8	Kowa YF II	6×30	420′	48°	20 mm	17 oz	1.9″H x 6.3″W x 4.5″L	Yes	Yes
9	Nikon Trailblazer ATB	10×25	342′	59°	10 mm	10 oz	1.7″H x 4.1″W x 4.5″L	Yes	Yes
10	Nikon ProStaff 7S	8×30	341′	49°	15.4 mm	15 oz	1.9″H x 5.1″W x 5.1″L	Yes	Yes
11	Celestron Outland X	8×42	357′	54°	18 mm	22 oz	2.1″H x 5.0″W x 5.8″L	Yes	Yes

6 Quick Tips When Evaluating Binocular Specs

As you’re evaluating these specs to find the best compact binoculars for you, keep 6 things in mind:

1. Magnification: You can’t zoom in and zoom out with any of these binoculars, so you want to find that Goldilocks pair that’s juuust right. This means you can see far enough downfield without having so much zoom that your image is wobbly and it’s hard to keep targets in your field of vision. Generally, 8x or 10x is where you want to be, though there may be situations where 6x is best.
2. Objective Lens Diameter: Wider lenses let more light in, which means a brighter picture. Wider lenses also mean bigger binoculars and more weight. 30 mm lenses are a good midpoint. Go larger if you’ll be playing in low-light conditions. You can go smaller if you mostly play during brighter daylight conditions without much tree cover or if you buy a premium pair with better internal components.
3. Field of Vision: There’s a trade-off between magnification (how much closer things look) and field of vision (how wide you can see). The more zoom you’re getting, the narrower your field of vision. That isn’t a hard-and-fast rule as some pairs of binoculars have specially-designed eyepieces that give you a wider field of vision for the same (or more) power compared to similar binoculars. For our purposes, I think your field of vision at 1,000 yards (FoV @ 1,000 Yards) and Apparent Angle of View (AAoV) are at least as important as magnification, and probable more so.
4. Eye Relief: Larger Eye Relief measurements mean you don’t need to press your eyeballs as closely to the eyepieces in order to see clearly.
5. Dimensions: Do you have a specific pocket or pouch you plan to store these binoculars in? Make sure they fit.
6. Fog-Resistance: My flat-out recommendation? Never get a pair that isn’t fog-resistant. Thankfully, every pair on this list is!