OK THAT HURT!

[Megaman250]

Hi all this post is intended for people who have not used binoculars yet or has not used them for long periods,

Just incase someone has not used Bins for long sessions (a few hour at a time) mine was from 12:00am until 5:00am and I was told it would be impossible to hold my 20x80s for long periods but I did! Along with using my scope every now and then.

I have had the WORST neck muscle pains I have ever had in the last three days just getting over it now, I DO STRONGLY RECOMMEND using a deck chair or something to lay back on trust me when I say you do not want to be in that amount of pain!

Just needed to put it out there and maybe save someone a lot of agony so just be careful and make sure you really get all the info and be safe before you plan long sessions ok especially if going out to a dark site on your own. 

[Paul73]

Good point. Astronomy has the chiropractors rubbing their hands in glee.

If it isn't contorting to reach eyepieces/ finderscope, it will be lugging heavy kit around or tripping over the cat in the dark....

Paul

[laudropb]

Ouch! That is taking dedication too far. I think you would be better with a tripod and an observing chair. Comfort is very important to getting the best out of an observing session, but I do admire your persistence.

[Knighty2112]

Yep, one of the reason I never went for the 20 X 80's. A good deck chair is definitely in order to support them better. One idea suggested is also to use the end of a broom (bristles nice and clean and covered over with a cloth) to support the binoculars too if you need to for long periods.

[Megaman250]

Yep I wont be doing that again tripod and sun lounger is in order here. I do think it will be a good idea to have a thread just highlighting possible injuries that can occur while using the equipment that we recommend to people just a thought.

[BinocularSky]

This is exactly why I usually advise people that they need to be accomplished limbo dancers and/or need to have the emergency contact details of a good physiotherapist if they want to observe objects higher than 60* (or, for long periods, 45*) with straight-thorough binoculars unless they are seated or, preferably, reclined.

[hgjevans]

Plus if, like me, you have the occasional issue with vertigo, craning your neck to look up near the zenith in binoculars in the darkness of night is a good way to trigger a dizzy spell and end up A over T in a flower bed. A decent reclining garden chair improves the whole experience in every respect. 

[ollypenrice]

You say you can hand hold at 20x but can you do so to good effect? In other words, does the 20x actually give you more information than 10x? The simple self-test is to find some distant text which you can make out in 20x and to read off some of the letters backwards. (This stops the brain 'guessing' the word by pattern recognition which is one of the ways we do really read text.) Then try the same text at 10x.

Bad luck about the neck and do take care. I have a damaged vertebra which I have to manage carefully. When it's bad its very bad so be careful with your neck. A lot of wiring goes through it!

Olly

[Dinosour23]

Gahahah limbo dancers

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Gahahah limbo dancers

Wish that I was more adept at the Hyper link stuff.

 But do checkout 'The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band' on the 'kids' t.v. show, ' 'Do not adjust your set' performing 'Look out there's a Monster  coming'.

 It's on You Tube,of course.

 See Viv Stanshall Limbo!

   Of course,it wouldn't be allowed these days................

[Space Hopper]

Dude......buy yourself a nice refractor, a bino-viewer and an observing chair.

(btw, i have a bad neck, i suffer with spondolosis, i know your pain)

[StarSapling]

Good point. Astronomy has the chiropractors rubbing their hands in glee.

If it isn't contorting to reach eyepieces/ finderscope, it will be lugging heavy kit around or tripping over the cat in the dark....

Paul

So does bird watching.  We have a condition, here in the States, called Warbler Neck.  Being both a birder and a fan of binocular astronomy, I can tell you that Warbler Neck and Binocular Astronomy Neck share the exact same painful symptoms.  My only advice (and this is advice I haven't actually taken myself) would be to bring a kitchen timer along and set it to go off every twenty minutes.  When it goes off, take a break and look down for five minutes.  If you try this, and it works, let me know.