Monocular – Interesting EDC item

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Okay, I’ll admit. I’m a bit of an optics geek – and an optics snob. There’s something about great glass that gets me going. Perhaps it’s because looking through high end glass reminds me of the first time I put on glasses, or saw a 4K OLED TV – “Wow. Is that what the world is supposed to look like?”.

Over the past few years, I’ve spent way too much on rifle scopes, with my favourite being the Schmidt and Bender PM2 5-25×56, among a few Zeiss and Swarovski scopes. I also own a pair of Zeiss Conquest HD Binoculars (mid range, but I still like it.) and Pentax Papilio Binos (cheap, but has a crazy close focus, effectively making this a binocular/microscope).

The one thing that I always wished was that I always had some sort of optic on my at all times. Carrying even a foldable set binoculars seems difficult, let alone full sized ones. It was then that I decided to look into monoculars.

I first bought a Vortex Solo R/T second hand so that I could see how a monocular would work out. If it didn’t work, at least I have a neat optic with a mil based reticle so I could practice ranging targets in the city. While I found the optic to be of decent quality for the price I paid, the monocular was way too big for EDC. I could potentially carry it on the belt, but come on… it’s virtually half a binocular.

So then, I went searching on the internet again and found exactly what I was looking for. The Zeiss Miniquick 5×10 Monocular. The form factor and weight is similar to that of a regular sized Sharpie. It actually has a pocket clip built in as well, so carrying this is easy regardless of what you’re wearing. The optics are actually very clear for such a small device.

In fact, I only found two downsides to this optic:
1. A 10mm objective and 5x zoom means the exit pupil is 2mm. This is tiny. You won’t notice this on a sunny day, but it image will seem dim on a cloudy day. At night time… well……no comment. Then again, this is simple physics… the glass is wonderful, but you pay for exit pupil size if you want this form factor with a 5x zoom. The only solution would be to either lower the magnification or to increase the diameter of the objective… both of which is not ideal.

2. There are no covers for the lenses. This is the most annoying thing. For a $200 pocket optic, I would have expected there at least be some sort of way to protect the lenses. Nope. You’re on your own to figure out what to do. I’ve seen some people use finger gloves… I use zippered pen case.

Anyways, I do find that this tiny monocular has become very, very useful in my EDC kit. There are many times when it’s raining, I’m in my car, and I want to see the open hours sign at a store, but can’t quite make it out. I can get out of the car and walk closer, but then I’d get wet. I wish there was a solution…. BING! wait a sec… out comes the monocular and problem solved. It’s great for when you want to read street signs, get a closer look at a bird, etc.

There’s also another interesting feature. You can turn this around, and use it as a loupe.

I’m sure there are other pen monoculars around for much cheaper, but nothing else I could find compares to the level of glass in this.

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