I saw a juvenile wolf earlier this week. Even here, just north of Yellowstone National Park, wolves are a rare sight, and spotting a yearling is virtually unheard of. But听because I had a good pair of binoculars on my belt, ready to go, I was able to turn a blur in the distance into a close-up observation.
Here鈥檚 how you can give yourself the best odds of doing the same thing.听
I鈥檇 spotted the听gray blur bouncing along a hillside 200 yards away from where I鈥檇 pulled over on a dirt road.听Driving isn鈥檛 the kind of activity where I usually wear a pair of binoculars. Sure,听I keep a pair in my ActionPacker 听full of emergency gear in the trunk,听but if I鈥檇 had to take the time to get those out, I鈥檇 have missed the opportunity. Luckily, I'd听been hiking earlier in the day, and my new are so compact and so easy to wear that I鈥檇 just forgotten to take them off.听
I鈥檝e got larger glass with much more magnification: my spotting scope goes up to 60x听and my听usual hunting binos have 10x magnification, with a 42-millimeter objective lens. Both would have offered a much clearer image of the pup, but both are also a pain to carry. So听in order to better view the wildlife here in Montana, I picked up the Maven B3鈥檚. They听only offer听8x magnification through a 30-millimeter听objective, but they听also weigh听just 16.25 ounces and are听only 4.6 inches long. And that makes them incredibly easy to bring along everywhere.听
To carry them, I鈥檝e installed a , which connects to the brand鈥檚 . And that easily connects to my belt or a pack strap. The B3鈥檚 are light enough that they don鈥檛 bounce around or pull at the belt or strap听and small enough that they don鈥檛 get in the way鈥攅ven when they鈥檙e on your belt and you sit down in a car. All this adds up to binoculars that can be carried anywhere, anytime, and remain instantly accessible.听
That convenience is why I was able to see the young wolf. And it鈥檚 why I鈥檓 able to get a closer look at the deer, birds, and other animals I see every other day. The Maven B3鈥檚 have massively upgraded the amount of wildlife viewing I get to do, even if they ultimately offer inferior performance to larger optics.听
One thing the B3鈥檚 are definitely not inferior to are听other compact-binocular options. At $525, they鈥檙e far from cheap, but when you compare their specs to those offered by legacy brands, they actually start to look like a good value. Maven equips the B3鈥檚听with high-end features like extra-low dispersion glass to maximize clarity and听a dielectric prism coating to maximize brightness. They鈥檙e also听nitrogen purged to prevent fogging. Those specs are similar to those of the $1,280听, with the main differences being that the more听expensive optic actually offers slightly inferior light transmission and a smaller field of view听from dimensions that are actually slightly larger, all in a heavier package.
All Maven binoculars are assembled in California from Japanese-made components. The B3鈥檚 aren鈥檛 as bright as larger options with larger objective lenses听and obviously don鈥檛 offer as much magnification as bigger binos. But听compared to other compact optics I鈥檝e experienced, the view through them is exceptionally crisp. Whether you鈥檙e adjusting eye relief, focus, or width, the B3鈥檚 controls run听as smoothly as anything out there.听
Could the B3鈥檚 ever be my only optic? Probably not. When glassing big landscapes in the fall, I need more magnification. When hunting early in the morning or late in the evening, I benefit from the superior light-gathering ability of a larger objective lens. But for everyday use? I can鈥檛 imagine anything better.听