Binoculars - An Arctic Expedition Essential

You can expect to spend anywhere from USD $150-4,500 depending on the quality.

Standard binoculars (USD $150-500): Excellent value for clear, reliable optics. Perfect for most travellers, these offer great waterproofing and durability without advanced lens coatings.

Stabilised binoculars (USD $650-2,000): These feature internal, battery-powered stabilisation to cancel out the shakiness of a moving ship or trembling hands, which makes them ideal for an Arctic cruise.

High-End binoculars (USD $2,000-4,500): Elite 'lifetime' optics from brands like Swarovski, Leica, or Zeiss. They feature premium fluorite glass for unmatched brightness, colour accuracy, and flawless low-light performance.

For an Arctic trip, 8x magnification is the sweet spot for most travellers. It's tempting to go higher (10x or 12x), but higher magnification drastically amplifies hand tremors and on a moving cruise ship or a swaying zodiac, a 10x view can become a frustrating, jittery blur unless you have image-stabilised binos.

An 8x magnification (such as an 8x42) provides a wider field of view. This makes it much easier to track fast-moving seabirds or scan vast, uniform expanses of sea ice to spot a distant polar bear. Furthermore, 8x binoculars inherently deliver a brighter image in low-light conditions which is a massive advantage during the overcast or foggy days common in polar regions.

If you invest in image-stabilised binoculars, the built-in stabilisation will cancel out ship vibration, so you can safely go up to 10x or 12x magnification for maximum reach.

• Before going back inside the ship, put your binoculars inside a tightly sealed bag and leave them in there for an hour. This allows the binoculars to warm up slowly, and the condensation will form on the outside of the bag rather than on your lenses.

• As soon as you go on deck, pick a distant piece of pack ice and dial in your focus until it's perfectly sharp. If your binoculars have a diopter adjustment, lock that in too. Now you are primed and ready for split-second action.

• Tuck your elbows tight against your ribs to create a stable tripod with your body. If you are on the ship's deck, look for a solid railing or bulkhead to lean your body or hands against to isolate the movement. Never rest the binoculars directly on a vibrating ship railing, as the engine vibration will blur your view completely.

• Always use the neck strap to prevent dropping your binos into the sea, and keep the rain-guard caps on the lenses whenever you aren't actively looking through them. If sea spray hits the glass, never wipe it with a sleeve or tissue; use a microfibre cloth and a blast of air, or lens cleaning solution, to dissolve the abrasive salt crystals first.

While a handful of luxury operators place a complimentary pair of binoculars in every cabin, other ships may have only a dozen or so pairs available for use in the observation lounge. Some expedition vessels do not provide them at all.

Even if your ship does provide binoculars, it is highly recommended to bring your own for a few reasons:

• When the captain announces a polar bear sighting, there will be a frantic rush. The onboard binos are on a first come first served basis and you do not want to be left empty-handed on the deck while everyone else is watching the action.

• Sharing a pair of binoculars means constantly adjusting the eye cups and changing the focus settings to match your vision.

• The binoculars available for general passenger use are often heavily worn budget models with scratched lenses or stiff focus wheels. This isn't ideal for picking out a camouflaged polar bear on a distant ice floe.