Glassing Knob necessities vs niceties

[canthitbombz]

First year going all in on archery mule deer. My question is, minus glass and tripods and yada yada...what are your glassing necessities? Glassing pad? hand warmers? umbrella to deal with the 90 degree heat and sun, lol? never really sat on the side of a mountain and glassed at length so just trying to get some ideas as to what others do to stay comfortable and sane.

 

[CC11]

Water, snacks, glassing pad, gloves (weight dependent on weather), I like the hooded lightweight shirts for when it's hot. Keeps the sun off my neck and ears.

 

[BustedRagHorn]

I would suggest looking at eye cups or ways to keep the sun from getting into the sides of your eye piece. Personally I use a shemagh for a ton of things so I drape that over my binos and head to help, add a bit of water to help if it gets too hot. But with intense wind it can whip around the cloth so depending on where you are it can hurt more than help. Anyway to prevent light from hitting your eye piece(s) helps more than you would think.

 

[Poser]

Lens brush, glassing pad, sunscreen, fatty/salty snacks, hood.

When its really cold: down mitts, mountaineering socks

 

[270Hunter]

The above comment hits the nail on the head. Especially with the hooded lightweight shirt and glassing pad. Good snacks and plenty of water. I also pack a super small tarp sometimes so I can setup some shade. Also chapstick, the heat and the wind usually really dries out my lips and that’s just a little thing that makes a huge difference in my comfort.

Before you get to your hunt practice switching your binoculars out for your spotting scope on your tripod, some people are clumsy switching optics over and sometimes seconds are crucial when glassing.

 

[RockAndSage]

Other than what has been shared above...

If you'll spend a long time behind a spotting scope, an eye-patch helps reduce eye strain, by allowing you to not have to squint one eye shut for hours at a time.

Depending on terrain and what kind of a hunt you're doing, in some situations a wind-checker bottle is good while glassing - especially if you're really trying to dial in everything you can on a specific place, in terms of patterning the wind, and seeing how the local vegetation reflects those currents too. Helps in understanding air flow with thermals at different times of the day, etc, especially during the hike in and out of a spot too.