Hydrophobic rifle scope

juju

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Oct 20, 2023
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Which brands of riflescopes have good hydrophobic lens coatings? As in they're easy to get clear if you breathe on the ocular lens in cold weather.
 

MThuntr

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I've not encountered a scope that won't fog at least some on the outside of the lens. I'm sure there might be some ultra premium scope but honestly cold glass and warm, moist breath make for fog.

You can get some anti-fog spray/cleaner but make sure it doesn't effect the optical coatings from the manufacturer.
 

Macintosh

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If your breath condenses on a very cold lens it freezes, regardless of coating. It usually sublimates clear within a relatively short time but its certainly a PITA. Best solution is dont breathe on it. Its easier to deal with above freezing imo even if things are more prone to fogging from ambient moisture.
 

TaperPin

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As others have said, prevention is the best cure. That weird skill of exhaling through the corner of the mouth becomes automatic eventually. Even in 100 degree weather and a strong cross wind my mouth automatically closes tight other than the left corner.
 
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juju

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If y'all don't know the answer, there's no need to reply. It's a common stimulus response reaction on forums, but really...
 

MThuntr

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If y'all don't know the answer, there's no need to reply. It's a common stimulus response reaction on forums, but really...
WOAH there mister keyboard cowboy! Kindly pull your sweatpants up take a look your mom's basement mirror and take a breath (but not too big we don't want the mirror fogging up) because the answer is there aren't truly any...cold glass plus moist breath = fog. IT'S PHYSICS!!

Swaro makes an expensive toy to put on your scope.
 

Macintosh

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If y'all don't know the answer, there's no need to reply. It's a common stimulus response reaction on forums, but really...
Have used leupold, Bushnell, vortex, schmidt and bender, athlon, nikon all fairly extensively in cold wx. Probably a few others I am forgetting. The more $ scopes seem to fog a bit less in cool but not cold wx, but cannot tell the difference between any of them in difficult conditions (33-degree ground fog, breathing on them, etc). I live and hunt in an arctic maritime climate so cold wx and wet is standard here. If your breath freezes on them I also cannot tell the difference. From what I have used there is no functional, discernible difference between brands in this regard. Maybe there is a difference that could be measured if you devised some sort of head to head test, but I couldn't tell from just using them.
 

4th_point

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Jun 14, 2022
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Which brands of riflescopes have good hydrophobic lens coatings? As in they're easy to get clear if you breathe on the ocular lens in cold weather.
The coating used by Bushnell has worked really well for me. It will still fog but you can usually see through it unlike others. And it dissipates much faster.

The coatings from Zeiss and Leica don't seem to do anything, but I have only used those on binocs and LRF.
 
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