The stud has to be press fit into the frame/hinge of the Swaro Bino. It is a precision fit that requires some finesse and the installer has to know what he is doing. The stud is permanently installed, and not just an attachment to the binoculars. They do it right, and as far as I know, they are the only people that Swarovski approves to do any type of alterations to their products. Swaro will still honor their warranty after the installation.
If I were shipping mine, they would go via UPS or FedEx, and not the US Post Office. Others have reported problems shipping/receiving via all the carriers, so I agree with you, shipping a $3500 pair of binos is a risky proposition. How did you receive them? By Postal carrier or UPS? If that service worked well for you, I would use them to send to Outdoorsman.
As far as the installation, I would have no reservations sending them to have the stud installed, Outdoorsman does a fantastic job, and the stud looks factory installed. It's the trip there and back that would have me concerned.
