Wingspan Optics Scout 6X32 Compact Wide View Monocular with Carry Clip. Lightweight, Waterproof and All-Climate Durable. Perfect for Nature Lovers, Hikers and Bird Watchers on The Go

The Wingpan Optics Scout 6X32 is good monocular for casual birding. While it wouldn’t replace a good set of binoculars, it fills a niche with its portability.The construction on my unit appears to be solid, with no obvious defects, scratches, or imperfections right out of the box. It comes with a soft pouch, lens covers for the front and back, a cleaning cloth, a lanyard, and a very handy metal belt clip attached. I found the monocular’s asymmetric shape to be comfortable to hold for a long period of time. As others have mentioned, the focus ring was a little tight for me as well, requiring two fingers to turn instead of one.The view through the glass is impressive for the price. I’d rate the image quality on par with my pair of $150 Bushnell binoculars. The imperfections are there if you look for them, but your expectations should have been tempered by the $18 price tag anyway. If you’re trying to decide between the 6X, 8X, or 10X version, note that the 8X and 10X have 25mm objective lenses while the 6X has a 32mm objective lens. If you’re concerned about low magnification, don’t lose any sleep over it. Generally speaking, at the distances that birds will let you approach, you can still identify many types of birds with the 6X and a field guide. The wide field of view also helps when tracking birds in flight, which will help you see the wing shape, tail shape etc., which may not be as obvious when the bird is stationary. The lower magnification also lends itself to being more useful looking at things other than birds, such as other animals, plants, architectural details, or landscapes. As long as you’re not planning to use the 6X monocular as your primary birding optic, you should be just fine.The Wingspan Scout monocular hits the sweet spot between portability, durability, and cost of replacement that gives it a special utility as a daily use tool. Unless I’m specifically going out birding, the benefit just isn’t worth the bulk, weight, and possibility of loss or damage that binoculars provide. With the Wingspan Scout, it’s easy to forget I’m even carrying it. One of the best things about this scope is the belt clip, which makes it available to use at a moment’s notice. Some birds are quite fast, and you have to be quick on the draw if opportunity strikes. If I see a bird I want to check out, I don’t even need to take my eyes off of it. I just reach down, draw the scope and put it up my eye in one motion, which literally takes one second to do. The lens covers are easy to lose anyway so I don’t bother carrying with them on. If by chance I do get a scratch, or dirt on the lens that an air can and a microfiber cloth can’t handle, a replacement won’t break the bank. This monocular lends itself to being so easy to carry that it gets more use than my binoculars, and in a wider range of functions.The Wingspan Scout 6X32 is a good supplement to an existing birding setup, and has other applications outside of birding such as a travel scope. Optics snobs need not apply, but for the casual user, it is sufficient for a multitude of tasks at a reasonable price.

The monocular is very good. I hang its sturdy case on a D-ring on my backpack chest strap so I can quickly open it and pull out the monocular. I normally wear progressive lenses. This will not work with progressives; however, when I hike, I wear Oakley bifocal sunglasses that are mostly distance with a sliver of near vision. I set the focus ring using these distance glasses. The focus ring is the inner ring that is hard to move and has "+ 0 -" designations. I set it using antenna towers on a mountain top about 25 miles away. Once it is set, it doesn't move, so when you pull out your monocular to use, it is focused for you. I will not be passing it around my hiking group because I don't want to have to refocus. The other outside ring adjusts the eye piece lens. This I leave all the way in for the greatest magnification. Do not use regular eyeglass cleaner on the lenses. These are coated and require a special cleaner (see instructions) that will not remove the coatings. So, why the four stars and not five? The lens cap and the eyepiece cap conveniently pop off so you can use the monocular. My friends were constantly handing them to me after I dropped them. So I took some 20# nylon fishing line and a needle and made a loop of line through the lens cap tab. Then I also made a loop for the eyepiece cap. See attached photo. Now, I just pop off the caps, they hang out of the way, and I'm ready to sight. On a recent hike we were looking over a large lava field and couldn't identify yellow patches which looked like upright rocks. The monocular helped to identify them as just patches of sand. Seeing the details on birds is fairly easy. I like these better than binoculars for hiking because they stay focused, are very light, and can be used with one hand.

Lovely monocular that has been working really well. The focus ring is tight but that might loosen up over time. It would be nice if the front lens cap had a ring on it for a lanyard but I haven't been using the lanyards so far. The green rubber casing you see in the image will help cushion a fall if/when I drop it on the rocks. I haven't tested the waterproof claim nor will I intentionally. I'm sure I'll have it out in the rain eventually but I'm not going to go out of my way to dip it in a creek.Shipped with a lanyard for the back lens cap and a lens cleaning cloth and manual, well thought out packaging. Are there better monoculars out there, probably. Are there cheaper monoculars out there that make questionable claims in their descriptions, almost certainly. Is this a solid monocular at a low enough price that if it gets lost or destroyed you won't be heartbroken, yes. I'd be comfortable recommending this for others to buy.

very compact, wish the strap was attached differently.

Fantastic views during first two uses. Wow- such detail!Hey- what happened? Can’t see a thing. Is it my eyes?No- it’s this monocular!One thing I can see clearly now- this is a rip-off!

It works as advertised. Will be using while camping. Pretty clear optics. Adjustment is not that hard to turn as others have stated. Weight is pretty light in the hand.Nice rubber, solid grip. The rubber cup covers do not have anything securing them to the base, so I took a needle and some parachord and attached the cups to the base, see photos. Would be more stars if not for this, but I am satisfied with product. I'll update more once I return from Appalachian Trail end of July.

I bought this to keep in my fishing kayak as it's much smaller and lighter than a pair of regular binoculars and easy to use with just one hand. I am pleased with the optics, it will do fine for my purposes ( not serious birdwatching) but I've also not compared it against other monicals.The eyepiece cover fits rather loosely and neither cover is attached to the unit with a safety lanyard. It's only a matter of time until I lose both of them. I have yet to test its claim of waterproof.