Opticron Spare Connector Set for Bungee Elastic and Leather Binocular Harness

This harness does a nice job redistributing binoculars' weight from the neck and reducing binoculars' bounce while hiking. Good size for a short woman.

I am a keen birdwatcher who has used Opticron bins for several decades. Up until about last September, I used an ordinary neck strap and found it fine. However, I replaced my bins with some nice new Opticron DBA VHD+ 8x42s (which are superb!) but they came with a new design of strap - which IMHO is pretty useless! The problems I found was that the buckle that is used to attach the strap to the lugs on the bins tends to slip and they kept coming undone and the strap incorporates a pair of quick release buckles, which I cannot see any point in and make it impossible to shorten the strap enough for the bins to hang conveniently on my chest. They hang too low down and constantly swing about. So I decided to try a harness. I had been thinking about it for some time because, as I have got older, my hands have got more shaky, especially my left hand - to the point where I am finding it more difficult to hold bins still enough. Anyway I bought an Opticron harness and have been using it about 6 months now. I found that it took some getting used to! It is quite difficult to get the lengths adjusted just right and it took me some time and a lot of trial and error. It is certainly more effort to put it on and take it off than a neck strap! However, once I got it set up correctly, I found it excellent. Firstly, when you are walking around, the bins sit firmly on your chest and don't swing around. No need to keep one hand on the bins to stop them swinging, which I always used to do. Secondly, once you get the lengths of the straps just right, the lower strap is quite tight when you hold the bins to your eyes and, by pulling against this strap, you make a triangle between your arms, the strap and your body. Result - better stability that really helps with my problems in keeping them still. It took me quite a while and some persistence to get set it up right, but having got used to it, I wouldn't want to go back to a neck strap.

If you hate straps that cut across the back of your neck as much as I do and/or have a set of binoculars that are heavy, this harness is for you! The harness spreads the weight of the binoculars across the shoulders and are very comfortable to wear. They are made of light but tough webbing and can be put onto any binoculars through the side lugs. They also ensure that you don't lose your binoculars. The straps can, of course, be altered in length to fit both in breadth and length. I am delighted with them.

Bought two of these! One for my wifes Nikon D7000 and one for my Azden 42a Field Audio Mixer. Although the straps are not the broadest, these harnesses do spread the weight well and both my wife and I appreciate not having a strap rubbing on our necks when using our equipment, especially during hot sweaty weather! The quick releases are great for attaching and removing equipment, especially when you need a break( or call of nature!). With the mixer, I use an old laptop shoulder strap around my waist to hold the bottom of the mixer bag, which stops it bouncing if I need to move fast! If you are looking for something affordable and practical, then we can recommend these!

I bought this harness to use with my DSLR camera, I find it is very comfortable and it is very easy to detach the camera if I need to, but I generally use it attached and find it slides into position for shooting very easily. It is better than the fully elasticated versions you can buy as the camera with a heavy lens attached does not “bounce around” when I am walking.

I'd been after one of these for a while as I'm a keen birder but have had increasing neck and back problems, not helped by carrying the equivalent of a bag of sugar on a neck strap for extended periods of time. This is the basic bargain version harness. The more upmarket ones have elasticated straps but I really don't see that that would make a terrific difference and this one is almost half the price. It works and that's the main thing - you hardly notice you're wearing bins, they don't bounce around so much and the quick release means it's easy to take the bins off the harness if, for eg.you're in a hide for a while - just remember to clip them back on before you leave!