Hands-Free Binocular Glasses

My grandfather, down in his garage workshop cranking out "Lemonade Loaders" to be sold via mail-order to TRS-80 owners with finicky tape drives, often wore a flip-up magnifying glass. So much so that it's one of the primary ways I remember him, with his silky threads of hair poking over the top. But where he didn't wear them was in public, because he wasn't an asshole, and Burning Man had not yet been invented.

Technically these are binoculars, not magnifying glasses, but Hammacher Schlemmer will sell you those, too, should you pony up the $120. I'm sure there is a specific scenario where these would be more useful than a pair of traditional binoculars—low-rent television sci-fi prop?—but they look like they'd make a person really pukey.

Catalog Page [Hammacher.com via Coolest-Gadgets]

[#1 posted by strider_mt2k , September 20, 2007 9:27 AM]

Yeah.

Don't wear 'em on a boat!

[#2 posted by Daniel Rutter , September 21, 2007 2:40 AM]

where he didn't wear them was in public, because he wasn't an asshole, and Burning Man had not yet been invented.

...and I presume he also didn't want the sun to catch them just right and set his nose on fire.

I've got a Donegan Optical Optivisor...
http://www.doneganoptical.com/optivisor.php
...for close work. It's bulkier than the glasses type, but it's easier on the eyes and doesn't hang heavy lenses off your ears.

Quite cheap, too.

[#3 posted by Skep , September 24, 2007 7:39 PM]

But where he didn't wear them was in public, because he wasn't an asshole, and Burning Man had not yet been invented.

Kind of a non-sequiter, or perhaps you refer to people being "assholes" in a different way than I'm used to. Generally, I consider that "assholes" are people who do things that are actively inconsiderate--or worse-to other people. Wearing a pair of unusual lenses outdoors doesn't seem to fit that usage.

[#4 posted by Joel Johnson , September 25, 2007 4:14 AM]

Skep, I'm getting a little tired of your slo-mo trolling.