Chinese Leupold??

[Sxsnuf]

Just doing a little research on the interwebs, copied from another site, forgive me.

"Really? Let's say the US found itself cut off by military blockade from the rest of the world, like in WW2. No optical glass from Germany, Japan, Russia or China. Where is the optical glass for all the binoculars, submarine periscopes, drone cameras, spyplanes, spy satellites, rifle scopes, laser range finders, night vision goggles, jet fighter HUDs, smart ordinance, and all other things optical the defence is going to need, going to come from?"

It would seem Leupold can secure enough good glass for their "world renown" rifle scopes, but not for their binos or spotting scopes?
I've got some of their scopes. Some are great, some take a back seat to much less costly offerings from Nikon, Vortex, etal.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Just doing a little research on the interwebs, copied from another site, forgive me.

"Really? Let's say the US found itself cut off by military blockade from the rest of the world, like in WW2. No optical glass from Germany, Japan, Russia or China. Where is the optical glass for all the binoculars, submarine periscopes, drone cameras, spyplanes, spy satellites, rifle scopes, laser range finders, night vision goggles, jet fighter HUDs, smart ordinance, and all other things optical the defence is going to need, going to come from?"

It would seem Leupold can secure enough good glass for their "world renown" rifle scopes, but not for their binos or spotting scopes?
I've got some of their scopes. Some are great, some take a back seat to much less costly offerings from Nikon, Vortex, etal.

All their glass, including all rifle scopes, comes from overseas. And in you "what if" scenario, yeah, we could make glass here, but that would require masive startup investment (likely covered by the .gov), waving a ton of environmental rules (if you don't care about them, that's fine, but some of us like our kids to not die from weird diseases before they are 12) and wage / price control, also courtesy of the .gov

Not sure if you remember the old shoe Connections with James Burke, it was a cool show that traced how small changes in the moment, like stirrups for horses, resulted in big changes over time. Along those lines one of the big reasons all those other scopes have such good glass is because of cell phones. Back in the day everyone had a small camera but when cell phone cameras got to the point that you could get good photos from them the factories that had been making camera lenses lost a huge chunk of business and rifle scopes were a natural transition

 

[Sxsnuf]

All their glass, including all rifle scopes, comes from overseas. And in you "what if" scenario, yeah, we could make glass here, but that would require masive startup investment (likely covered by the .gov), waving a ton of environmental rules (if you don't care about them, that's fine, but some of us like our kids to not die from weird diseases before they are 12) and wage / price control, also courtesy of the .gov

As I stated, the "what if" scenario was copied from another site and was intended to provide food for thought. Clearly, it was too subtle for some.
Where in my posts did you gather that I don't care about kids dying from "weird diseases before they are 12"?? Talk about falsely claiming the moral high ground by using a straw man argument that has no bearing on the topic at hand.

 

[Certaindeaf]

There are specific requirements for those statements on how much is designed, machined and assembled in the US to qualify for such statements.

Minimum 70%.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

As I stated, the "what if" scenario was copied from another site and was intended to provide food for thought. Clearly, it was too subtle for some.
Where in my posts did you gather that I don't care about kids dying from "weird diseases before they are 12"?? Talk about falsely claiming the moral high ground by using a straw man argument.

Dude, lighten up!

You posted a 'what if' and I replied to it with my thoughts on it. My apologies if it sounded like I was suggesting that you didn't care about kids dying, and I'm glad to learn that you do! But I'm confused about the "food for thought" part, were we not supposed to discuss it and instead just silently contemplate that scenario, kind of like not chewing your food with your mouth open?

But on the environmental part, my info on that was primarily from an engineer I worked with at Leupold when I asked him why the glass wasn't produced in OR and a quick check on that makes me wonder if his info was accurate or if there is something specific about the production of optical glass lenses that has more environmental impact than 'normal' glass production or if the laws in OR are just stricter that in other locations

 

[Sxsnuf]

waving a ton of environmental rules (if you don't care about them, that's fine, but some of us like our kids to not die from weird diseases before they are 12)

Yeah, jeez, where did I get that idea?

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Yeah, jeez, where did I get that idea?

Yeah, I could have worded that better to reflect the intended plural usage and not the singular / accusative usage.

Mea culpa

 

[Koda]

yeah, we could make glass here, but that would require masive startup investment (likely covered by the .gov), waving a ton of environmental rules (if you don't care about them, that's fine, but some of us like our kids to not die from weird diseases before they are 12) and wage / price control, also courtesy of the .gov

What does Japan do to mitigate the environmental issues?

While thats a good question, it assumes thats the whole issue. I suspect it could simply be a highly proprietary process (tightly guarded secret). I dont see why we couldnt create a process over here, as long as the raw materials needed to achieve the needed quality are available. Where does Japan source their glass sand?

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

What does Japan do to mitigate the environmental issues?

As I understand it, and I may be mistaken, what they do is not have a strict of environmental law as as the US does

Where does Japan source their glass sand?

My guess is that from Noneya, as in if you ask they tell you that "It's none ya' business"

 

[Koda]

As I understand it, and I may be mistaken, what they do is not have a strict of environmental law as as the US does

If so, then we would not be able to compete.

So we turn a blind eye... :/

 

[Sxsnuf]

As far as the environmental issue, in the course of my work I've serviced 2 glass plants along the I-5 corridor. I'm no expert, but I've seen nothing that resembles toxic waste holding ponds, or waste of any kind really. Nor did I see any diseased children in the vicinity. Admittedly, I'm sure neither produces optical quality glass. Point being, we have the resources, natural and otherwise to produce glass, if not the higher quality optical glass. That would require a sufficiently pure sand. It's my understanding that this sand is available in very few geographic regions.

 

[JTK1791]

What does Japan do to mitigate the environmental issues?

Not producing in America lol. We love to talk about environmentally friendly options but that almost always just means "I wont see the pollution because it gets pushed off onto other countries"

 

[WillametteWill]

As far as the environmental issue, in the course of my work I've serviced 2 glass plants along the I-5 corridor. I'm no expert, but I've seen nothing that resembles toxic waste holding ponds, or waste of any kind really. Nor did I see any diseased children in the vicinity.

Bullseye glass in Portland actually had some issues they had to remedy a few years back. Lots of heavy metals used in some of the production.

On another note, wanna play a fun game over the holidays?

Take a buddy and head to Harbor Freight. Get to the front door. On your mark, get set, GO!
The first one to find five products with 'Made in USA' wins! You might be a while.

 

[Member 24198]

Take a buddy and head to Harbor Freight. Get to the front door. On your mark, get set, GO!
The first one to find five products with 'Made in USA' wins! You might be a while.

You're a sick puppy. I like it.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Take a buddy and head to Harbor Freight. Get to the front door. On your mark, get set, GO!
The first one to find five products with 'Made in USA' wins! You might be a while.

5? Good luck!

Wal-Mart, some stuff are starting to sport "Made In the USA" stickers but not many, and certainly not in clothing department

 

[WillametteWill]

You're a sick puppy. I like it.

My wife said the same thing when I told her my 'one item' I would bring on 'Naked and Afraid' would be a flamethrower. It just makes sense to me.

 

[Member 53867]

Take a biker buddy and head to a Harley-Davidson dealership. Get to the front door. On your mark, get set, GO!
The first one to find five products with 'Made in USA' wins! You might be a while.