Lately I have been researching “portable” magnifiers that I can use while tying flies.  I do have a very nice desktop magnifier with a florescent light that attaches to my fly tying table.  It works great but is too big and bulky to take with me when I tie away from home.  So, I decided to research the best “portable” magnifiers, the kind you can wear since holding a magnifier in one hand and trying to tie with the other is almost impossible.

But first I had to understand a few things about magnification.  Magnification lenses or glasses have a diopter power which gives it it’s magnification.  Each magnification has a focal length which is the distance where the lens shows a clear magnification of the object you are working on.  The greater the magnification the shorter the focal length and the smaller field of view.  Therefore, the least power lens necessary to meet your magnification requirements should be used.  For example, if you buy a lens that is 3 times magnification the focal length can be as short as 4 inches. In other words, you must be 4 inches away from your object to see it clearly.  So, it is important to know the best distance to be away from the object that you are working on.  For fly tying I have found that about 10 inches would be ideal for tying small flies.  This means that you would need to use magnification of 2x which equates to around 10 inches of focal distance.  So, if you want magnification for just fly tying then you only need one lens.  Buying a “portable” magnification device with many lenses could be over kill.

There are a few other things to think about when buying your “portable” magnification device.  Probably the best, to keep both hands free, is some type of head gear.  There are many types so pick one that is comfortable for you (check the reviews for some answers on how comfortable it is).  Next thing to think about is what materials are used to make the lens. Glass lenses are more expensive but have better optics and don’t scratch as easily as the plastic lenses. Plastic lenses are cheaper.  Light is very important when tying flies.  Many magnification head gear have lights on them already but EVERYTHING I read about these attached lights is negative.  The amount of light they produce do not help you as much as having a good lamp with you. One last thing, some head gear come with a smaller magnification lens attachment, referred to as an eye loupe, that gives you double the magnification if you need it.  All that I’ve read it’s not worth the extra money for what we want to use the magnification for – fly tying.

After much research I did make my purchase.  I chose the OptiVISOR binocular magnifier – DA-4 (approx… $40). This head gear has a glass lens and is 2x magnification which is good at 10 inches focal distance.  So far it works well, and the visor lifts up and down, so you can easily see around the magnification. The head band is also adjustable to fit most size heads.  There are many styles of head gear magnification devices so before you buy do your research and make sure the magnification focal distance fits for your fly tying distance.