Binoculars are popular among hikers, explorers, trainspotters, bird watchers, and more. They have been around for a very long time and it doesn’t look like they’ll be disappearing anytime soon. But what about binoculars made in the USA, do they exist? Well, that’s what I’ll be looking at in this article.
Brands of Binoculars Made in the USA? (The Short Answer)
This will probably come as no surprise to most readers out there, but American-made binoculars are seemingly hard to come by. I wasn’t able to find a brand that manufactures its binoculars from start to finish in the US with 100% certainty. However, I was able to find a couple of bits and pieces that may be American-made.
American-Made Binoculars (Are They a Real Thing?)
There is a lot of misinformation out there. So, for this article, I’m going to take a look at some of the companies that I came across in the search for American-made binoculars.
Bushnell
Bushnell was founded by California resident David P. Bushnell in 1948 after he returned from a trip to Japan with two crates of binoculars. He sold them on and realized that he had a viable business on his hands.
Fast forward to today and Bushnell is a well-known binocular brand. A quick Google search will come up with multiple articles claiming that Bushnell is an American manufacturer. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Bushnell’s headquarters is located in Overland Park, Kansas. I believe that people are mistaking this for its manufacturing facility. Bushnell actually manufactures the majority of its products in China, with some parts being made in South Korea and Japan.
Leupold
Founded in 1907 in Portland, Oregon, Leupold is a well-known brand that manufactures binoculars and scopes for various weapons. I came across a handful of articles claiming that Leupold is an American manufacturer, this is true to a degree, but not when it comes to its binoculars.
Leupold manufactures all of its riflescopes at its Beaverton, Oregon facility, not binoculars. The company’s binoculars are manufactured in Japan, China, the Philippines, and various other countries. If you head to the Leupold website, you’ll find several statements regarding its manufacturing. This includes a Q and A section where the company explains that at least one of its models is manufactured in the Philippines.
Celestron
Celestron dates back to 1964 when it was founded by Tom Johnson in Torrance, California. The company is based in Torrance California, but as shown with the other entries on this list, where a company is based isn’t necessarily where it conducts its manufacturing.
I found one article stating that some of Celestron’s binoculars are handmade in the US. However, I wasn’t able to find much on the company’s website to back this up. I did find out that the company is owned by parent company Synta Technology Corporation of Taiwan.
Synta Technology Corporation of Taiwan conducts its manufacturing primarily in China and Taiwan. However, according to its Wiki page, it continues to manufacture some of Celestron’s products at its facilities in the US.
So to summarise, some of Celestron’s binoculars may well be manufactured in the US. But I wasn’t able to find definitive proof to back this up. I know that Wiki can be pretty reliable, but pretty reliable isn’t 100% reliable!
If there are any readers out there who know more about Celestron’s manufacturing, feel free to leave a comment as we like to keep our articles as up-to-date as possible.
