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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/NoCommunication7 on 2026-05-26 19:59:32+00:00.

A few years back i got this cool 10x pirate spyglass, or draw tube telescope, it had limited field of view but was pretty good for terrestial viewing, it also just looks cool, a conversation starter, i ended up letting someone borrow it who ended up breaking it, so i had to buy another one because i liked it so much.

A while back someone gave me a ton of binoculars, that not only worked with my eyes, but let in more light and had more magnification, even a 25x beast that looks like something the navy would use, but the 10x and 15x were good enough and i could see things with them that i couldn't with the spyglass, it was like the spyglass was only 720p.

Despite that it's still much smaller so i kept it around, left it in the car in it's case (so it doesn't start a fire with the sun) in a storage compartment, it's been in there for ages now.

It's been very hot the last few days and i thought i hadn't used the spyglass in a while so i took it out, immediately i notice it's covered in a sticky greasy residue which i had to wipe off.

I go to extend it and the central draw tube is stuck, it takes a lot of force to extend and collapse it now.

If you don't know about collapsible telescopes, they put felt between the sliding draw tubes so it's smooth and doesn't get knocked out of focus easily, there was black residue on the draw tube and sticking out of the end of it, the felt or the glue holding it must have melted.

I didn't even test it, i guess it's either leaked oily stuff or glue on the optics, or melted out of collimation, or maybe it still works but it won't be the same again.

Least i know now not to do it with my good binoculars.

TL;DR: I left my collapsible telescope in a really hot place, it got so hot that it basically almost melted together and leaked something like oil