Hard to argue with the big three, Leica, Zeiss and Swarovski, when it comes to glass quality and quality built products. Really optics is a very price pointed product. $3000 across the board regardless of brand are going to be great and this is where personal preference is going to come into play. What looks good and is functional to me, may not be as functional to you nor be the best image. Looking through them and picking the one that looks the best to you and fits your needs is going to be the best spotting scope for you.
Now for what I like. When it comes to a back country scope I want light weight, durable and reliable.
For the weight factor it is hard to beat 65mm scopes. Most are roughly a pound and half lighter than 80mm, which in a backpack is a lot of weight reduction. You do lose the light gathering capabilities of an 80mm but saving the weight to me is a justifiable loss of light.
Durability. I have really only dealt with Swarovski, Leupold and Vortex spotting scopes in the field. Swarovski most certainly takes the cake when it comes to durability, you can really give them a beating and they take it like a champ. Vortex and Leupolds seem similar in the durability category. Generally not super durable when I comes to giving them a really good beating but they will hold up to most general use.I have never dealt with Goldrings but most speak very highly of them.
Reliability. This kind of falls back to durability and like durability Swarovski wins again. You can pull it off your horse, behind the seat of your pickup or out of your pack it is going to do its job. Vortex seem to have a significantly more amount of problems than other scopes I have dealt with. Parts really like to rattle lose, especially the screws on the old Razors eyepiece.
I personally run a Vortex Razor 65mm. It fit my price range at the time and has worked well for me. I hope to upgrade to a Swarovski 65mm in the near future.
