Binos - buy once cry once?

[Mhopper5]

Enjoying the view vs identifying if it’s a shooter. Big difference. Like Jimss I’m hunting all year long.

You will find yourself taking them everywhere even in the off season.

 

[Jimss]

To go along with scouting and hunting I also spend a great deal of time taking photos and video of game. Although a lot of guys use spotters for taking photos/video I've found that I get a lot better resolution and higher magnification using a camcorder and/or ultra-zoom camera. It's exciting to bring these home and look on the computer and/or big screen! This has really helped me field judge and recognize some of the biggest bucks, bulls, rams, and billies that I scout each year.

 

[Shoalwater]

I'm a firm believer in the buy once cry once, but the mid-high to high-end optics has become blurred with all the really good glass in that $1500ish range. Maven, Tract, Meopta, Steiner, Vortex, Zeiss, and others, all make some really good glass in the price range. I had some early 2000's Swaro EL's, that could not compete with glass of today's $1500ish market. That being said, you really need to put your eyes through them, what looks good to some, may not to you.

 

[Tesoro]

I had an eye injury and pretty much need to wear sunglasses in bright light. See just fine though. When I decided to take the big plunge on top end 10x binos, the swaro el were the only ones that gave me a full easy view with the eye cups all the way in. fyi.

 

[Spiral Horn]

Here is a review by Backwoods Pursuit of under $1,500 binoculars. They use a composite score ranking from a large panel of experienced outdoorsmen directly comparing all of the candidates. Here is how they ranked the finalists after weeding down the initial field:

1, Vortex UHD 10x42
2. Swarovski SLC 10x42
3. Sig Zulu 9 11x45
4. Kowa Genesis 10.5x44
5. Meopta MeoStar B1+ 10x42

 

[roosiebull]

Newbie here. I am also at a crossroads in upgrading my binoculars. I am a firm believer in buy once cry once, but binos arent my most used piece of equipment. That being said I don't think I am wanting to spend Swaro money but rather Razor HD money.

Nothing wrong with not needing alpha glass… lots of people don’t need the best glass money can buy. As long as you don’t get curious and spend time behind alpha glass next to razor hd, I bet you will love them.

I spend a bunch of time behind glass, so it’s worth it to me, but if you’ll never use them enough to justify alpha glass, razor hd are great, they are clear, light, great warranty… as good as anything for most hunters in the country

 

[BBob]

I spend a bunch of time behind glass, so it’s worth it to me, but if you’ll never use them enough to justify alpha glass, razor hd are great, they are clear, light, great warranty… as good as anything for most hunters in the country

Same, I spend a zillion hours a year looking through glass and I'm accustomed to the best of the best and it's worth it to me. If you spend enough time behind great glass you'll be rewarded now and then with seeing things others sometimes can't see even when they are sitting right next to you.

 

[radar1225S]

Awesome points there @roosiebull and @BBob. I won’t spend hours behind them, but rather get a better look at something I’ve spotted with my eyes. I never got on the Vortex wagon until I fell in love with my razor Gen II 1-6x scope. The glass is clear enough for me and I can’t justify $1500+ on binoculars right now while only using part of the year.

 

[Supranatural]

Where do most go to try multiple brands of binos? I stopped at a Bass Pro the other day and was disappointed to see they only had a Vortex UHD, Swaro EL and Leica Geovids….and to top it off store policy only allowed one pair out at a time so no way to go outiside with several pairs to compare.

 

[Peaks&Creeks]

Where do most go to try multiple brands of binos? I stopped at a Bass Pro the other day and was disappointed to see they only had a Vortex UHD, Swaro EL and Leica Geovids….and to top it off store policy only allowed one pair out at a time so no way to go outiside with several pairs to compare.

Sportsmans Warehouse. We filled up a basket with binos to test outside. They brought 2 employees out incase I ran off with a basket full of optics hahah


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mckbcat2000]

Try CS Tactical

 

[Venom One]

Here's one of the most comprehensive reviews I've ever read on bino's. 10 reviewers, 26 different pairs, ranked within price ranges with an in-depth explanation for each. The rankings are shown at the beginning of the article. If you want to read the explanation (pro's and con's) scroll down. The UHD's ranked quite well.

26 Best Binoculars For Hunting | Backwoods Pursuit

Looking for the best binoculars on the market and aren't quite sure which ones to purchase? Maybe you are looking for the best binoculars for hunting or the

backwoodspursuit.com

 

[keystone112]

My “alpha “ binos are Swaro EL 10x42. It still hurts when I think about how much they cost. What I think I mainly got was the ability to use them 15 minutes sooner each morning and 15 minutes later each evening compared to mid-grade glass. Is that worth it to you?

 

[nagibson1]

I've been using Leica and Swaro for the past 40 years and have no reason to look elsewhere. I learned years and years ago that the lifetime investment is worth the additional price. I used and abuse both of these brands almost on a weekly basis and they have definitely withstood the test of time. I recently updated to a Leica-rangefinder combo. I got tired of carrying both! It's also SOOOO much quicker than going back and forth between binos and rangefinder. If you think about it, taking less time setting up may be the difference between getting a kill shot or watching a monster buck or bull run over the horizon.

If you are paying top dollar for binos, make sure to buy a bino-rangefinder combo. Definitely worth it! If you can't afford brand new.....watch the classified section of this website, craigslist, marketplace, ebay, etc. Sometimes you may even be able to pick up a hardly used demo model. I've gotten several pairs of nearly new Leica and Swaro spotters and binos for almost 1/2 price by doing this.

This happened to me this year. My buddy shot the big bull out of a group of 5, and I had to find one of the other 4, range it and calculate and make the shot before they were gone. I had about a 7-10 second window and I couldn't do it all in time for an ethical shot at 375. He couldn't help cause he was watching his bull.
That's the first time it has mattered for me. If I haven't had time to range it's cause the animal was so close I didn't have to.

 

[badgeralum99]

Thank you for all of the great information. I have the EL 10 X 42. I am looking for something with a little more magnification but not sacrificing the light gathering and clarity I have now. Any suggestions on what to look for?