NEED HELP WITH A PACKABLE SPOTTER...

[gr8fuldoug]

Take a look at the new GPO Passion APO 16-48x65 Spotting Scope
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Ultra-smooth brass gear helical focus
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Interchangeable eyepiece (85mm and 65mm)
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Sliding Aluminum Sunshade
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Rotating center body locking function
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Magnesium main body construction
PASSION™ APO 16-48x65mm
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[River Reaper]

I have a Kowa TSN 664 that I really like. It looks like you can get them now for well below your budget (they came out with a new 66 model). It would be a lot of glass for the price if you could find a 664 or 663 with the 20-60 eyepiece. I pack mine everywhere and it doesn’t leave me wanting too much.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I agree, that's where guys like us come in. I'd imagine that if a group of 10 or 15 guys could organize something so people could actually look at the different options. It's mostly just opinions (hence why I'm not interested in Kowa or Swaro) because it lacks perspective

a member here did just that, @Tahoe1305 had all sorts of optics for a day or two and wrote a great review on it, I believe he had both the new baby razor and the ATC and kept the baby razor since the 1500 ish dollar price difference wasn’t worth it to him

 

[Bmb558@]

Hello everyone. I'm looking for a lightweight packable spotter to help me judge dear and bears in my local mountains in Socal. I'm not interested in a gigantic 85mm, or anything that says "Kowa" or "Swaro" on it (I'm not that wealthy atm) so I'm looking for a more middle of the road option, under $1,100 that is light enough but clear enough. I'm consistently finding deer between 800-1200 yds with my 10x42's but I'm having a difficult time assessing them. I dont need a crazy amount of magnification, nor do I want to fuss with the weight. Here are 4 contenders I'm looking at...

Maven S.2 (34 OZ) (found one used for $800 on ebay, worried 27x may be a bit too low)

Maven CS.1 15-45x65 (40.4 OZ, probably the heaviest i would consider) (I've read some reviews saying this is up there with Razor HD)

Razor HD 13-39x56 (28.6 OZ) (I was offered $800 by a seller on ebay, new in box)

Viper 11-33x50 (27.4) (I read that this is comparable to the old Razor, but optically I'm worried that it will look like DB'S....)

Please recommend other packable spotters....I think the first 3 above will get me in the wheelhouse.

I realize that weight shouldn't be that important compared to optical quality, I just don't want to be lugging a 4.5LB spotter around the mountains to see small california deer and bears. I'm more interested in something packable.

If anyone can weigh in I'd appreciate it. Also, if anyone has any digiscope pics of game at distance with any above mentioned spotters I'd greatly appreciate it if you could show them.

Thanks in advance

Swarv atc

 

[FRONTIERSMAN87]

a member here did just that, @Tahoe1305 had all sorts of optics for a day or two and wrote a great review on it, I believe he had both the new baby razor and the ATC and kept the baby razor since the 1500 ish dollar price difference wasn’t worth it to him

Interesting...

 

[Tahoe1305]

Interesting...

Yup. Still have the baby razor. The ATC was awesome and if I only wanted one spotter I’d keep that.

But in my experience I don’t think any of the minis can fully replace a full size spotter for big open spaces (call that 1-2 miles or beyond). They will see animals move, but so will binos. What they struggle to do is count tines and confirm details that bigger spotters can do. I use a swaro 65 for that.

The mini razor is what compliments it for a buddy to use or if I want to pack light and know I don’t need to look long or verify much (more digi scope stuff). I think for this purpose it’s tough to beat for the cost/performance.