I also have grown to really like pocket-size bino's for bow hunting where I dont need anything more than being able to ID shoot/dont shoot deer through brush before they are super close, as well as for turkey hunting in the woods. My biggest complain with the larger binos was they get int he way when climbing the tree for hang-and-hunt style trips. My wife had a pair of leupold 32mm binos that were significantly larger, so I'm considering the below in a smaller size-class than all of the 32mm obj binos I looked at, as I didnt feel her binos were small-enough to alleviate the bulkiness-issues I was having when climbing.
I had a super cheap (sub $100) pair of nikon 20mm binos that was the perfect size, but glass sucked and was not useable before legal light ended in the woods.
I bought a pair of the 8x28mm Diamondback HD's. Good size, very inexpensive. glass is OK in the center of the FOV, but blurry at the edges. Better than the nikons, much better light gathering (although in dark woods on a cloudy day I'm still not sure I have vis right up to legal light), very easy on the wallet, and I havent replaced them yet, but it's hard to really make a strong recommendation for them. If you are coming from swaro or the like I would not be surprised if these were unacceptable for you.
I bought my wife a pair of the Zeiss terra ed pocket 8x25's. These are about $350. I dont think they'll win any awards if comparing to larger binos but in the size/weight range they were the best I found short of the true Alpha brands, and they are clearly heads and shoulders above the $300-or-less binos I've had in the past. clarity edge to edge is good, color maybe a little on the cool side but not noticable for me. I'd say most people will find these to be good glass, they are probably the equivalent of vortex viper x42 glass or thereabouts with regard to clarity edge to edge and light gathering. (did not look at or encounter any recommendations for kowa, meopta, etc int he size/weight class I was looking, so to be fair I didnt end up comparing to those). I dont love the double hinge on these.
Only issue so far is a chest harness--no one makes a chest harness sized for any of these, so you are left with a big, bulky harness to put your tiny little binos in. I ended up cutting up and re-sewing the case that came with my vortex binos using buckles and web from other stuff into a good chest harness. The other option I think could be maybe really good for me is a good 6x laser rangefinder IN PLACE OF my binos. I have not been able to use my 4x rf in this manner, but i think a 6x could work for me 95% of the time.
I had a super cheap (sub $100) pair of nikon 20mm binos that was the perfect size, but glass sucked and was not useable before legal light ended in the woods.
I bought a pair of the 8x28mm Diamondback HD's. Good size, very inexpensive. glass is OK in the center of the FOV, but blurry at the edges. Better than the nikons, much better light gathering (although in dark woods on a cloudy day I'm still not sure I have vis right up to legal light), very easy on the wallet, and I havent replaced them yet, but it's hard to really make a strong recommendation for them. If you are coming from swaro or the like I would not be surprised if these were unacceptable for you.
I bought my wife a pair of the Zeiss terra ed pocket 8x25's. These are about $350. I dont think they'll win any awards if comparing to larger binos but in the size/weight range they were the best I found short of the true Alpha brands, and they are clearly heads and shoulders above the $300-or-less binos I've had in the past. clarity edge to edge is good, color maybe a little on the cool side but not noticable for me. I'd say most people will find these to be good glass, they are probably the equivalent of vortex viper x42 glass or thereabouts with regard to clarity edge to edge and light gathering. (did not look at or encounter any recommendations for kowa, meopta, etc int he size/weight class I was looking, so to be fair I didnt end up comparing to those). I dont love the double hinge on these.
Only issue so far is a chest harness--no one makes a chest harness sized for any of these, so you are left with a big, bulky harness to put your tiny little binos in. I ended up cutting up and re-sewing the case that came with my vortex binos using buckles and web from other stuff into a good chest harness. The other option I think could be maybe really good for me is a good 6x laser rangefinder IN PLACE OF my binos. I have not been able to use my 4x rf in this manner, but i think a 6x could work for me 95% of the time.
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