What happened to Vortex?

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Vortex simply isn't the best value at any price point. Burris Droptine beats them at the entry level. Leupold VX Freedom beats them in the 300-500 dollar range. Pretty much everyone beats the Strike Beaver models. Then when you get up into $800-$1000 range, Trijicon mops the floor with them.

 

[Grundy53]

And how many of those warranty claims were from self infliction? Lots of story’s of them being run over and dropped off a cliff. I have 2 pairs of Binos, range finder and spotter and they’re all running good.

Probably a low percentage. Mine wasn't. Most I hear about are not.

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[isocyanate]

Haven’t had a bad experience personally.

I have an old crossfire scope on a 17hmr that I basically use for an axe. No worries, killed a pile of stuff.

Had a razor gen2 for competition shooting. Zero issues.


What had happened is, I discovered Schmidt Bender. No going back now.

 

[JNDEER]

Probably because they have slowed down advertising campaigns.

Everyone’s eyes are different- but I have had a diamondback bino and scope. Zero issues- the diamondback scope is still killing crap! Have sense been using a viper hs scope with custom turret. No idea if that thing is still dialing back to zero- but when I click it or hold on the correct hash mark for some reason animals just tend to drop dead. No need to look for others for reasons of malfunction.

Had an original ranger rangefinder. It was inconsistent- sent it back and they confirmed it and sent a new finder that hits the same mark as my leupold that’s twice the cost.

Still have the old 65mm model spotter and took some good testing to find the differences between that and an STM swaro.

When I did a deep dive spending $10,000 on binos to in field test them (returned the losers)- the razor was a good solid bino at that time for its price point.

My brother and cousin have used the razor binos for probably 8 years with zero issues.

Lots of talk on forums and public about this or that scope or bino. Got to find the guys who spend their own dime buying multiple scopes, binos, spotters and doing same time comparisons for real world feedback.

 

[kaboku68]

I have lots of experience with top shelf glass and own many top end binos and spotters. The Vortex UHDs are a very decent option as binos. I have both the 10X50 and 12X50 UHDs and they are decent. I prefer my 12X42NLs but the UHDs aren't bad.

 

[grfox92]

I have a Diamondback 3-9x that I zeroed on a .308 at 100 yards in 2017. Cross country road trips, 10 day Wyoming mountain hunt, Adirondack mountain hunts, got ejected from a vehicle in a car accident and has still held that same zero to this day. Pretty impressive.

That being said I still won't buy another one. I watched my buddies 10x42 DB break this year on an elk hunt. 1 tube just totally blurred out. They became a monocular and he had to use them like that for the rest of the season. I've heard too many similar horror stories to trust buying anything else from them.

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[Nosferatu]

They have their place. I wouldn't trust my life to them though, especially anything with electronics in it.

I have a pair of Viper HD 8x32's that are great. I know there's better out there, but for my needs they work fine and are much clearer than anything else I looked though in the same price range.

I have one of their rangefinders that had to go back for work. The replacement seems to work fine, but I don't trust it and need to replace it.

I have a Viper 1-6x24 with an illuminated reticle that I had to send back because some of the brightness settings didn't work. The replacement seems to be fine, but I don't trust it.

I have a Viper 2-10x42 that does not have an illuminated reticle. It seems to work fine, but lives on my Ruger 22 bolt action.

I have a pair of 8x28 compact binoculars that are my knockaround pair. They travel with me and go in the jacket pocket to football games, etc. Not great glass, but not ones I'm looking through for hours at a time. Just there when I want to zoom in on something real quick and small enough that I'm likely to have them on me.

I have a spotting scope (don't remember which, one of their mid-tier models) that doesn't get much use. It's just too heavy and bulky for me to pack around.

 

[TheGDog]

It's all good and you think their just fine, even with having to get warranty replacement done once or twice.... until... you look thru a better tier of glass! Then... you can't HELP but notice the difference in image-quality when you find yourself switching back to a lesser glass. And over time, that gets to ya.

Also... after having one eye-cup just plain come right off of my set of 10x42 DiamondBacks... and seeing how little is done to affix them onto the bodies (just a very thin line of adhesive, put in a ring around the threads) and how it must have been a prior modest-height drop that loosened them up and likely broke the adhesion the glue had from just aging and getting brittle perhaps.

I'm kinda glad it happened when I wasn't depending on them.

The entry-level scopes I have from them have been fine though. But it's not like I have them on calibers that recoil a lot.

Bought their little spotter. The 11-33x50mm. And while overall it's pretty cool for what it is, there are lots of little things that over time have detracted from my happiness over it. Things like the fold-down eyecups which I simply had to live with them forever being folded-over since I'm a eyeglass wearer full-time now. That foldable part of the rubber very quickly weather-checked and broke off. The glass makes a pretty good image, BUT it's really only good to like maybe 26x tops? After that you're really just enlarging the no longer sharp image. And the eye-relief for an eyeglass wearer SUCKS on it because when you try to crank it up high.. to get the last bit of magnification, if you don't want to remove your eyeglasses, which I do not want to do while out in the field, because that's just begging to drop and break your glasses far from home, then in order to see the image I literally have to put my eyeglass glass.... touching right up against the spotters eyepiece glass. No bueno.

So far I've replaced the Binos with ZEISS Conquest HD's in 10x and 15x and have been very happy with them!

Night and Day difference between them and the Vortex Vultures 15x's I had. Biggest difference there was the Vultures have a VERY NARROW depth-of-field to their focus. Whereas with both the ZEISS you can see objects in pretty decent focus for quite a number of yards in front of and behind the point you're focused upon. An order of magnitude more than on those Vultures. Which is awesome because it provides your brain with that much more clear visible data, whereas on the Vultures you'd have to fuss more with the focusing knob in order to verify and be sure there is nothing in front of, or behind the point of focus. So overall... you're spending a significant amount of time over the course of the whole day glassing, fussing with the focusing an appreciable amount more in order to grid-out that opposing ridge, or to look "thru" the bushes to see behind them.

 

[Rob5589]

Lots of options at all price points nowadays. I've had/have many Vortex products.
First gen Razor 5-20; never an issue, used for PRS type comps.
Ranger 1000; many years old and still works perfect.
Crossfire 4-12 ultra fine reticle; no longer made, no issues, on a .17 HMR
Diamondback 10x42; no issues, now my daughters.
First gen PST's in 4-16 and 6-24 (2); all 3 went back at various times for parallax issues, debris inside tubes, hazy glass (4-16).
Viper HS 4-16; went back for tight mag ring but worked as designed otherwise.

 

[orkan]

The 6-36 razor sure is a nice mid-tier scope in my opinion.

 

[Mt Al]

No personal experience and a good friend loves his Vortex rifle scopes.

My take, could be wrong: they were a brilliant marketing company when they started that happened to be selling optics to wanna be tacticool/hard core hunters. They wisely used the names of high end glass, mostly Swarovski, in their messaging through every single forum/blog/etc. It was the same exact message from the start about comparing Vortex to Swarovski on price point. Kind of a 'stick it to the man'/'you don't have to be dumb like Swaro buyers' message, repeated way too often/too obvious. They copied colors, shapes, sizes.

Having worked in the high end outdoor industry much of my life, this just personally pissed me off. Why not stand on your own? Why have a marketing/PR group feed the same message with different words to bloggers/forum posters, etc? Easy: because it's a marketing campaign to pump us sales by playing with people's emotions, which is what marketing is in the first place. Not a crime, I just don't want to play. Did buy once/cry once with a Swaro spotter and Leica binos (17 years old now, working perfectly).

They're probably doing well financially, might be a great company, didn't commit any crimes but that doesn't seem to be a way to build a lasting brand.

 

[Seeknelk]

And how many of those warranty claims were from self infliction? Lots of story’s of them being run over and dropped off a cliff. I have 2 pairs of Binos, range finder and spotter and they’re all running good.

Really? Ive never heard a single story of running over optics or dropping them down a cliff. I need to get out more.

 

[JGRaider]

I've owned, or currently own several "alpha" binoculars in my 51 years of chasing big game animals and varmints, and several of what you would call "near alphas" (Meostar, Gold Ring HD, etc). While I'm not interested in any Vortex riflescopes, and given the fact that I've done my fair share of Vortex bashing in the past, I will admit that the Fury 5000 AB is one I greatly underestimated. I've spent the better part of the last 3 weeks whitetail and mule deer hunting ,and while the glass is not "alpha" grade, it is well above the "usable/average" class glass I originally thought they were. The eyecups stay put, the hinge it tight enough that it stays where I put it, the focus mechanism is just right, and the RF capability is well above the 3, yes 3 different Geovid 3200's that Leica tried to get me to like. The AB data is only as good as the data you input into the app, but mine so far is spot on the money to 800 yards. To say I'm satisfied is an understatement. Time will tell how they hold up, but in my years of dealing with electronic/RF warranties from Leupold, older Leica, and Sig (they suck), I'm not too worried about Vortex taking care of things. Take it FWIW.

 

[Huntin Fool]

Really? Ive never heard a single story of running over optics or dropping them down a cliff. I need to get out more.

I guess you do, even stories of them getting burned in a fire and vortex warrantying them

 

[doc holiday13]

i'd say Vortex Razor series is alright. Their Viper series which is the next step down was meh. Never had anything cheaper. I don't think i'll be owning anymore Vortex optics unless i get a smoking deal.. like more than 50% off

 

[mgebs311]

I’m not that experienced with top shelf glass and I’ve had vortex viper hd Binos for years. Anyways, I decided to save up plasma donation money for some Swarovski EL’s, and I do not regret it one bit, I could never go back. Yes you can get by with Vortex, but I truly feel like my glassing is more effective with the EL’s, more comfortable to glass for longer periods I’d say is one of the biggest things, clarity is amazing!

 

[The10%]

Anyone notice a difference of when they changed their production from Japan to China? Reading the posts it seems like people were more satisfied with the original stuff

 

[Huntin Fool]

I’m not that experienced with top shelf glass and I’ve had vortex viper hd Binos for years. Anyways, I decided to save up plasma donation money for some Swarovski EL’s, and I do not regret it one bit, I could never go back. Yes you can get by with Vortex, but I truly feel like my glassing is more effective with the EL’s, more comfortable to glass for longer periods I’d say is one of the biggest things, clarity is amazing!

Well you’re comparing alpha glass to a binoculars that can be had on sale for $300…

 

[robby denning]

Is there really that much difference between their Viper HD and some of the other mid to higher end glass?

With my experience with their Viper HD vs Swaro' riflescopes. Yes, but you pay for the difference.

with my experience with riflescopes in their Viper vs Razor, yes.

But I did shoot their Razor HD LH for five seasons and was really happy with it. Finally jumped up to Swaro because the hash marks in the Razor were too fine for my aging eyes.

 

[ClearCreek]

I was talking to a friend that just returned from a 4th season (five days long) mule deer hunt in Colorado and his comment was, "...we hunted hard every day, my eyes hurt when we got back to camp at night".

He has Vortex Diamondback binos that he uses in eastern Nebraska white-tail hunting where he normally sees the deer with the naked eye then uses the Diamondbacks binos to confirm if the deer is a doe or buck or how big a buck it may be. The distance to those deer is only a few hundred yards and he is not spending a lot of time looking through the glass.

Moral of the story is, for his purpose in eastern Nebraska the Vortex glass he has works for him, but on a Colorado mule deer hunt where prolonged glassing is the norm, they fall short (causing eye strain).

ClearCreek