keep the frame and see if you can put a different belt and shoulder straps on it. That is my plan in case it does not fit me well -- I'm after the frame not the belt.
Does anyone have a side by side of the 22 inch vs the 25 inches? I am looking for a 'small' travel backpack, and I am insane and can only use external frame hunting backpacks (you know, in case a war breaks out and I am stuck somewhere weird, at least my backpack would be able to deal with some...
I just saw this -- it is possible it is you not the scope. I NEVER have any issue looking through any bino, and I always have to find the sweet spot for I place my eye with scopes. Unless my eye is *perfectly* aligned with the scope the view I get is foggy and smudgy. Wide angle oculars (like...
I had the 65mm, now I own the 80mm and the STC. They are different for different uses. In terms of use the 65 is far closer to the 80 than the STC (which is miles more portable, and you can get away with leaning against a tree to use at 40x, and you should be able to use it at 17x in your hand...
I am willing to bet the Kowa 554 is optically as good or better than then Swaro STC (and it is 18% lighter), but the field of view of the Kowa is 35% smaller on the wide end, and 22% smaller at the narrow end, and I just cannot abide the tunnel effect, so I got the Swaro.
I assume you start at dawn and move it from there, so you get more light as thing go, which helps. On that kind of terrain (Monterenzio) a few years ago I was spotting a female red deer + her fawn at about 1450 metres away at dusk, with the 80mm swaro on a tripod and that was not a super clear...
Get an external frame pack, and different bags for different use. I have a Seek Outside revolution frame and a few bags, and all my uses are covered (including EDC).