Seeking Optics Advice

[Badger 5]

Hi all,

A little bit of background on myself - I recently moved from the Midwest to the state of Washington and am trying to make some
Optics decisions for this upcoming fall. I’ll be hunting alpine bears, archery mule deer, and elk in September in Idaho (because I hear Washington doesn’t have elk anymore). I spent a week last year in Idaho and spent more time behind the glass the first day of the trip than I had in my whole life. So my experience behind glass is limited.

Advice needed: I currently have a pair of 10x42 Vortex Diamondbacks. I stupidly looked through a friends vortex Razors immediately decided I want to upgrade my binos. If you were me, given my planned hunts and vortex diamondbacks, would you upgrade binos or pickup a spotter in the $500-$1000 range)? Given my Current binos and what I will hunt this fall, would you recommend upgrading the binos (vortex razor or similar quality) or spending $750-1,000 on a nice spotter? I really want to avoid picking up a spotter I want to upgrade down the road...


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[flashgordon]

Welcome to Washington!!! Washington can get a bit crowded but has some great opportunities for the fellers who do their homework and put in work. You will use binos more often than any other optic. I'd upgrade to best bino you can afford and spend some cash on a quality tripod/head/bino adaptor. Binos on a tripod are a true game changer. Keep looking in the classifieds for quality used optics to make the dollar go further.

 

[22lr]

Ill second what flashgordon is saying. If you get the binos, you can add a good tripod setup, and if you find you still want the spotter... you only need the spotter not the spotter and a tripod. For what your doing, maybe think about a 12x pair of binos. I have the Viper 10x42 and a Viper 65mm spotter, to me its everything I need. If I spent more days in the field per year I'd probably justify getting the 12x50 Razors but I just don't get that many opportunities to get out so its not worth the upgrade to me at this point.

If I was you, I'd get a 12x pair of Binos, and a good tripod. Later down the road pick up a spotter if you find it would be useful. As with all Vortex stuff, no need to buy new unless that's just what you prefer, get a deal on a used pair or refurbished.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

There are great options, under $1,000.00, in high quality binoculars, to name a few:
Meopta Meostar
Leica Trinovid
GPO Passion HD
It would be our pleasure to discuss options with you

 

[JGRaider]

Go with a quality 10x42 so that you won't necessarily need a tripod for long glassing sessions. They will still work great for that, but handheld 12x is too much IMO. It will be easy to equal a Razor HD for less money.

 

[Badger 5]

Thanks for all your responses. Since I plan to keep the 10x42s I will go with a 12x pair like your recommendations.

I will take a look at some of the mentioned products. Any other recommendations on specific pieces of glass?


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[Badger 5]

There are great options, under $1,000.00, in high quality binoculars, to name a few:
Meopta Meostar
Leica Trinovid
GPO Passion HD
It would be our pleasure to discuss options with you

I’ll give you a call today. I need to pickup a tripod as well.


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[WI in the west]

hands down get the binos first, itll change your life. shed hunting specifically I am constantly reminded how I probably wouldn't of found an antler with lesser binos. I bought the maven B-2's around 2 years ago now. There a good mid grade bino before making the expensive Euro glass jump. I fully credit a large number of sheds and the elk I killed last year to upgrading from the diamond backs to these. but regaurdless of brand upgrade the binos is what im saying youll be happy you did.

 

[TSimons9]

If you are like most people you will spend 99% of your time looking through the binos. I had the vortex diamondback 10x42 several years ago and decided to upgrade to the 12x50 razor. Ran those for 2 years and felt like the GPO Passion HD was a significant improvement in brightness, edge clarity and overall ergonomics. I would consider the GPO if I were you, they are around 1300 brand new and significantly cheaper if you can find some used. Good luck!

 

[Badger 5]

Thanks a lot for the advice everybody, this was very helpful!


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