Out of the four you previously listed I would be looking at either the Monarchs or the Cabelas XTs. Those XTs are a nice bit of glass for the price. I picked up a pair and was quite astonished at their performance for the price. For those of you that are interested in their country of origin I believe they are made in Japan. That is not a knock on the Chinese stuff though as they seem to be producing some quality stuff lately as well.

I never tried the Diamondbacks but the Vortex Furys are a very nice glass at/around that price point as well. I have the 6.5x32 model.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.asp?pid=4854

That is the cheapest you will find that model of leupold anywhere. They are real crisp and vivd for that price range.

Check this out. Great bino's:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?p=WX2&i=119843

Thanks for the recommondations, I went to an "overpriced" sporting goods storeand check out some of these.

They had theMinox, Cascades, and Shasta Ridges, and all were really good, withMinoxslightly the better of the three.

The Shastas were a bit on the bulky side, but I managed to pick up a new set of 10x on ebay for $110.00 shipped, and really like 'em.

I plan onshopping for a set of compact 8x binos for quick access, and save the Shastas for extensive glassing.

Pentax DCF-SP 10x43

those Bruntons sound appealing.....

I say take your $400 and add $100 to it....I'd pass on the Nikon's......less you guys are referring to a newer nicer model, when I looked at the nikons around $350 I think.....I wasn't impressed at all. So less some newer more elite model has come out......

I've narrowed my selection to the folling 10x42's:

Leupold Acadia @ $180
Leupold Cascade @ $270
Nikon Monarch ATB @ $270
Burris Fullfield II @ $195

The Monarchs are the lighest (by only 2oz), the Acadia has the best FOV (margine of 11'), and the Burris has the longest eye relief (by a margin of only one millimeter).
Is the Cascade or Monarch really worth the extra $90? Anyone have experience with the Acadia? This will be my first decent set of Bino's. I can't justify a $500+ set of Bino's if I don't even have a gun safe yet...especially when the Mrs. has an insecure feeling about having guns in the house.

Go just a little bit more and never have to worry about glass again....

Got my Zeiss 10X bins here:

http://www.cameralandny.com/

Talk to Doug, he's Good People........

I'll add another vote to Nikon Monarchs. A truly good pair of binos for hunting purposes. Bunshells are not a bad pair of binos either. But I would pick the Nikon Monarchs due to their exceptional price and all the added features that come along with it.

I vote for the monarch's as well. I have 8x42s w/camo print that I surfed from Froogle for only $250. See my post on the previous thread for more explanation. Best luck and God bless.

i like the Alpen Shasta Ridge Binos in 8x42