10x42 binos choices
 

Alright. I'm back at the trying to talk myself into buying another pair of binos. I have an older pair of Nikon Monarchs and a pair of Vortex Diamondbacks.


The Nikons are much brighter and crisper but the dang eye cups keep breaking. Its very sandy where I mainly use them. The Vortex imo does not do well in low light although the quality seems to be better.


The ones I am considering are either the Leupold BX3 Mojave or the Cabelas intensity. The Leupolds are on sale right now so it kinda sparked my interet.


Anyone have any reviews you can share with either of them?

If I were looking for another pair, I would look at Fujinon. They make Binos for the military in several countries, including the US and have a good reputation. I have a pair of their rubber armored 7X50 Marine binocs with a built in compass, when you look through them you see the compass heading of the direction you are looking.They are the clearest Binos I have ever looked through much better than my buddies Steiners. Just google Fujinon Binoculars and check them out.

I use Nikon Monacch 10X 40mm - 10 years old now (still very happy with them !).

If you are talking about the lens "covers" - I cut them off (ocular end) the minute I brought them.

I use a shoulder harness & have no time to take off lens covers while in the field.

I use the crooked horn harness that keeps them close to my chest. The eye piece broke on mine. The part you adjust to put your eye closer or further from the lens. Sand I guess got in the threads and it didn't take much pressure trying to adjust them when they broke. I bought them new but never registered them so Nikon will not cover the warrantee. But they will repair them at my cost lol. Lesson learned about registering them I guess

Probably worth getting them repaired by Nikon IMO.

Based on your choices listed above, it looks like you are trying to stay in that $200-500 range. Is that correct or are you willing to go up a little?

You would be correct. My budget doesn't allow for me to go much higher at least until the kids are out of school and stuff starts to get paid off lol.


The diamondbacks are real easy on the eyes when glassing all day but they lack the clarity that I get from the Monarchs. I was considering the Monarch 5 until I seen the sale on the Leupolds. 249$ when reg price is 400$. I just haven't had the time to compare them.


I'll prob still send my Nikons off to be repaired. I'll just wait till after the season as I am still using them. If the eye piece fell off however I would be stuck

Getting your Nikons repaired would be your cheapest route to go. If you were able to stretch you budget another $100, You could consider the Vortex Viper binos (10x42) and they are definitely a step up to the next level of glass. My wife is getting into hunting and we have been looking through several binos at Cabelas, Sportsman's, etc. Both she and I noticed a substantial bump up in the Vortex Viper binos and yes, we also looked through the Diamondbacks. My wife likes the size, clarity and just plain feel of the Vipers. She said they even beat out my 25-year-old Swarovski 7x30's for clarity and smoothness of focusing, etc. And that's saying a lot.

You got me curious so I just looked up the Vortex Viper 10x42's on Amazon and they are on sale right now at $457.83. That is a very healthy discount as the normal retail price is $600. Dang it, I may have to make a last minute Amazon order now. :D

Well, I guess the wife is getting a slightly late Christmas present of the Vipers. We have Amazon Prime with 2-day free shipping and they're not collecting any tax. $457.83 out the door to our front door. :D:D:D

I bought the Vortex 10x42 Vipers and have not been sorry at all.
Toss in a S4 bino harness and you are golden.
JW

The wife has pointed out that I may have to get a pair of 8x42's also. Dang it Kelly, you sure are raising heck with my budget. :D:D:D:D

LOL. Sorry about that. Never told ya to look at amazon though ;)

We went up to Cabela's outside of Reno last month on an anniversary trip and looked at a lot of binos. We both liked the vortex Razor glass but it was simply too pricey. We looked at the Vulture glass and it was about 90-95% of what the Razor was at half the price ($600). We looked at the Diamondback but it was too far down the ladder in quality. Not a bad pair of binos but just not comparable to the vulture or Razor glass.

I have a 25-year-old pair of Swarovski SLC binos (7x30) that is kind of my baseline for binos. They cost me $400 back then and today's current model is about $800. My wife has looked through my Swarovski's and likes the clarity, size and weight. When we checked binos, she liked the Razor best but also noted the Vulture was pretty close. I told her we should wait to see if Cabela's put them on sale as $600 was a little pricey for our budget back then. At $457, that is a steal. I may have to pick up a pair of Vulture 8x42's also (they were $489 on amazon yesterday), depending on which magnification she prefers but I am definitely going to enjoy field testing both. :D:D

Nikon Monarch 7 8x42 works great for me :happy0001: