Binos

DeerMadness

Long Time Member
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I have a friend who needs to buy some binos. He said he wants to spend 500 or so. What would be the best bet ? I offered to let him use my Nikons but he declined.
 
Nikon monarch 3 is pretty good glass still have mine from 2013 I looked threw my buddy’s mavens and they were super crisp.
 
I just bought cheaper vortex 10x42 diamond back and the cheaper nikons I had were much better in lower light.
 
Votex best warranty that you will need probably several times over if you use them at all. I would go with whatever Nikon has in your friends price range.
I’ve been using vortex bios, rifle scopes, and my range finder and spotting scope.
None of these have ever needed repairs!
 
He said he is getting Diamondbacks. I thought Nikon Monarch 3 is a 12 power if they have them. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. They have seen some really nice bulls. I hope his son gets a good one. He is about 24 and is in top shape. Gets a decent deer every year.
 
He said he is getting Diamondbacks. I thought Nikon Monarch 3 is a 12 power if they have them. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. They have seen some really nice bulls. I hope his son gets a good one. He is about 24 and is in top shape. Gets a decent deer every year.


I like mine. But they have been back twice(technically they send me a new pair each time) for the twist up lense stripping
 
He said he is getting Diamondbacks. I thought Nikon Monarch 3 is a 12 power if they have them. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. They have seen some really nice bulls. I hope his son gets a good one. He is about 24 and is in top shape. Gets a decent deer every year.
Ya my nikons are 12x42 I guess they don’t make them anymore just monarch 5.
 
I've had pretty good luck with my Vortex products. Are they the best? No. Do they fit my budget? Yes. Have I taken advantage of their great warranty? Multiple times.
I've actually loved my Leupold Binos. I'll be upgrading by binos here again in the near future and am seriously looking at the BX-4 or BX-5 Leupolds. But I change my mind a lot so who knows. :)
 
There are lots of optics companies with a warranty that is as good as Vortex has. The difference is you will be using the Vortex warranty. When a warranty is your claim to fame it should make you think twice.

Or, just don't be a klutz. Most swaro warranty stories I've read is because the young punk is abusive to his gear or the guy is a klutz with butter-fingers.

Maybe Vortex will have to repair because of poor craftmanship and/or speedy assembly and maybe not.

I have a hard time believing that some kind of assembly line process isn't used on Leica, swaro, Zeiss, etc for as many as they sell worldwide...
 
Funny to hear all the bad claims of Vortex.

I have used the binos, spotters and rifle scopes for at least 15 years. I have used the warranty 1 time. I dropped my spotter out of the back seat of my truck. It landed in the most perfectly bad spot.

I have a friend who saved for years to get some Swaros spotter. After 1 year, he had to send it in with water inside it. Took 2 months to get back.

So I guess Swaros are bad too? LOL!
 
My kids have the 10 x 42 Vortex Diamond backs. I think one is HD and the other not. When I don't have my Bino's close by and grab them and they work fine. I have a old pair of Nikon Monarchs but nobody will use them. I like the feel of the cheap Vortex's better then the Nikons.
 
The warranty does you no good when you are on a hunt and you have issues. I’ve owned one Vortex product and i had a problem the first time that i used it. I‘ve never had to use the warranty for any of my optics from other brands (Swaro, Nikon, Leupold, Docters, Zeiss, and Trijicon).
 
There are lots of optics companies with a warranty that is as good as Vortex has. The difference is you will be using the Vortex warranty. When a warranty is your claim to fame it should make you think twice.
You don’t have a. Lie with your made of story!
 
Nikon warranty

Screenshot_20210901-184841_Chrome.jpg
 
Only Vortex offers VIP no fault, lifetime warranty.
I do not like the fact they are built in China but very few of us go through the day without using somthing that was made in China.
I have owned two pairs of binoculars, one Spotting scope and multiple rifle scopes for around 10 years.
I owned a pair of Nikon Monarch binoculars worked great for 5 years but when I really noticed the lack of focusing it was after 7 years and the warranty would not cover them. Instead of paying to fix the Nikons I bought a pair of Vortex Diamondbacks they got stolen after owning them for 4 years, now I own a pair of Razors UHD and they work great going on three years. The only issue with the Vortex products is the Razors rubber eye cup has a small rip.
 
I've used Zeiss 10x40 binos for 30 plus years almost daily. Great glass; that said, I bought my wife a pair of Leupold 10x40 for an Alaskan adventure and was duly impressed and substantially less money. Check them out!
 
Only Vortex offers VIP no fault, lifetime warranty.
I do not like the fact they are built in China but very few of us go through the day without using somthing that was made in China.
I have owned two pairs of binoculars, one Spotting scope and multiple rifle scopes for around 10 years.
I owned a pair of Nikon Monarch binoculars worked great for 5 years but when I really noticed the lack of focusing it was after 7 years and the warranty would not cover them. Instead of paying to fix the Nikons I bought a pair of Vortex Diamondbacks they got stolen after owning them for 4 years, now I own a pair of Razors UHD and they work great going on three years. The only issue with the Vortex products is the Razors rubber eye cup has a small rip.
Burris has as good a warranty as Vortex. I know this thread is about binoculars and granted they don't have as many options in binoculars but they build some of the toughest scopes in the market. I've used them on T/C encore handguns chambered in .338 Win mag and .470 nitro express (yes handguns in those chamberings) there just isn't another brand of handgun scopes that can handle the beating as Burris does. I've used them on many big-bore rifles including .50 bmg which are notorious scope eaters and never once had an issue.

I was a Vortex dealer for quite a few years and I won't ever buy them. I did buy one pair of Vortex binos for my daughter and they literally fell apart. The eyepiece and lens snapped right off. Granted they did replace them with the newer HD version so that was nice of them. I don't know of any other optics company that has such a high rate of warranty returns. They just aren't built with durability in mind. Like was mentioned earlier, that warranty doesn't do much for you in the middle of a hunt when your optics go t!ts up.

Yes I know many people get offended when the products they use get bad mouthed and I can't help you there. It is what it is.
 
deidibob
You are right Burris warranty is as good as Vortex with tge exception they are same as Leopold and Maven they all three have that escape clause "deliberate damage" I do belive in most cases none of these companies use that escape clause to get out of repair but it is in the warranty.
You probably have a educated opinion of what is good in the optics industry after working in that field thanks for the advice.
 
I have Leica binos and spotter. After 11 years my spotter tripod mount busted. I was worried they wouldn't cover it due to what the warranty said. They fixed it no questions asked. I was surprised how fast they got it back to me.

I used to be a vortex dealer. The reason they advertise their warranty so much is for a reason. You will more than likely use it. They are junk!
 
Mavens hands down. We have sold all our other glass and only pack maven now. They are a touch heavy but solid as they come and we have yet to use the warranty... With vortex I always had something needing to be sent in...

The new maven range finder is pretty awesome as well!!!
 
A few years back I compared Vortek, Leupold, and Nikon side by side. All close in price. The glass was very close in quality. I, and my friend though the Nikons edged out the others plus the diopter ring would lock. That was big for me. Can’t really go wrong with any of them.
 
Would Throwing a SWARO Spotter in the Back of Your Pick-Up without a Case Be Covered Under Their Warranty?
 
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After reading the thread I went to Vernal Sportsman Warehouse later in the day. Checked their online profile and Monarch 7 was in stock. A sales fella came to the counter and asked how can he help. I said I shed hunt a lot and would like to upgrade to a Nikon.

Gent behind the counter looked at me and said he doesn't know much about those but Vortexes are the best. Plus incredible warranty vs limited for others.

I insisted and he started pulling the empty boxes from under the counter. These?... No those are 5s... these?... these are pro-something... those I want are listed 499... he got a bit unhappy.

So he pulled the last box marked 7, checks with inventory list and sez we only have this one on display. The demo was pretty beat up I asked him when they restock...

The rest is history,
:mad:
 
Maven is Japanese glass and manufactured in San Diego and headquarters in Lander Wyoming.
They might become the optics of my future.
Keep in mind the warranty is only as good as the company. Maven used to be Brunton. Brunton had okay binocs with an amazing “lifetime no fault warranty”. So I now have a couple pairs of Brunton binoculars that are broken with a warranty that’s as good as the company. Nonexistent.

When buying gear, stick with a proven company that will be around long term.
 
After reading the thread I went to Vernal Sportsman Warehouse later in the day. Checked their online profile and Monarch 7 was in stock. A sales fella came to the counter and asked how can he help. I said I shed hunt a lot and would like to upgrade to a Nikon.

Gent behind the counter looked at me and said he doesn't know much about those but Vortexes are the best. Plus incredible warranty vs limited for others.

I insisted and he started pulling the empty boxes from under the counter. These?... No those are 5s... these?... these are pro-something... those I want are listed 499... he got a bit unhappy.

So he pulled the last box marked 7, checks with inventory list and sez we only have this one on display. The demo was pretty beat up I asked him when they restock...

The rest is history,
:mad:
Fencer, I was a Vortex dealer. The reason most salesman say vortex is so good, is because they earn points for free vortex optics when they sell them. Lots of brands do it. The program vortex offers is hard to beat for a salesman. I earned all kinds of high end vortex optics that I would turn around and sell to pay for other things. If any salesman at sportsman's is being honest with you they will tell you all about it.
 
Fencer, I was a Vortex dealer. The reason most salesman say vortex is so good, is because they earn points for free vortex optics when they sell them. Lots of brands do it. The program vortex offers is hard to beat for a salesman. I earned all kinds of high end vortex optics that I would turn around and sell to pay for other things. If any salesman at sportsman's is being honest with you they will tell you all about it.

Roger that. It makes sense now.
 
Vortex is dog ?. I would call it the 6.5 creedmoor of optics but I’m actually fond of the creedmoor. You get what you pay for with optics, period end of story. You honestly couldn’t pay me enough to ever promote or endorse vortex… China built crap with a “warranty” backing it. If you hunt 5 days a year then it’s probably all you need but I’d rather wrap my hands around some cheapo leupolds or mavens
 
The Cabelas Euros are in fact Meopta as deadibob said.

I have heard that Cabelas no longer honors the lifetime warranty of them although I have zero direct experience and am too lazy to research where I saw it. And Meopta was hesitant to honor the warranty on the Cabellas labeled bino but some were having success with that.

Meopta on the other hand has a pretty good reputation for customer service and you can by the same bino without the cabelas label from Doug at Cameraland a sponsor here I believe.
 
I’ve been using a pair of Nikon monarch 10x42 for quite some time now and have yet to have a single issue, for being what I consider a budget Binos they have great glass and really don’t have me rushing to get a pair of higher end Binos.
They are kind of the Toyota Corolla of the bino world.
 
Maven all the way. Solid company not going anyplace, they are building a new headquarter in my backyard and the glass is great and the warranty is supposed to be good but have not needed it yet at all...
 
Fencer, I was a Vortex dealer. The reason most salesman say vortex is so good, is because they earn points for free vortex optics when they sell them. Lots of brands do it. The program vortex offers is hard to beat for a salesman. I earned all kinds of high end vortex optics that I would turn around and sell to pay for other things. If any salesman at sportsman's is being honest with you they will tell you all about it.
Yep, Vortex bucks. Never trust the sales guy because they are usually thinking of themselves. Vortex does have a good program for getting free product.
 

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