Budget binos: you don't need to spend a fortune

Guns Magazine, August, 2009 by Jacob Gottfredson

I like quality glass. Unfortunately, I can't afford most of the top binoculars I evaluate. But that is changing. Over the past few years more and more glass continues to hit the market for the budget minded buyer and it's giving the big boys a run for their money.

Several of my hunting friends buy binos and hang them from a peg clothed in bubble wrap. They throw them in the truck, abuse them, and then buy another pair at the beginning of the next season. For a price of about $40, they can keep this up for 30 years, at which time they have only spent $1,200 and enjoyed the use of a new bino every year.

If they can make them last 2 seasons, the price is reduced to $600 and so on. And a bubble wrap case is cheap. I tried this a time or two many years ago. What I found was glass with annoying aberrations, coma, color fringing, poor resolution and contrast, meager twilight viewing, mechanisms that might last one season, and barrels sometimes out of alignment, resulting in eye strain after a few minutes viewing. Still, not a bad idea, though, for the sportsman who uses them only five days a year and has little appreciation for quality viewing.

There is a better alternative.

At the risk of having you roll your eyes with the obvious, let me again list what makes a binocular, or any other sporting optic, quality glass. It must have good resolution in the 5 to 7 Arc Seconds range, crisp contrast, a lack of most aberrations, and sturdy internals. You might also like armor and waterproofness. The current fad has also established the roof prism as the most popular binocular, although this love affair is displaced.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Ton Of Money?

In the past (as long ago as just a few years) to obtain those qualities in a binocular, you had to step up to European models and other expensive binos, often spending $1,500 or more. The price can go above $2,000 these days for some models. Asian markets emerged, driving the price of good glass down below the $1,000 mark, and many American manufacturers followed suit. In the past few years, however, binoculars with good quality glass can be purchased for less than $500 and sometimes much less. Many of these have excellent internals and mechanisms as well and some that will last you a lifetime, often with great warranties.

Thus, if you're willing to come up with $500 and often less, you can have quality far above the bubble wrap crowd and never spend another dollar. Well, that's not exactly the case, not for me at least. I need at least three such binoculars. The first is what I call a compact, something in the 20-ounce range and approximately 8X I can carry around my neck all day while hunting. Second would be a larger, heavier binocular of approximately 12X carried in the truck and sometimes mounted on a tripod for scanning the far ridges. When something of interest is found, the spotting scope is substituted.

Last but not least is a very small bino, which I call running glass, one you can't live without. It is always there and much better than nothing. These are often 8X or 10X with 20mm to 30mm objective lenses and weigh as little as 8 ounces. By far the most useful is the first one, the one you carry around your neck all day. Most popular are those of about 8X to 10X with objective lenses in the 35mm to 45mm range.

Several manufacturers with such binoculars include Burris, Bushnell, Leupold, Nikon, Pentax and Steiner. Let me start with a couple of very inexpensive models from Leupold and feature others in future articles.

Leupold's Acadia And Yosemite

These binoculars are representative of the two types available. The Yosemite is a Porto Prism design, while the Acadia is the now more popular Roof Prism configuration. Both fit my compact definition, that is, in a weight class allowing easy carry in the field. Both are armored and nitrogen filled. Both are center focus, waterproof, and can be purchased for less than $300 ($100 and $200 on the street respectively). Yet both offer considerable quality with a comprehensive warranty, something Leupold is famous far, primarily because they are an American company and because they have the resources to service customers.

The Acadia Roof Prism binocular is phase coated with multicoated lenses. The Yosemite Porro Prism binocular has multicoated lenses as well. Both come with cases, straps, twist out eyecups, and lens protectors. A lot is provided in an attractive box rather than bubble wrap. The Yosemite is made in the Philippines, the Acadia in China, which leads to a personal story.

While in Alaska hunting caribou, a storm system blew in, confining me to my small pup tent. Prior to going, I had purchased some of the best gear available. My tent and sleeping bag were Northface, considered some of the best and formally made in Europe. The same was the case for all my gear. Having nothing to do, and being a bit bored after a few hours, I began looking at the labels on each piece of gear I had. I suddenly became aware that if it were not for China and other Asian countries, I would be sitting in the cold in only my shorts, ammo and rifle, the ammo having been loaded by yours truly. Unfortunate maybe, but a fact of modern life.