“MYTH: Thousand-dollar binoculars are a waste of money.

TRUTH: I can’t tell you how many guides I’ve met who owned the clothes on their back, a pickup truck, and a pair of thousand-dollar binoculars. There’s a reason for that.”

David E Petzal

Well it must have been a while back the The Gun Nut wrote that, because you aren't going to see a lot of 'high end' for a thousand bucks these days. This pair'll set you back £1500 which is the best part of $2500! Ouch.

Did I mention that they have a built in laser range finder!

I was mad about The Six Million Dollar Man as a lad and while lifting engine blocks with one hand and running a 60 mph are both cool, my favorite of his powers was where he'd 'close one eye to scope in on a target and be able to see how far away it was.

Obviously $5,997,500 is a lot of change but do they make the Der Der Deh noise or do you have to make that yourself?

SBW

I want a pair to go with new knife, FN and (existing) pick up.

Cheers,

LSP

Nice, but my midrange binocs or rifle scope, depending, and a separate Nikon laser finder work fine for me and leave more money for GUN PROJECTS and HUNTING and RIFLE OPTICS from Leupold and Swaro.

If I were a rich man....but I'm not. I'll admit they're nice but not at that price. I've bought Westley Richards rifles for less than that in the good old days.

More money for ammo wouldn't hurt either...

SBW,

As nice as they are, I think there are better hunting optics for the regular hunting enthusiast at one fifth that price. I would be worried about banging them around, getting them wet, keeping them from the kids, etc. I would be concerned with a $500 just the same, but well, you know!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Outfitter Chronicles Interview: J Scott Croner Part I
Outfitter Chronicles Interview: J Scott Croner Part II

Albert and Tom
Ahh yes.
Wantin' and gonna gettin' are different.

When have you ever seen me actually lay my hands on anything from the 'i want one series'?

Such is suburban life
SBW

dont need bincoluars when your hunting stag with a steyr amr iws 2000,some same its to easy with this beauty mate,the cart is 15.2 so only one shot needed ,looks good resting on a mountain top,even better next to your manly chest,come on bare all!

HeeHee,

Wonder how you developed your newest "fan" base. Guy's sick but amusing.

Tom
It aint easy being this good looking!
SBW

Mega dollar binos are very cool to look through and interesting to appreciate. In the field they're a lot more like a Rolex- something expensive you'll worry about a lot for very little real gain over a decent Timex model.

The only thing worse than a cheap pair of binos you can't see out of is a real expensive pair you'll fuss over...

Something middle of the road you'll use and abuse and be functional is a better deal.

Hodgeman
Wise words
SBW

I've got the 10x50 version, and yeah... it's a lot of money, but it's money well-spent.

Hunting the west, you spend a lot of time behind the glass (a lot more than I did in the NC swamps), and quality really pays for itself. As both a recreational hunter and a guide, the Leica is functional to an extreme. It doesn't hurt that a guide is often judged by the quality of his glass. Showing up with a good set of binos goes a long way in establishing confidence in your client, even before you get into the field to demonstrate woodcraft.

As for durability, I can vouch for the fact that they'll take all the abuse a pair of working binos will get, and then some. They're waterproof, snow-proof (although the laser rangefinder has some trouble in heavy snow or fog), and I've dropped them in the rocks more times than I'd like to admit. On top of that, Leica customer service and support have been top-notch. (Swaro and Leupold are also great.)

$2500 is no chump change for the everyman, but you do get your money's worth.