Outdated binoculars

Flintknapper said:

I have an old pair of Porro Prism Steiners, but generally grab my Pentax roof prism binoculars for hunting purposes. Both have excellent glass and more than suit my needs...they are just constructed differently.

I bought the Pentax set about 15 yrs. ago and have not babied them. Very happy with the performance and how they've held up. I wouldn't consider either 'outdated'.

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Another “outdated” Pentax user here.

Got them in 2000 for an elk hunting trip.

I spent hours on end glassing that trip and the Pentax’s made that a pleasurable experience.

Awesome glass. I still love them and have no plans of replacing them.

Benp said:

Another “outdated” Pentax user here.

Got them in 2000 for an elk hunting trip.

I spent hours on end glassing that trip and the Pentax’s made that a pleasurable experience.

Awesome glass. I still love them and have no plans of replacing them.

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If you ever decide to sell those..contact me. I love mine and wouldn't mind having a second pair.

Luepold green river or sumthin medium small size. Had them for 10 years....maybe a bit longer. And smaller then that are some 10+ y.o. Pentax compact. The rubber armor started falling off so,I finished the job tearing the rest off. I use these in a small,carpenter slide on belt..... assuming a pouch for your tape measure? Anyway,use them for bow tournament shooting,they're nice.

I know optics wise,the bigger binos are better but,I ain't carrying them,haha.

@troy fairweather

My .02. Do your research. I researched for a long time before I got mine. I believe the only top roof prism players back then were Zeiss, Swaro, Leica and Pentax. Fortunately that has changed for the better with more excellent choices today.

I consider good glass as an investment. It will serve you extremely well for a very very long time as opposed to a cheap pair.

If it is not in the cards at the moment then hold out until it is.

Here are a couple guides / reviews I found regarding binoculars for elk hunting. The reason I picked elk hunting was the amount of time you spend glassing. It is a lot. So all of the pluses and minus's come out.

https://opticsmag.com/best-binoculars-for-elk-hunting/

https://pickabow.com/best-hunting-binoculars/


When buying time comes don't discount Ebay and lesser known SWFA's Sample List.
https://www.samplelist.com/

Speaking of ebay..... I just found these. Holy crap. I think I paid almost $700 for mine. Someone needs to scarf these up.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pentax-8x42-DCF-WP/293249400569?hash=item444706bef9:g:fLgAAOSwt4ddeBg-

Good luck and sorry for my rambling.

ETA - One more thing.

Get a set of Bino Buddy's. It is a harness that distributes the weight to your shoulders and not around your neck. The binoculars are with you at all times and stay out of the way. The harness also stabilizes them when you have them up and viewing. An excellent accessory.

Mine are Cabelas brand but look similar to this.

https://www.opticsplanet.com/vortex-binoculars-accessory-vtharness.html

I use the glasses my dad bought in 1966. They work well enough on our place where distances aren't great plus they always remind me of him.

Good glass is always good glass. In essence you buy visibility and service life by choosing high end optics. On the other hand manufacturing and especially coating technologies improve all the time and today's mid/high-priced (say, from $500 on up) binoculars are better than anything that was available some 30-40 years ago.

I look at it as an investment. If I hunt 30 days a year on average, 30 year service life means that $900 binoculars cost me $1/day, which is a smoking bargain in my book. The buy once, cry once -principle at its best.

troy fairweather said:

I wish I could afford a good pair,I think I can spend about $300

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That'll suffice for very nice glass these days. Nikon Monarch 5 -series, Vortex Diamondback HD and so on.

I’ve got a buddy that has gotten into a “you only live once” mode and has started buying the finest things over the past decade or so. I have picked up more than a few of his old optics. His old Leupold binoculars are my newest ones.

“Old” doesn’t necessarily mean “bad”. You can have old glass that’s better than some new glass.

I have a pair of leupold Mojave 3 10x50’s. They were super, super discounted in Cabelas Bargain Cave

They’re a little bigger than I’d prefer, but the optical quantity is outstanding. The idea about the bino buddies is spot on. Makes carrying them quite easy

Weight is an issue with me hunting. Practicality is also important. As a result, I use a pair of Leupold Yosemite 6x30 binoculars that work very well for the woods. I started carrying binoc's when I started using a revolver as my primary gun. No scope to sneak a peak at distance.

I have a couple old $50ish Bushnells that are terrible and the Yosemite were an upgrade to be sure. Also use a pair of Nikon 8x42 Monarchs. Have a pair of 10x30 Yosemite's also. Yeah, I have been pleased with the Leupolds.

I have an old pair of made in Japan binoculars that I found at Goodwill. They say Jason 1111 on them. They are clear and work fine for looking out the back door at birds and such.
Think I got them for 5 bucks on "Old Fart" senior discount Tuesday ?

Shanghai McCoy said:

I have an old pair of made in Japan binoculars that I found at Goodwill. They say Jason 1111 on them. They are clear and work fine for looking out the back door at birds and such.
Think I got them for 5 bucks on "Old Fart" senior discount Tuesday ?

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You could double your money for them on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercury-Bi...a=0&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Flintknapper said:

You could double your money for them on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercury-Binoculars-Model-1111-7-x-35-Empire-Mercury-w-Original-Case-Vintage/202653081989?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=1&asc=60256&meid=c1100c176d554bcbb36d09

c9e0fe9b0e&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=12&mehot=pf&sd=232144854884&itm=202653081989&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

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You want to see crazy vintage glass prices on eBay look up Redfield Golden 5 Star scopes.


I was looking for a mate to the 2-7 I have on my Whelen. I could triple my money for that scope that’s on there.

Benp said:

You want to see crazy vintage glass prices on eBay look up Redfield Golden 5 Star scopes.

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They are surprisingly decent scopes, especially given their vintage and original price bracket. I still have a 3-9x40, I originally bought it because it was one of the cheapest brand-name scopes in US Cavalry 1988 mail order catalog. Now they're sought after vintage items. People are crazy.

I’m still amazed how good the glass is on my 2-7 even 30 years later.

Redfield made good optics back then.

Their binoculars, the rubber armored ones, were very good as well.

I buy old ones like the swift pictured above or the mini 10x25's when I find them at Goodwill and toss them into 'to go' (get home) bags. I make them up and give them to friends and family to toss in their cars, plus keep a few to give away to neighbors and such, if needed, in an emergency. A can of Spam or such, a flashlight, batteries (kept separate to keep from corroding)some 550 cord, a cheap Ozark Trail knife, reusable, washable plastic utensils, snivel kit, and fire source, in some kind of ditty bag, usually milsurp gas mask/bread bags. Of course my bag is a large ALICE pack.....

The binos are cheap but better than nothing.