During my 2011 elk hunt in Colorado I happened upon a couple
of hunters from Ohio. While we visited and exchange strategies someone noticed
an elk on a ridge about a mile away. Of course we all unhinged our bino’s to
get a closer look. As I was giving that elk the once over, my new found friend
was providing a detailed description of the bull. “Nice 4x5, good mass and nice
whale tails.” he began telling me. Now I could tell the elk was a bull and
suspected it was a nice bull but really, could he see all that? My new friend
allowed me to peek through his Swarovski binoculars and slap-me-naked, I could count
the points and see the mass and whale tails. What a difference good glass
makes. At that moment, I knew this would
be my year to upgrade my trusted Nikon’s. Just to be clear, I was happy with my Nikon’s,
but that experience made it evident, their long range performance had gaps that
I wanted to fill. As I told my wife, “I need an upgrade”.
While driving home from the 2011 elk hunt I pre-determined my
upgrade was going to be either a Leupold Mojave (around $400) or a Nikon
Monarch (around $300). Vortex was not on my radar.
After hunting season I began researching binoculars. I knew
two things about binoculars. First, I knew that good glass cost more than not
so good glass. Second, I knew I could not afford to spend a mortgage payment to
get new binoculars; I could not bust my hunting budget.
Spending quality time on the internet (Google is your
friend) and you will find more information about binos than the average mind
can absorb. To be sure, entering into a discussion about which brand or model
binocular is best would be akin to entering a debate about which truck is the
best, Chevy, Dodge or Ford. During my research, there was one brand that kept
coming to the forefront, Vortex.
Vortex has been providing quality hunting optics for eight
or so years and seem to have taken market share from a marketplace dominated by
names like Leupold, Zeiss, Leica, Nikon, Swarovski, Bushnell and others. This review is not intended to influence your
optics suppler of choice, rather to provide you with my experience from looking
at dozens of brands and models. At the end of the day, the Vortex HD Viper
10x42 out performed dozens of binoculars I studied and look through.
My initial research lead me to Vortex Diamondback’s ($230),
their mid-range offering. When I compared the Diamondbacks to the Mojave and
Monarch I was astonished at the verdict. In my view, no pun intended, the
Diamondbacks produced better performance than the Monarch’s, for less money. To
my untrained eye, the Diamondbacks performed as well as the Mojave’s for almost
half the price. Vortex had gripped my attention, these guys deserved a closer
look, again no pun intended.
If the Diamondbacks were this good, could the Viper HD be in
the same class as the Swarovski or Zeiss? Back to Google and spending time in
front of the optics counter at BassPro, Cabela’s and my local gun shops
comparing looking glasses. It took little time to surmise that, for all practical
purposes the Viper HD was not only in the same class as the top end binoculars,
the Viper HD was close to the head of the class. When looking through the
Swarovski SLC 42 10x42’s ($2,140) compared to the Viper HD in 10x42 I admitted
the Swarovski was somewhat clearer and provided somewhat better lowlight
performance. But for the $1,500 difference, I could easily sacrifice the marginal
improvement in overall performance. When compared to the Zeiss Conquest ABK
($1,000), I could discern no appreciable difference, except the $400
difference. It was easy for me; Vortex Viper HD became the clear choice.
Of course these observations are from my experience; your observations
may differ. Vortex provides an unlimited, unconditional (fully transferable) lifetime
warranty. Word on the street is they offer stiller customer service. I have
read stories about guys that have dropped their Vortex’s off a cliff and Vortex
replaced them no charge, no questions asked. I have had no issues with mine and
given the quality construction, I don’t expect to.
I recently found myself standing on a ridge at 10,860 feet in
the West Elks Wilderness Area north of Gunnison, CO glassing for elk with my
new Viper HD’s. Sure enough over two miles away I spotted a small herd of elk.
I am confident if I had been using my old Nikon’s I would never had been able
to determine the small herd consisted of a nice 5x5, a satellite bull and 4
cows. Having good glass around your neck will open the door to more successful
hunts.
