PRDATR Report post Posted June 9, 2012 I bought my son a pair of Vortex Diamondback 10x50 last year for $250. They may not be the ultimate in glass but we both like them. That said my primary spot adn stalk glass is a pair of 8.5x42 EL's adn looking through the Diamondbacks I was very impressed with them. I wear the EL's but carry either 15's or 20's in my pack for long distance (300 yards+) off a tripod. You cannot hold more than a 10x steady enough for more than a few seconds so buying a pair of 12x or 15x as your only binoculars isn't what you want to do. Sure you can sit on a hill all day with the 15's but when hunting here you will be walking and stalking and having a bino you can hold and readily access is is mandatory. Coues and Javelina can take a few steps and appear or dissapear so you will want to walk and glass every 2-3 minutes or 50 feet, whichever comes first while you are actively hunting. If you aren't doing that you will overlook game. Also get up high and just observe. You will see other hunters and maybe a few hikers. Pay attention to the noise they make. The air our here is dry so casual speech can easily be understood 500 yards away on a calm day. Just walking on rocky terrain the sound of your footsteps are easy to detect 300 yards away by the human ear. If there are cattle in the area they will hone in on you from a few hundred yards, or more. If I was starting out on a limited budget I would look hard at the Diamondbacks. Cabelas and Bass Pro used to have a payment plan called Flex Pay. The way it worked is if the purchase was over say $250 they would spread the payments over 6 months. Pretty good deal but you may have to call them and ask about it as it isn't always advertised. I have also bought a lot of optics from here, http://www.samplelist.com/Vortex-12x50-Razor-Binocular-DEMO-B-P56921.aspx. Walk slow and drink plenty of water. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azslim Report post Posted June 10, 2012 find out if they are the new HD's or the old model, should be able to get the old model for under $500. And Vortex will honor their lifetime warranty on 2nd hands I have been told. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
