Real world feedback needed: Rangefinder Binos

[carpsniperg2]

Looking for some feedback to help make my selection. Could I hear some good and bad from y’all. I have handled and looked through most of the offerings out there. I’m pretty die hard Leupold but still open. Wasn’t real happy with the brightness levels with the displays on a lot of them but only looked through them in a store setting.

Open to any price point.

[ASHQUACK]

I bought the loopy last year. Used them often this year during blacktail hunts. I like them but they are a newish toy to me. I don't have much experience with the other makers other than v-tex. I wasn't impressed with those.

[CarbonHunter]

I’ve had geovids for years. On my second set and the optics are clear and the ballistic calculations are spot on. I’ve had one issue where the laser was off calibration and I sent them back and they corrected the issue at no charge to me. The tech support guy even gave me his direct number just incase I had an issue in the future. Great company to work with.

Leupold and vortex make good glass but buying glass made by camera manufacturers is a step above in my opinion.

[Sakko300wsm]

Leica combp here - had them for about 3-4 years now and definitely was a great purchase! zero problems

[BeerBugler]

2nd gen leica Geovids, maybe my best purchase.

[bowman]

I have the Revic RF binos and wouldn’t go back to having both a rf and binos.

[knighttime25]

I've had the Vortex Fury's for a few years now and love them. As others mentioned, I agree I wouldn't go back to carrying binos and a rangefinder separately.

[HvyHorn338]

Gen 1 Geovid 10x42 owner for many years.  Hands down the best hunting purchase I have made.  I also had to send mine back for recalibration within the first 2-3 years I had them, but it was easy, fast and cost nothing as you would expect.  Since then there have been no malfunctions whatsoever.

Con -  They do not consistently get long ranges when trying to operate in foggy conditions.  Mine have been this way from day 1.

[bigdub257]

Geovids get my vote.  Bought mine used and they have been flawless.

[high_hunter]

Experience with Sigsaur 3k and 6ks both in 10x42 for ~2 seasons on each. Even tho rf binos are a bit heavy, they are areat upgrade over the individual tools in both archery and longgun hunting scenarios. Unless my wife is hunting with me, i always grab the RF pair and other harness has been relegated to a backup. Sigs customer service has been great too! I had a problem with the 3k eye cup after the 2nd year, when I sent them in for repairs they just sent me back a brand new 6k pair instead!

Where some RF binos suffer is the lens coatings to make numbers more legible but can make low light performance poor compared to non-rf. Sig may be one of the worst offenders in this category and i've seen some green, blue, and yellow tinges depending on model; believe this is an issue in most and that companies are still working to overcome.

I like the sigs for the super fast ballistic engine, spot on ranges, and paired phone app is decent. Some buddies have vortex furries and they take FOREVER to range in comparison. Not sure about other models but that was a big turnoff for me. Having a Fog mode is great and helps significantly but all can suffer to range correctly in dence stuff. Go try some out in field conditions and then figure out what price point you're comfortable with as I think this is one tool where that makes a significant difference.

[HUNT JR]

I have the gen 2 Sig Kilo 10k's. They are a great rangefinding bino. Glasswise I think they are real close to a Swarovski SLC which is plenty good overall. The rangefinder and ballistic solutions in this thing are really really good. The app is easy to use and get data into and the menu within the bino is easy to use. I have not used the leica's so have no comparison there but I have compared them to the Revic gen 2's and they are every bit as good as those.

[Sakko300wsm]

On a side note - if you archery hunt I would still keep your hand held range finder as well. I use my Leicas just as binos during archery . I use my hand held range finder as the range finder binos are to much movement during close range archery hunting

[cjc23]

I have the geovid 3200.com and have loved them. Looked at getting the Leupolds when I bought them but liked the glass and form factor way better on the Leica's. The only other ones that I would give a hard look at would be the swaro's or the Vectronix Vector X. The Vector's with their magnifiers is an extremely cool option to me.

[Rainier10]

Following along. I archery hunt so I would want a set with the rangefinder button the right sight of the optics.

[Sneaky Squirrel]

You nailed it Rainer. Make sure the button is on your dominate hand.

I went down this rabbit trail 5 years or so ago. Bought a pair of Fury HD's because Swaro's buttons are on the left. Buddy has the Leica's which were at the time the best option but the price point had me hesitant. After the first archery season, i knew i messed up going to range finding bino's. The convenience of a small range finder that you can drop and be on a tether is pretty handy. For rifle hunting, they are okay but very uncomfortable to glass with for long periods of time even mounted to a pod(big and bulky). Also for my eyes at low light, range finding glass isn't near as good...

I still have my Fury's but I ended up getting some NL's and a new range finder that i end up using 99% of the time.