Bino's and Range finder or a combo unit

[Keta1969]

Wondering do you like separate units or a combo all in one. Interested in what you are running and why. Never Had a range finder and starting to think of new Bino's. Personally with no experience I am leaning towards one unit but I know nothing of the merits either way or if there is any difference that matters. Have only shot one animal over 300 yards but in the right conditions would shoot to 500, would also settle arguments about perceived distance. Thanks

[whitlers]

I use separate. I have always wondered if I would like them together but I am just used to what I have. I also wonder if the added weight of a combo would make glassing off hand more difficult?

[3than]

I have heard really good things about leica geovids.

[Citori54]

I have separate units. I have the Boone and Crockett reticle on my scopes so a range finder is pretty much required to determine what aiming point to use. It sure helped me to take a moose at 325 yards, didn't have to guess at hold over just used the 300 yard aiming point and squeezed the trigger. One of my hunting buddies has the Swaro combo unit and really likes it.

[emerson]

I have a separate range finder. I would like it in a set of binos, but only Leica or Swaro. If I could or ever can afford it I would buy one of those.

[Downtown]

Divide & Conquer !

Cheers

[WhiteTailAB]

I got RF sig sauers but still used my leupold range finder to bow hunt. The binos are too cumbersome to use one handed for archery. Once rifle season rolls around I only use the binos. Thought lots about getting rid of them for higher quality glass.

[wallz]

Love the swaro EL range binos. Again came in handy this fall to range elk out to 1200 yrds. We closed the distance to 800 and could not get closer as he was in the open and some deer buggered up our creeping in closer. Not comfortable shooting out to 800 so sadly had to sit and watch as he walked away. Too many times to list on the necessity of good glass and ranging capabilities out in the field. I constantly hear stories of guys not able to shoot because they can not tell if the young moose is a legal immature or not, or shoot and run away after realizing the illegal kill. Had an instance 2 years ago that we were on our last day of elk hunting, and on our last legal 15 min of light, and was able to count the 5 points on an elk in a 6 point elk season. No way to do that with cheap glass, and then always think back wondering if it was legal or not. I HATE those scenarios and the expensive glass is worth it, just for that.

Excellent low light bino that have helped identify legal game. Now also pack the swaro spotter. The 1200 yrd elk was an easy tell of 6 points in under a minute once the spotter was set up on him. Lots of scenarios over the years of game between 100 and 600 yrds that I was comfortable to shoot, but were not legal. Makes taking a shot at that range possible knowing the range you are shooting.

Weight is a mute point, as a combo bino and separate ranger are going to be larger and heavier than the combo unit.

Pay once, cry once and enjoy the purchase for many years to come. After 5 yrs of use I am still on the same battery, and use them often when out, even just to range areas we sit on while out hunting to get range ideas around us. Would not ever hesitate to do the purchase again, and only ever sorry I didn't do the purchase years ago. Yea they are expensive, start saving your pennies, even cut 1/2 your coffee purchases/ maybe even booze for a year and you would be surprised what you could buy with the savings from that alone.

Not trying to sell you on the swaro set, but any of the top 3-4 are the way to go. See what ones fit you the best and don't look back.

[406elcamino]

i picked up a set of vortec fury5000 last year and the range feature has certainly come handy and was used to measure distance and successfully harvest animals. Another thing i like to is if there is a point of interest or game your watching being able to estimate distance and then check

[wlbc]

I started out with a Swaro rangefinder. Worked excellent. I found it a minor hassle going from the bino's to the rangefinder and back again and I was going to upgrade my binos so I sold the rangefinder and bought the swaro combo bino's. They are fantastic and I cannot tell the difference in weight between them and a non rangefinder pair. Look through the Leica, Zeiss, and Swaro - see which looks best to you, save up and buy it.

The rangefinder is a step change in distance shooting. It is very easy to misjudge distance and after 300 yards it really makes a big difference. I break my post 300 yard holdover into 50 yard increments.

[Saskhunter]

I started out with the Ziess victory RF 10x42, the range finder in them worked well to 1700 yards or so, and they are super clear, but heavy.. the other problem we had was the numbers were hard to see sometimes when you had the Bino’s right up at your eyes. Tried every adjustment we could and just couldn’t get it to work proper. Sold them and bought the swaro EL and they work great. Only on second battery, must be about 7-8 yrs old now. Wicked clear but really will only range to about 1200. Which is way farther than I can shoot but sometimes it’s just nice to know How far away things are. They are lighter and more compact than the victories as well. Don’t find the weight or size a problem at all. Wear a bino buddy and they hang nicely on your chest.
The wife runs a good set of bino’s, so we bought a vortex 4000 rangefinder for her to carry this year. I can honestly say I am super impressed with that rangefinder. Works very fast, we have ranged animals to 2000 yards. The speed and response is so much faster than the swaro bino’s and I don’t know what the difference is but they will range through a window, where the swaro won’t. That isn’t a big deal but sitting in our hunting blind we don’t have to open the windows to check out the animals and their distance. I found myself hunting Muledeer this fall carrying the vortex and using my spotting scope for watching animals. I am a huge fan of the vortex 4000, great price, great warranty and field proven for me. In my opinion the rangefinder in the swaro and zeiss don’t compare, I’m gonna be looking for a high power bino to compliment the vortex.

[twoSevenO]

I have a Leica rangefinder... but only because i cant afford high end optics with range finder built in. And I dont want the lower end built-in combos.

If I could afford Leica, Swarovski or Zeiss binos with built in rangefinder I would definitely go that route, but too far out of my price range.

[porthunter]

Picked up a set of Geovids 3 years ago, and cant even remember how I ever used seperate units. Best $2500 I may have ever spent.

Go with a combo system and you won't regret it... unless its vortex, then yeah you might regret it.

[Surrey Boy]

Divide & Conquer !

Cheers

Is that a reference to Schmidt and Bender?

[MZac]

I got the Vortex Fury 5000 HD about two weeks ago and colour me impressed so far.

Glass seems great and I really like the range finder. I haven't practised ranging things (or had a need) much in my life and now I'm bringing these bino's everywhere. Already have seen improvements in my ranging.

For someone that is new to hunting I felt like it was reasonable place to start and combines two pieces of gear into one (and there's alot of gear to sift through and try to figure out what you need when you're new).

I understand they aren't the best glass available on the market but as a newcomer I can't really tell the difference yet. It gives me room to upgrade yet still leaves me feeling reasonably well equipped for the time being. If I really get into this and it becomes my no.1 hobby I'll have no issue upgrading at some point but I also may never feel the need.