Picking a pair of binoculars

I have been searching for a replacement for my 8x42 Monarch 5s. Solid binoculars, but wanted 10x for mule deer hunting. I use lightweight 6x30s for elk.

I borrowed a bunch and sat out at night with them. I found that for $500 the Vipers and for $1k the Razors were the best options for hunting. I tried Leopold, Zeiss, Leica, Steiner, and a colleague that is into birding even loaned me a few $3k pairs. The $3k binos were clearly better than the Razors, but $3k is out of budget.

Vipers were adequate and the Razors were just a bit nicer especially at night. I had decided on the Razors, then read about the new Fury.

I currently have a backorder for the Fury 10x42. They are supposed to be optically equivalent to the Vipers and weigh the same as a set of binos and rangefinder for 1200. If they don't live up to the hype. I will be back to buying the Razors.

I also own a Razor 11-30x50 spotting scope. It is a nice piece of glass, but sees minimal use hunting even with my current 8x42s.

Edit: In reference to Vipers and Razors above, I am referring to the HD 10x42 models although I tried 10x50 and 8x42.

I have a pair of Nikon Hd's that I like allot.

I purchased the Vortex Viper HD 10x50's a few years ago and can't say enough about the quality or price on them. The color definition is amazing for the mountains here. I just spent a few days in Yellowstone using them to glass along with a spotter. I always have the binoculars with me, the spotter is only if I have it. I use the binoculars to do all of my main work then the spotter to verify more detail at much further distances. With the color and edge definition of these it is amazing of what I can pick up and see at all hours of the day and low light glassing is amazing. Yes Swarovski has an edge on them but at 3x the price. Cannot say enough good things about them and recommend them to nearly everyone after using countless other brands.

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Picked up a pair of Razor 10x42. So far very impressed. Thank you all so much for the advice.


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Congrats on a nice set of Binos!