Inexpensive Binoculars
Equipment
Looking for a pair of binoculars for my father in law for Fathers Day. Was hoping to spend under $100. He’s 80 and not In good health. He likes to watch the deer in his yard so was going to put a salt block out for him and he would be using them to look out the window of his house with the salt about 50 yards away. Thanks for any advice you have.
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Nikon-Aculon-Binoculars/1656233.uts?slotId=0
I would not go higher than 8 power for your (his) needs.
Ebay used market?? Bushnell and Alpen make some inexpensive binos....Not Swaro quality by any means but old age eyes looking out the window in the yard..perfect !! Nice job being sensitive to his needs and perceiving what would bring him joy!!..he will thank you in his heart everytime a big buck looks back at him !!
Joe
What’s that?!? They don’t exist. If there was one thing not to cheap on it would be binos
For his needs you should be able to find a pair in your price range at Wally World. 8x40 should be plenty for his distance.
Alpen is what bangs around in the pickup every day and are not too bad a glass.
Disregard the optics snobs. That being said, I wouldn't buy cheap bushnells. You can't beat a set of Nikons for low light or tired eyes.
Had a pair of the Bushnells that were the same price as the one above, used them for about five years and was very pleased with them. Even did some side-by-side testing while shooting 3D's with a couple friends who had Nikon Monarchs and could barely detect any difference in image quality or light gathering.
They didn't bounce well when I drove away from the shooting range with them on the hood of the jeep, though.
My son had bought me a pair so we could have some available for bird-watching out our window without retrieving my hunting/shooting pair from the truck every time we wanted to zoom in on something interesting going on it the yard, and I did some side-by-side comparisons with the Bushnells before the jeep incident, and the Gosky 10x 42's seemed to be very similar and slightly lighter, with no loss of quality and maybe just a slight edge in light gathering, with identical spec's. They were around the same price.
I'd buy either again in a heart beat, and will soon to replace the broken Bushnells. We still have an old pair my father in law had from the late '50's, and the quality differences were tremendous. There some really good glass available back in the old days for some stiff prices, but the cheap ones were really bad. The cheap ones have improved over the generations since and are so close in quality to good stuff, that the average guy will be very hard pressed to notice the difference.
I'd rather have another pair of $50 ones than worry about losing or damaging a pair of $2000+ Swaros, myself. Used my cheap ones for thirty plus years, including many western trips, and have never regretted buying them.
Got a BPS Father’s Day flier in the mail today. Here are some Leupold’s under $100 and on sale for 1/2 price. Looks like something worth investigating.
Leupold Yosemite 6x30. Nice, light, and easy to handle. About $90 if you look around. Should be about perfect for your dad.
You have some decent recommendations as to brand. But I second the 8x42. I can barely hold 10x still and I am not 80. No reason to go that high for seeing backyard deer.
I would agree that Vortex and Leupold would be good choices as well.
I bought my wife some bushnells in a NM walmart for about $49. Brought them home and ran faucet water on the barrels to clean them up after the hunt.
Barrels promptly filled with water.
Here's my recommendation - get a visual acuity chart (the ones that look like a bunch of E's getting smaller in size and rotating around the page. Go to a cabelas or other BIG outdoor store, and test drive a bunch of them. A real problem with cheapo binoculars is even if one lens is okay, the other is often not balanced right, and you can never get a decent focus. See which ones let you see the smallest "E" and buy them. I won't even go into fringing or any of the other quality check items - you just want something that magnifies the critters and doesn't have Dad complaining that they are always blurry.
Thank you all for your recommendations. Very much appreciated. Wife and I have been reading them as they came in and researching.
Quick backstory. Father in law has multiple health issues. Mother in law fighting second round of breast cancer. Wife and I took them dinner last weekend and he showed me where he watches the deer in backyard in rural Virginia with his binoculars. Looked thru them and it was like looking thru dirty water. On the way home I told wife he needs new glass. We are small business owners with no business anymore with the craziness going on so needed it to be inexpensive. Posted my question here and got all these great responses. Then received a PM saying he had a pair that would work for my father in laws needs and asking me to send him my address.
How cool is that! Bowsite rocks!
10x42 Els if you are in his will.
I agree with Bou, but otherwise those Leupold for 99 bucks are a great deal. Shawn
There are some great people on this site and in this world. Don’t be led by what you see on TV.
The folks on this site remind me of a herd of zebras. We all bite, fight and kick amongst ourselves. But, if we lose one from the herd we weep and try to bring the lost member back to the herd.
Nikon Aculon is a good choice for his backyard needs.
Nice job to the Bowsiter who stepped up!!! I hope your father in law enjoys them!
