I think your last point (concession) hit the nail on the head. Based on what others have already stated, you've GOT to be comfortable while glassing, and prepared to do it for HOURS. Even with an eye patch to relax your non-scope eye, fatigue will set in faster with a spotter than with binos-------assuming equal quality optics.

Unless I'm way off base, the love of the Swaro 15s is a result of their optical quality, and the fact that Swarovski doesn't make something bigger.

I went out last night with my 10x42ELs, my 82ED Fieldscope, a cheap pair of 20X Pentax binos, and a Leupy 12-40x60 GR. I glassed from 7-8pm to compare low-light performance. I wanted to stay 'til dark but after the third dozen mosquito bite I got impatient and quit caring about optics.

What I learned in a nutshell was that even a 10X pair of binos WILL benefit from a tripod, magnification doesn't substitute for quality (knew that already), and that I could glass in complete comfort with the binos, but not the spotter. Due to the wider field of view I was also able to spot a lot more wildlife (deer and eagles) with the 10X binos than the 25-75 spotter. No doubt the spotter made things bigger, and I can still see a reason for using one, but I also got a small taste of the bino/tripod experience, and can only imagine what an extra 5X would do to the equation. Since Big Eyes ride in a backpack, I'd even go for a pair of 20X80 Swaros if they made 'em.

Right now I'm strongly considering cashing in my long-saved Cabelas points.

I spent the weekend with a friend scouting for an upcoming elk hunt, his optics are Swaro. 10x and a Leupold spotting scope, my optics are Leica 8x and Swaro. 15x. The area we are hunting is ideal country to glass, I have been curious why everybody likes the 10x so I used his for 1/2 a day, I like my 8x way better than the 10s, the 8x gives me a more "stable" view when not supported. I have never had a high end spotting scope because I bought the Swaro. 15xs as soon as they came out and never felt I needed them. We watched a few bulls with the 15x and the spotter the better part of Sat.the bulls were about 1/2 mile away, the 15xs didn't give up anything to the Leupold HD spotter, if it was cooler maybe the spotter would of got the nod but with mirage and wind we both agreed that the 15xs were better that day. I don't think either one is right for everybody but I can't imagine not having my 15s

I knew that there was a reason why I carry 7x42 SLC's and my 15's...

Dober

15X Swaro's are utterly fantabulous!

They make little dots across the canyon into bucks with big antlers.....any open country hunter who does not own them is severely deprived.They should create an Obama Entitlement Program so that everyone has a pair.

What kills me is my wife bought me the 15's for our first Christmas, and I thought they were too impractical at the time to be my only great glass, so I swapped 'em for the 10 ELs. If I'd ONLY KNOWN!!

Starting from scratch I'd go with the big 15's and the new 8x32ELs.

One of the things that a set of Big eyes will do is give you more contrast/depth, the ability to see fine details more easily than a comparable spotter. I think it was Barsness who commented once that due to the fact that you are using two eyes instead of one, the spotter has to be at least a 20X, maybe even a 25X to do better than a quality 12X50. A 15X58, used on a tripod would do better, I'm sure.
I also suspect that one would not have the problems of mirage tha the user of a 30X plus spotter would have.
Lots to consider. E

I guess I'm a black sheep here. I've tried big eyes (Swaro 15X56) on a tripod vs. my 10X42 SLCs and a spotting scope and found no reason at all to switch over to a set of big eyes.

Why? A couple reasons:

1)First many of the animals I hunt up here have antler requirements in order to be legal. I'm not a trophy hunting per say as I'll take the bigger of two animals standing side by side. But unlike most deer hunting, just having antlers or horns isn't enough to make most animals up here in AK legal. Being able to look over antler configuration at distances is often required even as a meat hunter.

For Example: Moose often have to have 3 or 4 brow tines on one side to be legal. Often times even at 15X on my Ziess Diascope 65mm I can't tell until I crank up the power and then really began to count tines up to 2 miles away. Which is VERY helpful rather than having to trudge threw 2 miles of swamp and alders and hope the moose is still around to get a better look.

Sheep hunting. Its gotta be full curl on one side. There is a sheep 2 miles away or so. You can't tell me that you could accurately guessimate sheep at that range with a pair of 15X big eyes. 60X spotter is VERY nice in this instance as well. Especially when you are sitting at 5,000 ft and there is a valley down to 2,000 feet, then 2 miles of hiking and then you gotta get back up to 5,000 ft again just cause you gotta get a closer look cause all you have is 15X binos? The added weight of a spotter and bino combo is worth it in these cases.

2) I will admit that free hand glassing my 10X42 swaro binos gets tiresome after just a few minutes. However, when I am glassing rarely am I standing. Rather sitting down with my forearms on my knees and my back up against a hill, tree, or rock. Its comfy as hell and I glass like that for hours. Much more comfy I thought than sitting in front of a tripod looking through either a spotter or the pair of big eyes. Yes not as steady, but the ability of comfortably sit there and glass in a relaxed position for an extended period of time is a great plus. Still see game just fine despite using my binos sans tripod. Binos on my knees its pretty steady. Also the FOV with regular binos vs. a pair of big eyes is more as well.

To each their own. Just sharing my experince after comparing a set of big eyes to a regular bino/spotter combo for my style hunting. Best to go with works best for you.

Good hunting everyone.

Big eyes are not for everyone and or for all kinds of country that's for sure.

But, for some critters in some terrain they're incredibly tough to beat until we need to micro mgt G1's and such.


Dober

These new optics are leagues ahead of my first binoculars, some WWII surplus Zeiss 20x50s, but those did the job for me hunting mountain goat, bears, mule deer and auodad. I would like to try a set of Minox or Swaro 15x binos for a week or two, along with one of the ED scopes, like a Pentax 80, for comparison.