Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting What do you consider a 'happy median' backpacker bino. ?

Ultravid 8x20 - I can see at dusk and dawn fairly well, and they have exceptional resolution. I got mine as a "demo" from Doug 8 years ago (he has the same bin right now for $599). They replaced an older Zeiss 8x20 FL*T I had. The Leica's are brighter and have better resolution. If I were wanting something a bit brighter, I'd think long and hard about the Swarovski 7x21 Curio. It's an ounce heavier and lacks armoring, but it does have twist up eyecups. I far and away prefer a 7x21 with its larger exit pupil.

Those are the only two compact binoculars I'd consider.

Edit: My other binocular is an 8x32 Ultravid, and that's what I use backpack hunting. But I'd never carry it on a non-hunting backpack trip. For me, binoculars in the 30mm class are mid-sized, definitely not compacts. Would also say, I could adapt to just using the 8x20's hunting.