Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Binos for my Daughter

That's what Doug said.

Kowa...and then start saving for her next bino when she starts identifying game before you can....:)

I think vortex has 8x32 diamondbacks HD, under 200.
Worst case scenario you end up with decent light weight binocs

I have the old version of the Yosemite 6x made before quality supposedly went down. I use them a lot. We also have the Pentax Papilio. The kids prefer the Pentax. Those will be more useful to her for what you describe.

How are the other Kowa models, anyone?

tomk: She can already do that. She's a little Eagle-Eye.

Dre: the Diamondback HDs look good, I will consider them, though they're nearly twice the price of the Kowas.

urbanerualite: That's good to know about the newer Yosemites and it doesn't surprise me that the quality is not what it used to be. I did find a set of Pentax Papilios, but they seem to be primarily an "extremely close-focusing" set of binos, though I'm sure they work well for other purposes. The best price I've found on the Papilios is equal to that of the Kowas, so I'm leaning towards the Kowas, especially since they're highly regarded here on the 'fire.

Grinning. Well, don't her started too soon on glass attributes--she will come by that soon enough on her own...

Went through three for daughter #2 from little girl up and then Swaros for a wedding gift...worked out pretty well.

Good luck to you and daughter, High Noon

tomk: Thankyousir. I'd say Swaros are a pretty danged nice wedding gift - sure hope she got a new rifle outta' the deal as well.

High noon. maybe don't have to buy new, but it was an idea as Id get little better now. buy once, cry once

Dre: Yep. I've been looking at some used glass on flea-bay. I think what I might do is pick a few options (including the 6x30 Kowas) and explain the pros & cons of each to my daughter and see what she says.

Cabela's has Vortex Diamondback 10x42's for $130. I don't own a pair (I used Leupold Pinnacles 10x42) but all the guides use them out west where I was hunting. They are 24 oz. I believe. I have a pair of 8x30 Steiner Rally's for about 30 years that I use for turkey hunting, they are a good piece of glass. Ask Doug for a price on 6x30 and 8x30's Steiners. A bud has a pair of the 8x30 Yosemite's and loves them. Good luck!

Get the 6x30 Kowas. I didn't like looking through the 8x30's as much. More narrow field of view, and the higher mag didn't appear to be as sharp. As other members have said, the 6x has less shake and will be easier on the eyes for longer glassing periods.

The current generation Yosemites are NOT the same bino as the 1st gen Yosemites. According to another website, the former Leupold engineer that has the patent on the design of the original Yosemite binos is now working for Kowa, and the patent went with him. Hence the YF series were introduced.

Sako 76 this is no slam--just bring up a point on the larger objective glass.

Perusing various websites on bino topics am amused to see the amount of angst shed by adults over the size and weight of a 10x56 bino or the bulk of a Canon 10x42 stabilized.

A 42mm bino on a harness across the chest of a nine year old is going to seem to be a lot of equipment. The controls on binos with larger objectives along with their additional weight forward are significantly more to handle when yer hands are 1/2 half the size...:)

Don’t forget interpupillary distance, which is more important for little faces than anything. Even adults. Before I got the yosimites for my daughter I bought a pair of 12X50 Vortex just for us to watch animals with. Either one of us could get the eyepieces close enough to see a good picture.

Duly noted, but she's the second tallest in her class - there's only 1 boy who is slightly taller than her. She's gotta' be nearly 5' tall. She has also handled my Pentax 10x40 DCF WPs many times and she does quite well with them, but I agree that they're a bit big and heavy (relatively speaking) for her. Regarding interpupillary distance - she's had no issue with any of my "adult" glass - we've always been able to adjust them properly, so no problem there. I think she could easily handle an 8x30 or 8x32 like the Nikon Prostaff, Nikon Monarch or the Vortex

Of course, I could always give her my 8x33 Minox compacts (which she likes) and then purchase 10x42 (or maybe 8x42) Meopta MeoStars, Leica Trinovids, or the more reasonably priced Nikon Monarchs or Meopta MeoPros for myself.

After all, she's getting a heck of a lot of other loot for Christmas.

Edit: Yep, she's 5' tall.

Shameless plug for the 8x32 Minox I have in the classifieds

I'll take a look.

33rcm: Your Minox look great. I'll give 'em some thought.

ok. So I showed my daughter the Kowas (online), my compact Minox, the old Bushnell 7x35s I have (that were my Dad's) and a few others that were online. I briefly went over the relative strengths and weaknesses of each (I didn't want to bore her too much). She liked the old Bushnells best. When I suggested that the Kowas would be better, she wouldn't have any of it and said she liked the old Bushnells + they're a good size for her and the magnification is low enough that it will allow her to get a steady image. So, for now, that's that. Perhaps when she's a bit older, she'll be ready for better glass.

Last week, I ordered and today received an original case for the Bushnells that is in near perfect condition and I found 3 lens caps - I need to find another and I need to get a neck strap for the binos for her. I found a pretty decent, padded Bushnell neck strap for $5.00 that I will get her.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions. I appreciate your responses to my inquiries.

I wish we could “pick” things as easy now as it was when we were kids. Corlokts? Well of course. I want all my ammo boxes to be the same color.

If you’re legs have never fallen asleep while looking at a Shooters Bible on the toilet, you just can’t call yourself a looney.