Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Maven Optics

As to be expected, Mule Deer is the one major participant in this thread who knows what he is talking about. Maven has excellent stuff. I have quite a bit of their stuff, and tried out other of what I don't own.

A $1,200 Maven B2 with Zeiss armor and logo for $2,200 would raise no eye brows.

Yeah, time will tell the tale, but nobody can predict what established companies are going to be around in five years. As always choice is personal. If you are drawn toward Maven, the choice is yours. If you are drawn elsewhere, the choice is still yours.

The Mavens get a lot of love on several hunting and birding forums even when compared to the Big 3. I don’t know anything about them other than a lot of guys have sold their Big 3 Binos in favor of the Mavens for the savings $$ wise. Pretty lengthy thread.


https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/who-has-maven-b-series-binos.119665/

My only question on Mule Deer's take here is GPO, if Doug carries them then they aren't actually direct to consumer are they? Either he's got that mixed up or I'm missing something.

I own a pair of Mavens in 10x and 12x in their "b" series and have spent a good amount of time behind the 8x and 11x as well. Also own a set of the compact c series binoculars. All the b series i've used or owned have been great. They have taken a beating and see a lot of use, weather, etc.. If I had to do it over again I might just have bought the B2 11x. At this point I'm really not concerned with the longevity of the company. I think they will be around a good while. Only con I might have with them is they might be slightly heavier than comparable glass, but optics are the one area I'm happy to give up a few ounces for quality and durability.

Bry,

You're right, I had a brain fart, and GPO does use distributors.

But GPO does use another strategy used by several other optics companies, which also results in really good stuff for a lower price. They have their own engineering company (in Germany), which designs scopes and binoculars, then gets them made to their specifications wherever they can get the quality they want at the lowest price.

A number of other optics firms do something similar. In the U.S., Kruger Optical in Oregon does something similar, sometimes assembling different parts in the U.S. Zeiss did this with the original Conquest scopes, getting most of the parts made by Meopta, while making a few themselves, then assembling them in the U.S., which avoided the import duty on complete scopes.

Is Kruger still around?

Tried to Google up a website, but nada.

Avery Podcast @ 04:52 Brandon Weaver of Maven Optics states that he and two others previously worked at Brunton in their optic division prior to it shutting down.

So Mule Deer, if you want to know why brunton sucked, ask Maven. Or if you're truly interested in "who they were trying to fool", go ask Brandon Weaver, since he clearly stated in the afore mentioned podcast he worked on the "high end" models for BRUNTON OPTICS....and now runs Maven.

Guessing they use Japanese glass, and have them assembled in the Philippines. Instead of China like Brunton.

The irony....

Their C Series is made in the Phillipines. Every other optic of theirs is made in Japan.

This past fall I bought a pair of Maven B3 8x30 Binos. I bought them because I wanted a "smaller" pair of Binos for woods hunting. I had a pair of Meopta Meopros 8x42's from Doug that I was using for the last few years. I contacted Maven about where they were made and this was their response: They use Japanese components assembled in the U.S. I'm assuming they are assembled at their plant in Wyoming. Anyhow, The B3's are absolutely awesome to my eyes. I never had a complaint about the Meopro's but after getting and looking through the Maven's, I sold the Meopro's. The Meopro's were great, but to me the Maven's were better. I realize I'm only 1 guy who's not an expert by any means but the Maven b3's are top notch in my book.

Thanks Mule Deer, that's what I'd thought.

I've been following GPO through Doug as I'm trying to land in the mid tier range of optics. Have a couple teenagers to outfit and I'd like to set them up with something better than entry level stuff from the get go. Don't need top shelf either, just keeping an eye out for value. Past history of other companies can make it a tough sell for these upstarts though.

Maybe Maven learned something along the line.

John,

Maybe a nitpick, but I think Chris Farris seems to have led the pack with the Super Sniper scopes, providing a rugged device at a relatively low cost. Been doing it well before the current trend of direct-to-customer, and still holding a solid reputation. Not trying to take anything away from Tract or GPO, but SWFA has been doing it for quite awhile.

And this is purely speculation on my part but since SWFA's business model is diversified, by selling competing products, it seems like Super Snipers aren't critical to the success of the company. Tract, GPO, and the others' longevity depends on market acceptance of their product. Any business can tank and go under, including SWFA, but I think that some people worry about the longevity of some of these other direct-to-customer companies for this reason.

Jason

JacksonHandy,

Am well aware that Brendon was with Brunton, as he told me so several years ago.

But I don't know what your point is. As somebody else already pointed out, maybe something was learned from the Brunton experience.

One of the advantages I have over some, due to writing considerably about optics for the past 30+ years, is that I always have some of the latest binoculars from the so-called Big Three European companies on hand, so I can make direct comparisons with them and anything newer than comes along. Which is why I know that even the top-line Bruntons did not come anywhere near the quality of the Big Three, or several other brands sold at the time, especially for the price. The Maven Bs do.

The people who started GPO and Tract also worked for other optics companies before, and definitely learned from their experiences, whether Mike Jensen of GPO or Jon Lacorte of Tract. Which is why both companies have been doing well.

Maven uses the Japanese firm Kamakura, who has a company called KamaTech in San Diego, where assembly and warranty work is done. Final inspection and other QC work is done in Maven's place in Lander. Kamakura will either build a customer's design or sell one of their own designs to their customer. The typical is working with the customer from a combination of customer design and specifications and use of some parts of existing Kamakura design to get the desired result. It is not a guess that they are a Japanese company.

Brendon and his partners bailed on Brunton because they agreed with Mule Deer's assessment of Brunton's approach to high priced stuff. They have taken serious pains to avoid Brunon's failings. Brunton as a corporation, and nobody else, was responsible for Brunton's optics failure.

Kamakura is a global company and has tentacles everywhere in the optics industry. Maven's C series is assembled in the Philipines, by Kamakura. The rest are from Kamakura from Japan. As a side note, GPO gets much of their stuff from Kamakura. Anybody who has handled more than one quality Japanese Binocular has probably handled a Kamakura Glass.

4th Point,

Good points, but don't see where I said (or even implied) SWFA wasn't a pioneer in direct-to-customer.

Yes, any brand can tank, especially in today's highly competitive optics market, including Nikon scopes, and the entire Weaver and (apparently) the entire Redfield-by-Leupold line.

Steve,

Yep--and Kamakura also makes the recent Burris Signature HD binoculars, which are also excellent.

MadMooner,

Thanks for the heads-up on Kruger. I know they were still around a year or so ago, but the website's now MIA.

I think they make the Zeiss Conquest HD bino as well.

Yes they do, as well as the Terra from their Chinese facility. Point being if Kamakura was not totally capable, Zeiss would have never contracted with them.