Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics The Vortex Hype

As much as I sorta respect E's opinion. I gotta say I do agree with him about the folk's he mentioned that he listened to. They do know there stuff.

I spend time in the field and I use my bins hard. I don't report much about rifle scopes or spotters because they rearely see action. My bins see the most work and get banged up the hardest. So I try and get a good feel for the bins I rave about. The Vortex Kaibab 15x56's I just reviewed if you read is my initial review and inital tests. As time goes on I might change my opinion and update my info. But on the first hunt with them they did well.
The Vultures I bought from Doug that were blemished for a buck and a half were very nice bins and they work well for the average hunter. They do well.

I am glad Scott joined the fire and answered my concerns about the customer service. I am not worried with these bins but glad I have a good person to support me if they crap on me. But to be honest with you I don't expect to.

I know many people brag about leupy scopes and Zeiss and Leica. Sure they are great, but do you really want to break your bank to buy from them? I don't. Then I think about it, and I wonder how many that brag about this or that have really looked at what else it out there. I for one have looked thru just about all 15x bins out there with a Objective lense of 56 or to 63mm. I do my home work and field work. I rely too much on my name to recommend junk. If I write it I mean it.
As far as Doug goes the man knows optics and has a excellent reputation. I don't think he would recommend crap either.

So while some are affraid of the unknown, I am having a blast playing with new bins and seeing if they hold up. Mama hates that I spend, but I get my use out of them.

Kique

I wouldn't have given them the benefit of the doubt cuz I kinda had the same way of thinking you did until I tried one of their products.

Doug had their little 8x28 Hurricane binoculars on sale for $90 due to color blemishes or something. I figured these would be great for my 7 yr old son and my cheap 8x32mms had just died and I wanted a new muzzle loader more than a quality pair of binoculars (I wish I'd have gotten the higher end binoculars and the Hurricanes but kept my old ML, but thats a different story) so I bought the Hurricanes.

They're incredible. Especially for their regular price of just $160 they're awesome, and I wouldn't balk at spending 2x that for the quality. I've used Leupold, Nikon, and Pentax in the field and these were nearly as good at a tiny fraction of the cost.

It is now my intention to buy up a few other of their products just to get a feel for their line... including a pair of their higher end binculars.

If you are skeptical do what I did and wade, don't dive, in. If your experience is anything like mine you'll be impressed!

I may be willing to take a chance on this one b/c of it's features and price.

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortexviperpst4-16x50

However, their top of the line Razor HD riflescope is a chance I am not willing to take at this time. If I were spending this amount of cash, I would save for a couple of more months and get a S&B PMII.

Whether my next "tactical" scope is Vortex or S&B, Doug will get my business just as he did yesterday.

I listened to Mule Deer. He had good things to say about the optics in the Vortex...

Scott_at_Vortex,

Welcome to the fire. I hope we talk only socially on the web and not professionally over a warranty issue.

I purchased the 6.5X32 Raptor binoc from Doug. They are so nice I retired my beloved 7-15X35 Nikons to the pickup. The bino-buddy from the Nikon is now on the Vortex. It is what I will be using to hunt with in the woods.

I made the change because the 6.5X32 was so much more clear than the Nikons, which are very good, that the Nikon had to be cranked up to 9X to make out the same detail. And this in a 19 ounce bino instead of a 30 ounce bino.

We're living in "the good ole days" of optics.

Thirty years ago, it was pretty much alpha and junk - with not much in between, the best I recall.

Now, there are so many really good choices for a fraction of alpha prices which get within 5-10% of alpha image - and some get within the 3-5% range, IMHO.

It seems to me that this change has really come into its own in the last few years especially, and I think that's one of the reasons people are less afraid of trying new stuff. So much of the advance in quality for lower priced optics is so recent, that a newer product/company is on a good part of the curve in terms of their quality/value ratio.

Accordingly, people are having good experiences with newer, lower priced products and confidence is high that a new product will perform well.

Some of the more established optical companies may be having a harder time changing as quickly as they need to since the older/more established/more invested/more entrenched one is, the harder it is to change.

Just my $.02...

DJ

No they aren't. It's not even all that close. They aren't bad optics, or a waste of money, but, the big three they ain't.

Magnumdood,

According to the guy who compared my 13X56 Minox with his 10X42 Swaro, you are mistaken. He said he could not tell any difference. He paid $1,400 for the Swaro because they were on sale; reduce from $1,800. He went on to say if he had seen these first, he would have purchased them instead of the Swaros.

So it looks like two against one here, my .com friend.

Just rummer from relative in Germany three times removed so they may know squat there take is the big three feel like GM with a hole lot of Honda's on the butt. And we all know how that played out.

Best Alan

It would be interesting for doug to comment on vortex, he has seen um come and go over the years,

Just for an example, looking at an 8x43 sized binocular from the Big 3 right now puts you at the following prices...Swaro $2,399...Zeiss $2249....Leica $2099. These prices in the current economy are absolutely ridiculous IMO, if you even remotely evaluate what you are getting for those prices.You cant even say that a midrange bino compares, because the mid range is no longer the midrange, its now the 1/4 or 25% range of what Big 3 binos cost. Unless you just plain have more money than you know what to do with, a fella has to do some thinking before buying. Minox, Pentax, Vortex,Nikon has obviously filled the massive void between what was once known as midrange binos while the Big 3 price themselves right out of the game. Its really kind of funny, Dougs Demo prices on Big 3 glass are in some cases higher than what the Big 3 glass used to cost new 2 years ago, and its clear that Douogs demo prices are the best around. It will be interesting to see what happens with Big 3 sales numbers in the coming years!

Okay!

Collect your prize at the door.

(Do you think him being your friend might have influenced the dialog even a little bit?)

Minox are good, but Swarovski they ain't!..

Magnumdood,

We ain't even friends. He is my friend's brother. And I never even met the guy. But thanks for the prize. I will turn it in on next year's taxes.

+1 guys. It seems some people on the 'fire are made of money. I feel that there many products out there that offer very good bang for the buck and much of what the Big 3 offer is snob appeal(mine is more expensive than yours or very marginally better). I read in a magazine some time ago that Leica could sell there products for less but choose to market for a certain "clientele." I have used "less expensive" hell down right cheap optics over the years. Some I am still using years later with no problem. I didn't buy these at the time because they were cheap but it was what I could afford. The great thing about today is that there are many great products which are AFFORDABLE for the average Joe. You don't have to hunt with a $35 optic because you can't afford a $2000 one.

Gotta hunch that for each person here that are happy as clams talking about their Swaro, S&B and Zeiss goodies, there are probably 100 other members who "make do" with less stellar optics?

I see a few of the top shelf scopes at our ranges and have yet to meet one of those shooters that complained about his scope, or how much it cost. Almost to a man, they're more likely to cackle about how great their scopes are and what they cost, generally to the point of annoying those sharing the range.

To each their own.

Although we did have a member that drove a new Mercedes two seater and owned lots of pricey rifles, who once complained that he had to spend money on a sight adjusting tool for his new HK. He thought for that kind of money, the sight tool should've been included.

Naturally, I tried to empathize with the guy.

The only Zeiss I have is the <$400 3-9x40 Conquest and I don't think it qualifies in the "snob appeal" department.

Damn fine scope though!

Hensoldt 6-24x72.

Very snobish.

Also an optic that's a pleasure to use and doubles as my spotter.

Dood, you have to post a pic of that scope and the rifle it's mounted on!

Don't think I've ever seen a scope with a 72mm objective, let alone mounted on a rifle!

I've gotta agree with this. Ten years I bought a pair of 10x42 slc's, brand new $830 delivered to my door. I almost crapped when I paid the credit card bill because I never thought I'd pay that much for a pair of binoculars, but they've been wonderful and worth every penny. I haven't felt that constant need to upgrade that you get from buying 2nd tier equipment. Fast forward ten years and the same binos are twice the price. I know my purchasing power hasn't doubled. The prices of the alpha binos are completely out of control, I just can't see myself paying $2300 for a pair of binos. Vortex is attempting to fill a niche opened between the bottom tier junk and the alphas, a niche that was opened by the prices of the alphas skyrocketing. I'm glad they're attempting to fill this niche, competition is good and hopefully that competition will jerk a knot in zeiss, swaro, and leica to get them to price their products more competitively. Fortunately for me, I have a top notch pair of binos already and I'm not a optics collector, I don't feel the need to own five different sizes of binos and constantly buy and sell.

That being said, I looked at the prices of the vortex line and some of their stuff costs more than what I paid for a swaro ten years ago. I'd have a real hard time paying close to a grand for a pair of chinese made binos from a company without a lot of history. I know nothing of vortex quality and am not bashing them, but just the thought of spending huge sums of money on the latest unknown fad kind of bothers me. I've gotten burned on a couple of scopes by buying into the latest internet discussion board wonder product only to find out that they didn't live up to the hype. I'm just glad that I'm not looking to buy optics right now, the selection out there right now is great but the prices are just obscene.