When I was a teenager, I remember sitting down with my dad and grandfather and having a discussion on which binoculars I should invest my hard-earned money in. Both took time to explain that having quality binoculars was one of the most important pieces of gear that I could have when hunting. I still remember what my grandfather said when it comes to
buying binoculars. He went by the “buy once, cry once” rule. Fast forward thirty-two years and I am still using my grandfather’s buy once, cry once rule when buying optics. If you are unfamiliar with this rule, it is very simple. You buy the best you can afford, which cost so much you want to cry. By buying such a high- quality item, you rarely need to replace them due to the quality and how long they will last. I have tried to explain this to countless friends who were buying low quality optics that failed on them and must be replaced every few years.
While in high school in the mid-90s, I spent a pile of money and purchased a pair of Redfield 10x50 binoculars. These were good binoculars that had quality coating on the glass and were some of the better binoculars for a western hunter. These worked well for me until I looked through a friend’s Swarovski SLC 10x50s. At that point, I was ruined and started saving every penny I had to buy my own pair. Getting married in 2003 slowed down my plan to buy a set of Swarovski SLC binoculars, but right before hunting season, my wife, Amy, took me to a sporting goods store. After paying $1,320.99, I walked out with my Swarovski 10x50s.
For the next 20 years, those Swarovski SLC 10x50s were my primary binoculars and were used over 100 days a year. A couple years ago, I sent them back to Swarovski to have new glass put in as the original glass was getting a little scratched up from rough use. Swarovski refurbished them to brand new condition. I truly have been happy with my 10x50s, and they have served me very well. However, being a little bit of a Gear Fool, I am always testing out the latest optics. When Swarovski came out with their EL binoculars, I tested them against my SLCs. The EL binoculars were better than my SLCs, but not so much better that I felt I needed to upgrade.
On a spring bear hunt in Idaho in 2023, my hunting buddy, Calvin, had a pair of the Swarovski NL Pure 12x42s. After comparing them to my SLCs, I soon realized I needed to finally upgrade my binoculars. I had a tough decision to make, and that was to stay with 10x binoculars or switch to 12x. One concern I had with the 12x was that glassing without a tripod with higher power binoculars can sometimes be difficult to do with keeping them steady when handholding them. I was able to spend some time with the Swarovski NL Pure in both the 10x and 12x and found the 12x to be easy to glass with while holding as they have such a large field of view that it reminded me of glassing with my old 10x binoculars.
I have a great wife, and she surprised me with a pair of Swarovski NL Pure 12x42 binoculars for my birthday. I used the NL Pure 12x42s during the entire fall 2023 hunting season. I enjoyed using the 12 power binoculars so much that I left my 10 and 15 power binoculars at home. The NL Pure 12x is extremely light, weighing 1.85 pounds. This saved a ton of weight as I usually packed both of those binoculars on all hunts that were not backpack hunts.
Swarovski has been the leader in western hunting optics since the 1990s. Their quality and craftsmanship are outstanding. Their glass and glass coating are high quality, and when you glass, you have great clarity from edge to edge. I like to test optics by their edge-to-edge clarity. A lot of cheaper optics will have good clarity in the center of the glass, but it degrades the closer you get to the edge.
All hunting equipment is expensive these days, and I feel that if you shop around or wait for a sale, you can typically get a good deal. This is not really the case with optics. and the saying “You get what you pay for” really rings true here. When it comes to binoculars, I feel they are one of the top pieces of gear a hunter needs to invest in as you can’t hunt an animal until you have glassed them up. If you have any questions about optics you, can a reach out to us at Huntin’ Fool or the Gear Fool store.
Specs:
· Weight: 29.5 oz.
· Length: 6.2”
· Width: 5.1”
· Height: 2.8”
· MSRP: $3,549
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