I NEED I good monocular

[PoWdA]

Hello everyone, first post, glad I found this forum.

Anyway, I have been hunting for two seasons and the bug has bitten me badly. I have done two hunts (Colorado mule deer/elk) and this year am planning four hunts, maybe more.

So I NEED a good monocular. My reason? I have one eye. A set of binos would be half wasted on me. I have been scouring the internet and am not finding the information I need. The whole optics thing is new to me so I am learning about that but there isn't much it there about monoculars that apply to my situation. Most of what I find relates to rifle scopes, spotting scopes, or binoculars.

I am looking for a monocular that performs like a good pair of binoculars only in monocular form. I don't want to pull out a spotting scope everytime I want to take a peak at something in the distance. I see no need for the added size or weight of a binocular considering I can only see from one eye. Can we start from the top? I'll take anything from advice on what to look for to brand and model recommendations. Bonus points if it's telescoping like a captain on a pirate ship would use. (Only slightly joking about that part).

Anyway, I listen to Randy's podcast and I couldn't resist checking out the forums. I have faith that this is the group that can help me find the only monocular I will ever need.

 

[Southwind]

A buddy has one and I was pretty impressed with it, I don't know which model he has because they have several but check out Vortex.

 

[kansasdad]

Just a guess, but I would bet the quality of the glass and glass treatments of binocular magnifiers will far surpass the clarity and light transmission of a monocular option. Market driven forces are heavily slanted towards binoculars.

One question to ask, can you set up a tripod adaptor for a monocular as easily as bino's?

 

[PoWdA]

I guess that would depend on the monocular.

 

[Lefty315]

A friend of mine lost his eye several years ago. He ended up buying a Swarovski range finder, 7 or 8 power, and using it for his monocular and range finder. The optics were much better than most range finders and it has served him well. Just something to consider if you don't already have one.

 

[whiskeydog]

This one from Sig is supposed to be a good one, though I haven't used it.
https://www.sigsauer.com/store/oscar3-10-20x30-mm.html

As a side note, I lost my left eye about 9 years ago. I still use binos and don't notice a bit of difference, plus now I don't have to close one eye when shooting through a scope! The only time binos didn't work from me was when I borrowed a guys bino/rangefinders...I tried them about 5 times before giving them back and telling him they were broken. It turned out the rangefinder data only appears in the left aperture which I couldn't see...hahaha!

 

[KClark]

Welcome aboard! I'm brand new here too so I hesitate to jump in and answer questions and appear to be a know-it-all but this is something I definitely am experienced with. I lost an eye to trauma when I was a toddler, don't even remember what it's like to not have mono vision. Started big game hunting at 11, scoped my rifle at 15 and decided I needed binos at 19.

A monocular seemed common sense in this situation so I started with that. I didn't use it much, upgraded to a better one and still didn't use it much. I couldn't find one in the quality I wanted so I just bought binos instead and wow! what an amazing difference it made, not the step up in quality but the step to binocular versus monocular. I have revisited the monocular several times and it's always a no-go for me because the bino grip/hold is so much steadier. You may not notice it with just a quick look but try spending a few hours behind a monocular, it sucks.

Think about how a mono is held and supported vs a bino. The mono has one contact point on your face which really winds up being just a pivot point. With a large mono you might get a two hand grip, the second hand helps some but not much. With binos you get two contact points on your face 4" apart and two hand grip which makes it amazingly more steady than the mono hold. Once I figured out the difference I've used only binos. Just think of that unused side as a spare, if the side you're using fogs, flip it over.

Hope this helps.

 

[whiskeydog]

Yup!

 

[PoWdA]

Welcome aboard! I'm brand new here too so I hesitate to jump in and answer questions and appear to be a know-it-all but this is something I definitely am experienced with. I lost an eye to trauma when I was a toddler, don't even remember what it's like to not have mono vision. Started big game hunting at 11, scoped my rifle at 15 and decided I needed binos at 19.

A monocular seemed common sense in this situation so I started with that. I didn't use it much, upgraded to a better one and still didn't use it much. I couldn't find one in the quality I wanted so I just bought binos instead and wow! what an amazing difference it made, not the step up in quality but the step to binocular versus monocular. I have revisited the monocular several times and it's always a no-go for me because the bino grip/hold is so much steadier. You may not notice it with just a quick look but try spending a few hours behind a monocular, it sucks.

Think about how a mono is held and supported vs a bino. The mono has one contact point on your face which really winds up being just a pivot point. With a large mono you might get a two hand grip, the second hand helps some but not much. With binos you get two contact points on your face 4" apart and two hand grip which makes it amazingly more steady than the mono hold. Once I figured out the difference I've used only binos. Just think of that unused side as a spare, if the side you're using fogs, flip it over.

Hope this helps.

KClark, great post. It looks like there is quite the one-eyed community on this site!

I should have added that I am currently using some cheapo Carson brand monocular I got off of Amazon a few years ago and I do like the monocular. I was hoping to get something higher quality. So, I am pretty set on the monocular, though I do see your point of the bino having certain advantages (and it makes perfect sense). But, I have been using a monocular, I just want a high quality one now. Once you get into monocular shopping you find that options are much more limited than one would think!

 

[Firedancer]

http://www.vortexoptics.com/category/solo_monoculars

 

[PoWdA]

http://www.vortexoptics.com/category/solo_monoculars

That is pretty much what I plan on buying, I was hoping to get more suggestions before pulling the trigger.

 

[1_pointer]

If in your shoes, I think I'd just spend the $$ on a high quality rangefinder with 8X magnification. The Swarovski is 8X.

 

[PoWdA]

If in your shoes, I think I'd just spend the $$ on a high quality rangefinder with 8X magnification. The Swarovski is 8X.

I would like to go this route because I need a range finder, but don't those generally have a pretty small field of view?

 

[1_pointer]

I haven't noticed my RF FOV limiting my ability to use it for glassing.

 

[Cav1]

Welcome aboard! I'm brand new here too so I hesitate to jump in and answer questions and appear to be a know-it-all but this is something I definitely am experienced with. I lost an eye to trauma when I was a toddler, don't even remember what it's like to not have mono vision. Started big game hunting at 11, scoped my rifle at 15 and decided I needed binos at 19.

A monocular seemed common sense in this situation so I started with that. I didn't use it much, upgraded to a better one and still didn't use it much. I couldn't find one in the quality I wanted so I just bought binos instead and wow! what an amazing difference it made, not the step up in quality but the step to binocular versus monocular. I have revisited the monocular several times and it's always a no-go for me because the bino grip/hold is so much steadier. You may not notice it with just a quick look but try spending a few hours behind a monocular, it sucks.

Think about how a mono is held and supported vs a bino. The mono has one contact point on your face which really winds up being just a pivot point. With a large mono you might get a two hand grip, the second hand helps some but not much. With binos you get two contact points on your face 4" apart and two hand grip which makes it amazingly more steady than the mono hold. Once I figured out the difference I've used only binos. Just think of that unused side as a spare, if the side you're using fogs, flip it over.

Hope this helps.

KClark, you made some excellent points and convinced me to stay with my binos. I was blinded in the right eye in a work accident and had to learn to shoot southpaw in 2002, the reason I looked at this thread. Every now and then I think about the old backpacker saying, "Take care of the ounces and the pounds will take care of themselves" and get on a kick about getting a monocular to save a little weight. But as you eloquently put it, optics are about seeing not carrying. Plus, since I inherited my father-in-law's 7x24 Swarovski binos, I doubt I would be happy with the glass in any monocular I could afford.