Sunday, October 30, 2011

Hawke Optics- Gear Review





The Lead Off

  Living out West I feel that one of the most beneficial things that you can have with you while hunting is your optics.  You can shoot what you can't see.  And when your glasses hill sides 30 to 500 yrds away you need to be able to clearly identify your prey of choice.  So to give you a little back story, I have been given the opportunity to use Hawke Optics Endurance Phase Corrected 10x42 binos over the last few months.  Prior to using the Hawke Endurance PC, I was using an $90 dollar pair of budget binos because I had broken my last pair of quality mid level binos, surprise, surprise.  When I open the package up and glassed a hillside a few hundred yards from my house, I can honestly say my reaction was, "Wow, I like these."  To say the least I was impressed right out of the box, but more investigating needed to be done.

Three Point of Great Binos

1.  Durability- I beat up gear like you won't believe.  I typically wear out 1 to 2 pairs of boots a year, camo is a 1 season deal and I have even worn off the Lost Camo dip on Matthews Reezen's handle in 9 months. It's safe to say if it can make it through a few hunting trips with me it will be more than sufficient for the average hunter.  The rubberized outter layer is rezealant enought to be able to be drug through fields, my truck and my 6 year old son who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt on safari most of the time.  The rubberized texture allowed me to grip them while covered in sweat on my pig hunt and dripping wet when I was scouting about for a new blind in the rain for duck hunting.  I will admit I did drop them about three times and I was surprised to find that no damage was done to them at all, not even the rubberized coating was scratched up.  So far there is really nothing I have not thrown at them that they did not take.

2. Clarity- Durability is great, but if you can't clearly see in low light and long distances what is the use.  Well I can tell you that the Endurance has both.  I shoot in a varirity of differnet locations, rolling hills of oaks, tight deep canyons choked full of pines and sage, and the high desert with vast open spaces all with their different challanges and unique visual quirks.  I was pleasantly suprised when no matter where I was able to clearly identify and pick out game I feel I would have missed with my old set up.  Their multi-coated lens are the real deal, but still do not have a strange tint to them while you are viewing distances.  Looking through the Endurance PCs compared to my old mid-level bino is like switching from regular TV to HDTV. Their is no comparison on how much more clear than anything I have used at or near their price range.

3. Value- Lets be honest with ourselves, though we would like to spent $2000 dollars on our optics and get the top of the line of everything, most of us can't swing that.  We are family men and women or young guys just starting out not CEOs and Millionaires.  But when you compare what the Endurance PC's offer to the top of the line Binos in your favorite Camo Box store you see that there is a case for saving a few hundred buck and going with the Endurance PCs.  I'm not saying your settling for inferior product, but instead your not paying for the name, fancy packaging and manuels. They work plain and simple and you are not going to get a better bino at or near that price range.  These are truly a killer deal.
 


Summary

  So to put this all together now, Durability, Clarity and Value are what I see as the biggest selling points for the Endurance PC's.  You can beat the living tar out of them and they will hold up.  And when you spent 16 hours a day in the feild like I do you will have confidence the the clarity of the optics will allow you to see what you are looking for.  Everyone who has picked up my Binos has said the same thing, "Wow, those are clear!"  And everyone can't believe they are only $220 for the 10x42s.  So for about the same price as your Scent free/smell good/ hunting jacket or a few dozen arrows you can have top notched optics that will allow you to find your game.  When was the last time your jacket did that?  If you are teetering back and forth on whether to pull the trigger on something just a little more expensive,  remember you may only get one glance at whats across the valley from you before its gone. And if you can't see it you can't stalk it and if you can stalking you won't get a chance at that trophy.

Check them out at the below places-
www.hawkeoptics.com
www.twitter.com/hawkeoptics
www.facebook.com/hawkesportoptics


Thanks all,

The Bearded Boar

1 comment:

  1. Great review, Tony. Glad you like them! I think that this line is one of their better lines.

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