I think it was 4 years ago now. I was going on an oryx hunt here in Central New Mexico. One of my good buddies asked me if I wanted to borrow his Leica Geovid Range Finder 10 x 42 binoculars. I told him no, because I dislike borrowing anybody's equipment especially binoculars. Truth was, if I messed them up I didn't want to have to replace them. I told that to my buddy and he told me "your not going to mess them up".
I use another brand of upper end binoculars and have done so since 1996. As far as I was concerned, they were the best on the market. I went ahead and borrowed the Geo's and stuffed them into my backpack. When you hunt oryx you depend on your optics from before sunrise to sunset. Due to the road structure where we were hunting this is truly a spot and stalk type of hunt. You normally are glassing anywhere from 1/2 mile to more than 3 miles out in the desolate landscape.
I started off the first day with "my" binoculars and about noon decided to take the Geo's out and check them out. They were very easy to get them focused to my eyes. What I saw totally amazed me - the clarity and the sharpness of these binos. I loved the weight and the size. While they are not compact not they were not too large either. Perfect size! I was spotting oryx left and right and was able to field judge animals so much better than with my current binos. They really shine in low light conditions. My hunter was amazed I could spot animals with ease and he was having trouble spotting them with his binos and his were good binos as well. When we found a likely trophy bedded down on a vantage point we worked around and got into position for a shot. I reached in my front pocket for my Leica Range Finder. I got a range on them and grabbed the Geo's to make sue which one was the biggest bull. A light bulb went off in my head. Duh, these binos have a built in range finder! I ranged the oryx with my Leica ranger finder my then buddies binos and it read the same distance. One shot later we had a beautiful trophy on the ground.
When I got back from that hunt I started researching those 10 x 42 Geovid's. I about passed out on the price but then I started to think about it. I can have the Geovid's binos with the range finder. Now, I do not need a separate range finder. Now, I have less hanging around my neck to think about during the heat of the battle. I started to save my money and looked at all the silly stuff I was buying that I really didn't need and saved up enough money to buy my own pair in 3 months. Looking back, I would spend that money again in a heartbeat. Looking back at all the other binoculars in my gun safe that just sit in there gathering dust, I think why didn't I just get the best there is. I say, put yourself on a savings program and buy a pair of these binos. If your worried about that investment, don't. Go to your local sporting goods store and look through them. Do not look through them in the store, ask to take them outside your be so surprised at what you can see and with such detail. It's also a great feeling when your hunter ask what binoculars you use and you will be proud to say - Geovid! They know they made the right decision hiring you for their hunt.
I have hunted around the world with them and still giggle every time I look through them. I did get a thank-you note from my hunter thanking me for an amazing hunt and that he went out and bought a pair for him and his wife.