KonaGolden from United States, CA Public Profile

I just received and tried this chrono. There is the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The ugly: This should be offered without the tripod. It's a POS with way too much sway and too much cheap plastic. It reflects poorly on Caldwell for supplying this junk. Buy a better tripod. The plastic wheel/screw that attaches to the chrono is poorly designed and a PITA to use. The 4 section legs are wobbly with cheap plastic leg locks. I wouldn't trust it in gusty or windy conditions. You can use an old photographer's trick and hang a small amount of weight from the tripod to make it more stable. By keeping the weight near the center and low to the ground, it is serviceable. It doesn't take much weight to do this, and this tripod won't support much.... 1/2 - 3/4 of a pound ought to do it. Better yet, donate or toss the tripod and get something better.

The bad: The LiIon batteries are not "user" replaceable. They should last 3-5 years, but will eventually need replacing. 4 hex screws will get you internal access and you may be able to replace yourself them but I didn't disassemble and check. For the longest life, keep them charged, but not left on the charger and don't ever let them completely discharge.

The chrono itself is made of plastic with aluminum supports. The main case is plastic, and seems adequate, but is not rugged. I do wish there was a way to lock the supports in place. They slip fit in place, but seem to work.

The good. Inverting the unit was really smart. I have two buddie

First, ask yourself what the purpose of this scope will be for you. This scope is a bit heavy for its size. The glass is pretty good, better than most, not as good as some in this price range. I've had a couple with glass that's less clear than others, so check the scope carefully. In this price range, consistency can be a bit lacking. There's edge distortion at higher powers, but it's reasonably bright for its size and price range. To me, the eye box is not as good as my Leupold, and I prefer the Leupold glass, but it's very close.

I do like the reticle. The 2/3rd circle around the crosshairs helps you get on target faster. There are 4 additional hash lines, with bullet drop compensation, besides the zero crosshair, but no hash lines or dots for windage. I prefer this reticle to most of the Leupold reticles, except I do like the tactical milling reticle on the Leupold Patrol. Half mil hash lines on both elevation & windage. I also prefer the light weight and glass on the Leupold a little better, but the cost is a little more.

I have less use for illuminated reticles. I find they're rarely needed. On this Vortex, only settings 4, 5 and 6 are useful to me. 1, 2 & 3 are not any better than the unlit reticle. 7 starts showing a red ring at the edges of the scope. 8, 9 are too bright and 10 washes everything out, turning the inside of the scope red. The off position between levels is a nice feature if you need an illuminated reticle, though. For daylight hours, illumination is

I've owned the Monarchs in 10x42 for years and use them extensively in my work, as well as for hunting & recreation. For the price point, they are a great value. The glass is clear and bright, color rendition is good, aberrations are minimal in this range. The armor is tough, the twist up eyepieces are nice, the right ocular lens adjustment is a bit too tight, but it stays put, The focus knob is smooth, not too tight or too loose, and the knob is big enough and rubber coated with serrations that work well with gloves or bare fingers. Field of view is good, too.

Beware the lens caps. The ocular (eye piece) lens caps are junk. The primary job of a lens cap is to protect the lenses. Lens are typically damaged in one of 3 ways, broken while dropped, scratched by an object, or damaged through improper cleaning. The ocular covers fit so loosely, they constantly fall off. Nikon Customer Support claims they are designed this way, so when you lift the binoculars, the cap naturally falls off & remains attached to the straps. Unfortunately, this "feature" is a big fail in the real world.

If you are active at all, while wearing these bino's; hiking, hunting, even moving from place to place on anything other than level ground, or in a windy area, the caps will fall off leaving your lenses unprotected. While they may not get scratched, they can. The real world problem is the lenses will get dirty and dusty. Blowing sand can be a disaster. You're outside, need to clean your lenses and the

I've owned these boots for several years. They fit well, are comfortable, uppers and footbeds last a long time, and they provide great support. They are well constructed. I have one nit and one thing I do not like. The nit is just that. One eye hook, on my right shoe, has a very slight edge that wears out laces. I ended up polishing it with emery paper, which solved the problem, but time and a worn out pair of laces was the cost. No big deal.

What bugs me about these boots are the soles. The sole is 2 parts, one part is solidly attached to the shoe. The tread or outsole is bonded to to the bottom of the shoe. The problem is the tread is not very deep and tends to wear out a bit faster as a result. It would be an easy fix to have a new outsole bonded when they wear out, but no better outsoles are offered and the cost to have the work done is 1/2 the cost of a new boot. In my opinion, it's just not worth the cost.

The end result is you will initially spend 1/2 the cost of a great boot, but that savings disappears the moment they wear out, which is twice as fast. It's really too bad because I have sensitive feet and these are great boots otherwise. I've done 50 & 90 mile backpacking trips, Alaska hikes, Colorado mountain hunts, and some rock climbing with these. If Danner would make a more robust sole, with a deeper, more aggressive tread, and offer thermobonding outsole replacements, they could be some of the best boots in their price range...by far.