Choosing Binoculars - always a challenge!

So how do you choose the best binocular for you?
1. Decide on your budget. How much can you realistically spend? Remember that price is usually a good representation of quality.
2. What do you need the binoculars for? Birding in your back garden or heading out into the field?
3. Are you looking for a compact pair to go hiking with or to keep in your car or a larger pair for backyard and in the field birding?
4. Will you be primarily be looking at insects and wildflowers or will you be in the forests looking for birds? For the former you will need close-focusing and for the latter you will need binoculars with good light gathering abilities. Do they need to be waterproof?

Once you have made a few decisions on use, you need to check out some of the somewhat bewildering selection on the market.

1. Go on an organised birding trip to a local park or lake. Both our local clubs- Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society and Henderson County Bird Club have monthly bird walks that are free and open to the public. Take a look at what optics other birders are using and see which ones feel right and are the easiest to use. Most birders will happily let you look through their binoculars and tell you why they chose their particular pair.

2. Come and visit us at the Asheville Wild Birds Unlimited store and talk to us about optics as well- we have a good selection that is growing every month. We currently stock the following:

Vortex - an excellent range of middle priced optics and excellent quality. Vortex have come out with a particularly wide range of optics for all wallets and their warranty is the best in the business.

We stock the following models: Diamondback 8 x 32 and 8 x 42, Crossfire 8 x 42. Talon, Viper and Razor models are also available.

Opticron - we now feature Opticron binoculars; the #1 binocular in the UK. We stock a full range of quaility bincoulars at great prices. They're what's new in optics.
We stock the Discovery 8 x 32 ,8 x 42 and 10 x 50, Oregon 8 x32 and 8 x 42, Savanah and Trailfinder models.
For further reading about choosing the best pair of binoculars for you and learning all of the terms, check out this site: Choosing Binoculars