GearExpert

Steiner Closeout Binoculars Are Going Fast

Jun 21 • News • 8671

How many of you used to play around with binoculars when you were a kid – those cheap plastic toys? I had a friend recently ask me about binoculars, as he had never really had anything other than those. Specifically, he wanted to know the best beginner/intermediate binoculars. That’s a tough question, of course, because the type of binocular you pick up is going to depend on what you’re using it for, how compact you want it to be, how durable it is, and how clear the optics are. Normally I would have grilled him for this information, but this time I could immediately give him an answer: “There are Steiner binoculars on closeout right now, and you need to pick them up.” Seriously, this is a good opportunity to grab some awesome binoculars for hunting, birding, or just watching the great outdoors. You might be familiar with Steiner – they’re known for powerful optics and durability. You might not know that some of the Merlin Pro and Predator Pro series are on closeout right now. That means when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Steiner Predator Pro Binoculars are great for porro prism lovers!

My buddy was looking for some good mid-range binoculars, compact, and perfect for his upcoming summer adventures. I was able to steer him towards the Steiner 8×30 Predator Pro Binocular, which he picked up without hesitation. There’s a lot to like here – the C5 optics give you a crisp image, and the tough rubber armor feels great in your hand. Plus, they’re the right color for blending in with woodland surroundings. Now, the Predator Pro 8×30 is a porro prism binocular, so it’s more compact and great for packing away when you don’t need it. But you’ll want to have them out a lot.

Steiner Merlin Pro 10×50 plus the other Merlin Pro binoculars are great for mid-range viewing.

For my friends who make birding a priority, the Merlin Pro series is the one I’ve landed on most often, if only for the name (just kidding). The 10x magnification comes in a choice of three objective sizes – 32mm, 42mm, and 50mm, depending on the amount of light you’ll need to allow into the binocular. The 8x version is wonderfully compact, and all are lightweight, waterproof, and feature twist-up eyecups. And they all let you train King Arthur – sorry, that’s not true, I’m still on about the name. Seriously, if you’re a hunter or love to go birding on weekends, check out these Steiner closeouts. As always, we’re sad to see them go, but I’m also excited to introduce a few friends to the joys of owning some serious binoculars.

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If You Thought the Battle Mug was Awesome, Wait till you See the Bottle Opener!

Jun 19 • News • 11869

We’ve had a lot of fun over the last year with the OPMOD Battle Mug. It was featured all over the internet as well as big time news stations like FOX News. A product like that needs a suitable sequel. Enter the OPMOD Tactical Bottle Opener.

This isn’t just any bottle opener. This one’s tactical…

What does that mean? Well, it’s more than the fact that it looks like an AR flash suppressor. This puppy has true tactical brilliance in every atom.

I wouldn’t risk opening a bottle with anything else

Let’s start with the bottle opener itself. Much like the Battle Mug before it, the TBO (tactical bottle opener) is tough. Having handled the TBO for a few minutes I wanted to provide a metaphor that would give you a really good idea of its durability. That desire to provide an accurate analogy led to these:

The OPMOD Tactical Bottle Opener is strong enough to withstand three kicks from Chuck Norris.
- When trying to crack open an egg with the TBO, a super dense singularity caused a black hole, which would normally have destroyed the Milky Way Galaxy, but the gravitational power was instead contained within the bottle opener. Anything that attempts to destroy it will be instantly atomized and further fuel the TBO.
- Once, a super-advanced alien civilization tried to take over the Earth. A young girl armed with only the OPMOD TBO not only defeated them, but also forced them to give us their incredible scientific advancements. From that day forward we had two-sided tape and microwave ovens.
Those were the best analogies I could come up with. The OPMOD Tactical Bottle Opener is truly a phenomenal piece of equipment. We’ve tested it extensively, and we can assure you it opens bottles. But it’s a tactical bottle opener, so there needs to be some justification for that, right?

OPMOD Bottle Opener paracord

The TBO comes with a paracord, which is an incredibly useful survival and tactical tool. It can be used for building shelter, making slings and a whole lot more. Since you’ll be tactically opening bottles, the paracord is a perfect accessory for helping keep a hand on the TBO. Just tie it to your wrist or belt and you won’t need to worry about dropping it at an inopportune moment.

OPMOD Bottle Opener made in the usa

In addition to being tough and cool, the TBO is quite patriotic. It comes from the same manufacturer as the Battle Mug, and was made in the USA. Everyone who sees you with it will know 3 things immediately:
1. You’re awesome – Tactical Bottle Openers are the surest way to tell people this.
2. You’re a fan of OPMOD, meaning you appreciate the world’s best gear
3. You love America – and you should.
If you want to see the OPMOD Tactical Bottle Opener in action, check out the video at the top of the page. Alessandro and Steve had some fun checking it out.

The OPMOD Bottle Opener is a serious piece of hardware for those who don’t take themselves too seriously.

OpticsPlanet • 1 Comment on If You Thought the Battle Mug was Awesome, Wait till you See the Bottle Opener!
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ATN Night and Thermal Vision Wins A Reader’s Choice Award

Jun 5 • News • 6564

We’ve covered a wide range of awesome gear in this space, but ATN has some of the coolest. I mean, thermal and night vision? What’s more awesome than seeing in the dark? As humans, we’re not exactly predisposed to doing much in the dark. We’re just not built for it. Any piece of tech that lets us do things we wouldn’t ordinarily be able to do – in this case, see in the dark or detect heat patterns – is always a thrill for me. Thus, ATN is a pretty natural choice for one of my favorite brands.

It turns out I’m not alone, either. ATN has recently won the Predator Xtreme Magazine‘s Reader’s Choice Gold award for the Night Vision/Thermal category. Make no mistake, this isn’t some committee selection – plenty of hunting and tactical aficionados have confirmed ATN to be one of the best. I’m in good company.

The ATN Thor 320 Thermal Imaging Sight is serious business.

There’s probably nothing cooler than thermal vision. Perfect for hunting, tactical situations, and a wide range of other uses, thermal vision allows you to see targets based on the heat they give off. The usefulness of such a device is pretty clear – you’ll be able to sight down on your target without giving away your position even to infrared devices. ATN has a great selection of thermal vision units, too – their ThOR is well-known in the industry for being a powerhouse and a workhorse (and it’s just got a really cool name). It’s not something I’d pick up just to play around with – it’s a serious tool. Tell me if you’ve come across this – you’re using a thermal device to get your sights on your target. At the last second, you switch to a night vision device to take your shot and in that second, your game gets away. The ThOR eliminates this problem with its superior picture and fantastic reticle that will let you take the shot. If you’ve got the need, the ATN ThOR is the thermal device you want.

Choose the ATN Aries MK350 NV Riflescope for low-light shooting!

Of course, night vision is indispensable for anyone operating in low light. It uses Image Intensifier Tubes (ITT) to enhance ambient light – or, in extreme situations, infrared light from an illuminator. Anyone who has gotten lost in the woods while camping knows the value of a tool that lets you get around. A flashlight can be useful, sure, but to stay discreet, you’ll want some night vision from ATN. The coolest thing they’ve got, in my opinion, are the night vision scopes. These bad boys mount directly to your rifle, and allow you to aim and shoot in extremely low light. I don’t know about you, but I hate having to switch between several devices, so this is a great choice for me.

These ATN Cougar NV Goggles make me feel like a spy.

Plus, I just like the concept of looking like a spy, even if I’ve never done anything particularly clandestine. ATN’s Cougar night vision goggles give me the ability to feel totally cool, and plus they let me see in the dark. I’m going to grab a set of these before my next camping trip. I’m sure to be the envy of everyone in the camping site! What’s not awesome about that?

It’s clear that ATN deserves the recognition and accolades it gets. I’m always excited to see what they’ve got coming out next. You can’t do much better than the gear from ATN, so to that we send ATN a hearty congratulations!

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Nikon Spot on Championships 2013 – Bullet Drop Compensating Glory!

May 24 • News • 11317

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the 2013 Nikon Spot On Championships in Dallas, Texas. Three of us from OpticsPlanet went last year as well, but I wasn’t able to go along. You can read my write-up on last year’s competition here. No doubt you’ll notice a subtle, but clear indication of jealously in my post. I definitely wanted to go. Luckily, 2013 was my year.

The Championship is for dealers who work with Nikon to promote their Spot On Technology and BDC Reticles. I wrote about this fantastic tech last year as well, but that was purely academic for me. I hadn’t gotten a chance to try it out until now.

WOW.

After just 5 shots I was a believer.

This shot would’ve intimidated me once.

I’ve never really been a long range shooter. Most of my experience has been limited to 200 yards to less. Not bad, but nothing spectacular. I figured I’d struggle with the 500 yard targets. Nope. Easy as can be. Not only that, but I was ringing gongs at 400 and 500 yards on my first try. That’s incredible!

You can print out a ballistic chart like this quickly and easily. Just put your info into the Spot On Technology site and print!

As you can read from my previous post on Spot On Technology, Nikon gives you the chance to setup and print out ballistic charts so you can input your exact firearm, caliber, scope and more and get exact results. It even allows you to adjust for atmospheric conditions! Every station at the Spot On Championship had chart already printed out, so you could take a quick look between shots to see exactly where to line up your shot. Pretty cool, but that’s not the only thing that makes Nikon BDC Scopes so capable.

Notice the circles and lines don’t cover too much of the image.

It’s the reticles themselves. Check out the reticle on the BDC 600 reticle on the Nikon M223 above. The circles and lines give you a TON of different points to gauge your distance from. When you see a lot of other BDC reticles you just see a few dots along the bottom line, but those are only so helpful. With the circles and lines you get a ton of different places to figure out your distance. I took a pic of one of the ballistic charts from the championship below. The top of each circle gives one range, then you get the middle, then the bottom and then the lines. With other BDC reticles you get one line at 250, the next at 350 and so on. If your target is 311 yards away, you need to go just over halfway between the two lines to hit your target. With a Nikon BDC reticle you’ll have a point of reference far closer to your range. That’s a huge help.

Important: TRUST THE SPOT ON TECHNOLOGY.

You’re going to love this scope!

One thing I noticed from some shooters, especially those with some more experience, is that they overcompensated, thinking they had to adjust more than the ballistic chart indicated. Don’t. Nikon calls it “Spot On” for a reason. It makes long distance shots MUCH easier. I’d go from a .22 AR to a .308 bolt action rifle and not miss a beat. I didn’t need to calculate the difference between the two guns and calibers. I looked at the chart, found the perfect place on the reticle to line up my target, and squeezed the trigger. All I had to do after that is smile when my spotter called, “HIT.”

Another REALLY important factor to keep in mind with many Nikon BDC reticles is how easy it is to see the target with the circles. Nothing is in the way of what you want to hit. This gave me a much better chance to pick the placement of my shots. Think of it this way: when you with a conventional reticle you have to look around the cross hairs to look at your target. Is the exact center of the line over the vitals of the deer you’re trying to hit or just to the left? You have to look at the rest of the deer to see. With the circles on a Nikon Scope you don’t have to look around the reticle. You look through it. I found this to be both faster and easier than with a traditional reticle.

If you’ve never tried out these reticles, give it a shot as soon as possible. I bet you’ll be a believer in no time.

Elena Hit 4 Out of 5 at 500 yards!

But back to the championships! We had two teams going this year. Our Bending brothers, Chase and Trevor, teamed up with Tom, our Nikon Rep. Tom got us into the Championship and is a pretty darn good shooter, so they had a very strong team. Our second team consisted of Kate, Elena and our other Nikon Rep Mike. Kate and Elena were two of the only ladies in the competition, and I’m pretty sure they set out on day one to shame a couple ‘tough guys’ by out shooting them at every turn.

I’m not going to admit they out shot me. Infer what you want from that.

The Nikon Spot On Championships were held at the TacPro Shooting Center, which is located a little ways outside of Dallas, Texas. It’s a beautiful place, with plenty of different ranges for different distances. If you ever need to get in some practice and you’re in the area it’s an absolutely fantastic range. Be sure to check it out.

The Bending brothers were an unstoppable team as Trevor spotted for Chase with a Nikon Field Scope with ED Glass

Day one went very well for the championship. Kate and Elena were hitting targets left and right, and Trevor and Chase proved they were more than capable by coming in fifth place for the day. That qualified them for the second day competition. From long range shots out to 500 yards to shooting spinners, there was a fair amount of variety to the shooting. Add in the different guns we got to shoot, with a muzzleloader and a couple crossbows for a fun change of pace, and no doubt you can tell we had a great day.

Kate showed no mercy when she picked up the crossbow.

It was especially fun to try out the Nikon crossbow scopes. You really need to pay attention to your distances with a bow, and we didn’t have any trouble hitting a variety of targets. I’m confident I could take down a bear with a well placed shot. (Provided it stood still and was facing the side)

On day 2 Chase was on fire!

Day two was also great, with a few stations reworked to make them more challenging for those who moved on after the first day. Chase and Trevor really stepped up their game for the day two competition, and after all was said and done they were in first place! We were really stoked. Some teams dominated on day one, but it was versatility with firearms that made the biggest difference. Some of the other competitors were a bit better with the bolt actions, but Trevor and Chase were unstoppable with ARs.

Before and After Tannerite

The first and second place teams had a final shootout, and I was pretty confident we’d take the prize. Trevor, Chase and Tom sat down and had everything set up in no time while the other team seemed to take an extra minute. The finals were the most intense part of the competition. Tom started by hitting all the gongs on a target tree, setting down his gun and tagging Trevor and Chase to get a spinner going. That proved more difficult, as we had a spinner with one arm slightly bent. We were just a single shot from spinning it (it took two guns working in tandem to get the thing going), but a single mistimed shot slowed us down enough for the other team to get the lead. After they spun theirs, their last player shot a target at 500 yards filled with tannerite. The explosion was a great way to close out the day, though I’d have liked it if it was ours instead.

Still, we won the two days of challenges; we just came up short in that final match up. Darn spinner.

Regardless, the Spot On Championships were a huge success. We had a lot of fun, and I can’t imagine anyone left feeling any less then confident in Nikon’s Spot On Technology and BDC reticles. Whether you’re an experienced shooter or beginner they’ll help you get on target at long distances with ease.

OpticsPlanet • 1 Comment on Nikon Spot on Championships 2013 – Bullet Drop Compensating Glory!
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Bushnell Speedster III Radar Gun and Speed Screen

May 13 • News • 5559

I moved to Chicago a few years ago and quickly learned a couple of things. For one: never put ketchup on a hot dog. Two: Cubs fans are extremely loyal. It was impossible not to get caught up in the fandom. There’s something intoxicating about the stadium in the Spring, with Cubs fans roaring all around. This also affords an excellent excuse to play some catch – and while I’m at it, why not clock the speed of my pitches? There’s a tool for that, after all – the Bushnell Speedster III Speed Radar Gun. It’s a serious baseball radar gun, but amateurs like me can still get a kick out of it. Plus, if you’re a little league coach or have a son or daughter who plays baseball or softball, it’s a great way to get them even more interested in practicing and playing!

The Bushnell Speedster III is perfect for baseball, tennis, and more!

The Bushnell Speedster III can actually be used to scout talent – that’s why its range goes to 110mph up to 90 feet. For professionals, this is a necessity. For complete beginners like me – well, let’s just say I’m glad it’s got a low end of 10mph. It utilizes Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology for an accurate and instantaneous readout, which is good because I hate waiting.

The Bushnell Speedster 3 Radar Gun isn’t just for baseball though. The advanced technology allows for use with softball, tennis, and seemingly every other sport I love playing but am absolutely terrible at. It may be a great way to introduce your kids to these sports! For you gearheads, the Speedster III also has a 10-200mph readout up to 1500 feet for auto racing. And it’s extremely accurate, too! With a +/- 1mph accuracy, it’s a tough deal to beat. It also features RF technology, allowing it to wirelessly hook up with the Bushnell Speed Screen.

The SpeedScreen makes it easy to see your speed from afar

I love the Bushnell Speed Screen and Tripod, which are designed specifically for the Speedster 3. The aforementioned RF technology on the Speedster III Radar Gun allows you to have a giant readout of your speed without all the hassle of wires – we all know how quickly those things tangle up. The Speed Screen even tracks “Last Speed” and the “Fastest Speed,” so why not get a little competition going before heading out to the park to watch the Cubs – sorry, whichever team you root for, of course! The Tripod comes with the Speedscreen, allowing you hands-free use for all of your sporting endeavors. I’ve heard from little league coaches that their kids love this setup – traditional practices quickly turn into fun and competitive games. The immediate feedback of a large screen displaying results is great for all ages!

The Tripod allows hands-free radar-ing!

With baseball season decidedly underway, it’s time to get out and enjoy the warm weather. Throw a few pitches, maybe hit the tennis court – you can even work on your child’s serve! Whatever you do, with the Speedster 3, the Speedscreen, and the Tripod, you’ll definitely be ready for a great day on the field. Batter up!

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