Henry Rifle Forums

I'm having increasing trouble finding a suitable gift for my buddy. He and I have been close friends for many years. He's the kind of friend I can call at 3 in the morning and say I'm stuck on the side of the road, and he will roll out of bed and come get me. He used to be my diving buddy, now he is my hunting buddy.

Anyway, looking for ideas. I have thought about a pair of compact binoculars. He currently has a very low end monocular. I was looking at the Celestron 10x42 at Gander. Roof prism, multi coated, sealed and nitrogen filled. A little less than $100.

He usually gets most anything he really wants.

Any ideas, or suggestions on this, or another decent pair of binocs in this price range. I was hoping to find a good Christmas sale on binocs, but the only sales I've seen have either been just a few dollars off, or the really pricey ones.

does he have a good range finder .. .. a good selection can be seen at the link below .... we use ours for a good deal more than hunting


https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i ... SB6UIP4AAW

Yep, he's got a rangefinder. If he didn't that would have been top on the list.

what type of hunting

what type of terrain

knife collector

load his own ammo

Mostly big game hunting in southern pine forests.

Not a knife collector and loads his own ammo, both pistol and rifle.

If he has a favorite/higher-end sidearm, these are always nice to have. Wish I had one:

https://www.orvis.com/p/gokey-kodiak-le ... -case/190n

Or, these are always handy, for any number of things. Got a similar one for my son for Christmas many years ago...

https://www.orvis.com/p/possible-bags/2GE9

Orvis has lots of interesting, unique sporting gifts. Not cheap, but usually very good quality, heirloom type stuff. And, if you dig, a wide range of price-points.

have you considered a gift card for his favorite store .... I know I enjoy getting them

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Get him a Henry. If he already has one (or more), get him another one. I hear you can never have too many Henrys.

clovishound wrote:I'm having increasing trouble finding a suitable gift for my buddy. He and I have been close friends for many years. He's the kind of friend I can call at 3 in the morning and say I'm stuck on the side of the road, and he will roll out of bed and come get me. He used to be my diving buddy, now he is my hunting buddy.

Anyway, looking for ideas. I have thought about a pair of compact binoculars. He currently has a very low end monocular. I was looking at the Celestron 10x42 at Gander. Roof prism, multi coated, sealed and nitrogen filled. A little less than $100.

He usually gets most anything he really wants.

Any ideas, or suggestions on this, or another decent pair of binocs in this price range. I was hoping to find a good Christmas sale on binocs, but the only sales I've seen have either been just a few dollars off, or the really pricey ones.

Great idea, but might just bust my budget by a little.

It's been years ago, but I went to a local rental center looking to rent a pair of binoculars.
They had a pair to rent, but I asked them if they would sell and they said yes.
I brought home a really nice set of Bushnell binoculars and I think I gave $35 for them.

Check your local rental center.
Most of them will sell their wares after a few rentals, then they buy another new pair.
You may, or may not find a deal, but it might be better than looking at a pawn shop.

Bought myself a pair of Nikon 10x30 hunting binoculars last year and used them this year hunting. They are compact and powerful. I really liked using them this year and recommend them to anyone who wants a pair of good lightweight binos.

I agree with Big Al. I bought this set last year, and my hunting buddy and I compared them to his $1000 Vortex binos, and mine are smoother, equally crisp and clear and $875 cheaper. His are about 2% brighter. That’s nice, but not CCH Big Boy Carbine nice!

https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-10x42-ProS ... f+3s&psc=1

Well, I'll give you an update. I was going to get him the Nikon 10 x 42 compact. They were a little too high everywhere for my budget, but Gander had a 25% off everything on their website sale. I was all set to order them and have them sent to the local store, but they took them off the website. I've been having to work a lot of overtime lately, so I took the easy way out and got him a gift card for Gander. Turns out he had gotten the bug for a 6.5 Creedmore and used my card, plus another he had been given to get a Ruger American at Gander. He is very happy with the Ruger, so it worked out well.

After all the looking at binocs, I ended up making an impulse buy of the Celestron 10 x 25 compacts they had on sale when I went to pick up his gift card. They helped fill out Christmas from my wife. I usually end up buying the things she gives me for Christmas. Anyway, I took them out to the woods hunting today, and am very pleased with them. Much better than any of the binocs I remember using growing up. I got the smaller 10 x 25 as the next size up was a little larger than I wanted to haul around with my other hunting gear. Not sure how much I'll use them, but felt like I needed a pair. They should also be handy at the range to read targets beyond 10 yds.

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Thanks for the update. I was wondering how this turned out.

Little bit of a funny story on Binocs. A few years back we bought a pair for our oldest son to use while hunting. My wife liked them so well she wanted a pair "just like them" for her birthday. Well I took her literally, right down to camouflage detail and hunter carry case. Apparently I wasn't supposed to be THAT literal.

I'm glad you helped make your buddy happy. Sometimes the 'easy way out' turns out for the best.

clovishound wrote:Well, I'll give you an update. I was going to get him the Nikon 10 x 42 compact. They were a little too high everywhere for my budget, but Gander had a 25% off everything on their website sale. I was all set to order them and have them sent to the local store, but they took them off the website. I've been having to work a lot of overtime lately, so I took the easy way out and got him a gift card for Gander. Turns out he had gotten the bug for a 6.5 Creedmore and used my card, plus another he had been given to get a Ruger American at Gander. He is very happy with the Ruger, so it worked out well.

After all the looking at binocs, I ended up making an impulse buy of the Celestron 10 x 25 compacts they had on sale when I went to pick up his gift card. They helped fill out Christmas from my wife. I usually end up buying the things she gives me for Christmas. Anyway, I took them out to the woods hunting today, and am very pleased with them. Much better than any of the binocs I remember using growing up. I got the smaller 10 x 25 as the next size up was a little larger than I wanted to haul around with my other hunting gear. Not sure how much I'll use them, but felt like I needed a pair. They should also be handy at the range to read targets beyond 10 yds.