My mind was wandering as it always does while in my tree stand. My topic of thought was my personal evolution of rangefinders, maybe these thoughts might be helpful to others or maybe there will be some input from those who use them more than I do.
My first rangefinder was a long heavy unit made outside of Rochester NY, it was pretty cool at the time around 1977 or so, it was made by Ranging and was the model 1000. It was similar to a camera rangefinder and superimposed images to indicate range; it worked well for the time but was awkward and not portable. The second was a more modern style by Bushnell in the 1990s that worked well but was very limited for distance. The third was a Leupold RX 1000 TBR, this was cutting edge around 2008 with the built-in ballistic programs that worked well as I recall. After that one I moved to a Leica 2000B that had great optics, ranged great, but started having issues after a couple years and found out that Leica customer service left something to be desired. After the Leica I started looking for one that would provide the distance measurement required for open country moose hunting as I use my rangefinder for stalking and finding a spot for a shot or to call from. It also needs to range Varmints at extended distances along with archery deer up close and have clear enough optics to use as a monocular while woods hunting. Presto, I settled on a Vortex Razor HD 4000!! It checks all my required boxes and comes with the best lifetime warranty in the business that covers the entire unit including the electronics. I have been using this one for about 4 yrs now and it has never disappointed, I'm still on the original battery!
So far, I can't imagine a better unit for my applications.
Just curious what everyone else is using....
My first rangefinder was a long heavy unit made outside of Rochester NY, it was pretty cool at the time around 1977 or so, it was made by Ranging and was the model 1000. It was similar to a camera rangefinder and superimposed images to indicate range; it worked well for the time but was awkward and not portable. The second was a more modern style by Bushnell in the 1990s that worked well but was very limited for distance. The third was a Leupold RX 1000 TBR, this was cutting edge around 2008 with the built-in ballistic programs that worked well as I recall. After that one I moved to a Leica 2000B that had great optics, ranged great, but started having issues after a couple years and found out that Leica customer service left something to be desired. After the Leica I started looking for one that would provide the distance measurement required for open country moose hunting as I use my rangefinder for stalking and finding a spot for a shot or to call from. It also needs to range Varmints at extended distances along with archery deer up close and have clear enough optics to use as a monocular while woods hunting. Presto, I settled on a Vortex Razor HD 4000!! It checks all my required boxes and comes with the best lifetime warranty in the business that covers the entire unit including the electronics. I have been using this one for about 4 yrs now and it has never disappointed, I'm still on the original battery!
So far, I can't imagine a better unit for my applications.
Just curious what everyone else is using....
