Binoculars, What do I want?

[Holland&Holland]

Not sure if it ended, but Nikon was running a great promotion with a cash back rebate on their monarch line and Cabela's had them on sale.

[westberg]

I now have the Leupold Golden Ring 10x32 that I'm looking forward to trying during hunting season. It's my Birthday present from Dawn, my Steiners were stolen from my truck. So far I'm liking the Leupold's better.

[goalie]

Looking for some all purpose binoculars... Would want them to be decent for hunting. Do I want fixed, or variable? What's the best bang for the buck?

Fixed.

7-8x for all-purpose.

Compact or semi-compact.

Minox, Pentax, etc.... (Use the link Justaguy provided, they are a good, reliable company with good deals and prices on optics)

Then again, MY idea of all-purpose might not be anything like yours. I hate 10x for general purpose, and prefer 7-8x for my Minnesota hunting. Out west, I brought a spotting scope, as it is much more suited to long range glassing and making decisions about whether or not it is worth trying to get close.

YMMV. FWIW, my last dozen deer have been shot at 100 yards or less. Many at 30 yards or less. I just need glass to see through the crud and identify stuff before it is too late to get a shot.

[cobb]

.......prefer 7-8x for my Minnesota hunting.

Yes, I think a good quality 7-8x is much better than the less expensive 10x or 12x.

[Pat]

I would buy the best glass that I could afford in a fixed 8X or 10X configuration - and not full sized binocs - there are some semi-compact models out there that offer shocking performance.

Nikon makes some good stuff for the $$ as well as Burris.... Leupold is waaaay too much $$ for what you are getting - and Swarovski is AWESOME but $800++++ for a small pair of 8x32mm's

+1 on Swarovski. Look through a pair at Cabelas. They are awesome.

[VikesFan1]

Here's a set of Nikon for sale. I have the same, or close to it, and as others have suggested, they're probably the best bang for your buck.
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/spo/1425787265.html

[MostlyHarmless]

I believe that a modest-sized 7-8x pair is the best choice for most uses. The fixed-focus ones are to be avoided for any application other than horizon scanning and other long-distance tasks (as in nautical use).

With the more compact roof prism binoculars, you have to pay more to get equal image quality. There are some inexpensive porro prism binocs that are quite good.

[goalie]

The fixed-focus ones are to be avoided for any application other than horizon scanning and other long-distance tasks (as in nautical use).

I think he meant fixed power.