Khales 8-32 worth repairing

[Alabama556]

I have a set of khales 8-32 binos that I dropped and they are out of alignment. Khales wants $340 to repair them. Other than the alignment issue they have been great for bow hunting.

Is it worth 340 to fix these or can you buy a comparable new set for the same money? The lenses are in good shape and optics are clear.

They are about 10 years old.

Thanks

 

[Fuzzy Bunny]

I have a set of these binoculars that I use to hunt with, and absolutely love them. In my opinion you would be hard pressed to replace them with something of similar quality for $340, so to me it's a no brain er.

 

[Javelin]

I would probably put my money towards a set of vortex razor hd binos and not worry about dropping or breaking them.

 

[glock24]

I'm a nobody, and I understand glass quality is highly subjective . . . but as a guy with limited hobby funds, humor me with a short story;

A deer-hunting buddy, and a couple nature-loving family members of mine were all in the market for binoculars. Of course with me being the riflescope snob, it was apparently my job to steer them in the right direction. In an attempt to make an informed choice, I found an online store with an excellent return policy. I then pulled out the credit card and purchased about $3,500 worth of binoculars. I bought about a dozen different pair ranging in price from $300 to $1200. I had multiple samples from Nikon, Vortex, Meopta, Kahles, Leupold, Burris, and even one Celestron.

I laid them all out on my dining room table, and my group started comparing and contrasting. They didn't know shit about the brands or the prices. Their opinions were based strictly on glass quality, eye-relief, and field of view.

When the evaluation was complete, my deer-hunting buddy, my wife, and my mother in-law all picked the Meopta 6.5x32mm.

Yeah, I know. But after conducting the same evaluation myself I could see their points. This Meopta glass was 90%-95% as nice as the 8x Kahles and 8x Vortex Razors. However the FOV was much larger due to the smaller power. The Meoptas were also optically correct all the way to the edges. Many of the other less expensive samples either had significant curvature (like the Vortex Viper HDs), or unnatural coloration.

In short, I say don't bother fixing the Kahles. Find a place with a good return policy, and test out a pair of these Meopta 6.5x32mms. They are far from the usual China imports. They are actually made in New York using imported Meopta glass and parts. And I'm betting that as a deer-hunter you will appreciate the larger exit pupil in low light, the light and compact design (21oz), and also the larger field-of-view when scanning. Overall, I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.

Good luck

 

[mikeltee]

If you are scouting a lot with them you will be hard pressed to find something cheaper than that with quality glass. If you occasionally put them up to your eyes that's a different story. My first pair of binos were a cheap pair of Barska from Gander that imagine quality was good enough but if you viewed for any amount of time, my eyes wouldn't be happy. It sucks they want so much to fix them.

 

[6172crew!]

I bought 2 pairs of binos last year. The Athlon and the Sightrons. The sightrons are fantastic for $100, lower powered. The Athlon looked about as nice as the Swifts I looked through that were twice as much. We also had a Viper HD set and a cheaper leupolds, porro and prisim types and Id buy a set of sightrons or athlons for hunting and not worry when they break.

 

[Ornery]

I'm a nobody, and I understand glass quality is highly subjective . . . but as a guy with limited hobby funds, humor me with a short story;

A deer-hunting buddy, and a couple nature-loving family members of mine were all in the market for binoculars. Of course with me being the riflescope snob, it was apparently my job to steer them in the right direction. In an attempt to make an informed choice, I found an online store with an excellent return policy. I then pulled out the credit card and purchased about $3,500 worth of binoculars. I bought about a dozen different pair ranging in price from $300 to $1200. I had multiple samples from Nikon, Vortex, Meopta, Kahles, Leupold, Burris, and even one Celestron.

I laid them all out on my dining room table, and my group started comparing and contrasting. They didn't know shit about the brands or the prices. Their opinions were based strictly on glass quality, eye-relief, and field of view.

When the evaluation was complete, my deer-hunting buddy, my wife, and my mother in-law all picked the Meopta 6.5x32mm.

Yeah, I know. But after conducting the same evaluation myself I could see their points. This Meopta glass was 90%-95% as nice as the 8x Kahles and 8x Vortex Razors. However the FOV was much larger due to the smaller power. The Meoptas were also optically correct all the way to the edges. Many of the other less expensive samples either had significant curvature (like the Vortex Viper HDs), or unnatural coloration.

In short, I say don't bother fixing the Kahles. Find a place with a good return policy, and test out a pair of these Meopta 6.5x32mms. They are far from the usual China imports. They are actually made in New York using imported Meopta glass and parts. And I'm betting that as a deer-hunter you will appreciate the larger exit pupil in low light, the light and compact design (21oz), and also the larger field-of-view when scanning. Overall, I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.

Good luck

The Kahles binos are good, but not great. The Meopta 6.5x are no longer in production. They are very nice inexpensive binos with a large FOV (440' at 1,000 yards). Vortex also had a pair of 6.5x binos for awhile. Maybe you can find a used pair somewhere. I would also second the Meopta's.