Buying Advice: Binoc's-rangefinder

[Huskie]

I'm thinking of buying my son in law either a compact rangefinder or binoculars for a gift this year. He does a lot of hiking and camping, but also deer and elk hunting as well as other outdoor activities. Would like to keep it in the $200 range or so, any suggestions for either of these products would be of great help, thanks.

[LightningBG]

I'd go to an outdoor store and check out a bunch for yourself. I was in the market just recently. I ended up going to Joe's Sporting goods and trying a bunch out. I looked at Nikon, Bushnell and Vortex. Although all three make good products, the Nikons just didn't feel very good and the Vortex were bigger than I wanted and more expensive. I ended up going with a set of Bushnells, that I am very happy with. If I were to go off of specs alone and ordered online, I would have probably gotten the Nikons and not been very happy with them.

[InTheNorthwoods]

I'm thinking of buying my son in law either a compact rangefinder or binoculars for a gift this year. He does a lot of hiking and camping, but also deer and elk hunting as well as other outdoor activities. Would like to keep it in the $200 range or so, any suggestions for either of these products would be of great help, thanks.

Go with the rangefinder option. You'll get more for your money with the budget you have on a rangefinder than on binos. There are a lot of viable options in that price range with varying features. You know best what he'll use it for, so go into a sporting goods store and let them know what you're looking for and they should be able to help you out.