Trijicon HD 8x42 Binoculars - Guns, Optics, Shooting

When I saw that Trijicon had come out with some new HD binoculars I knew I had to check them out. I have never had a single issue whatsoever with any Trijicon product, and I don’t baby my gear, it gets used. Having said that, if I were to have a problem I have absolute confidence they will make it right without a lot of drama.

I have a few nice binoculars including another HD model in 10×42. All of them are good quality because I did my research on them by looking at reviews on sites like www.huntsharp.com to ensure they worked well. I often swap them in and out my hunting bag, depending on what I’m going to go out and hunt. I decided to get the 8×42 to have a bigger field of view for hunting as well being slightly more compact and light. I got the package in and they come in a nice case with ample protection, a chest harness and lens pens. I took the Trijicon HD 8x42s outside and started testing them out looking from 50 to 400 yards out.

I immediately liked the size and feel of the binoculars, they had a good ergonomic feel in my hand and were instantly easy to use. Great glass is nice but if they aren’t comfortable to use for extended periods or are too bulky they are apt to be left behind.

I will say that the glass is exceptional. Edge to edge clarity is outstanding. They have both great resolution and contrast.

It’s easy to get the fine details looking at say a deer’s antlers and it the contrast makes things pop out in low light and in the shadows. You can see where I am going with this. Time to take them out hunting.

I hunt on a managed piece of property, meaning that, you can’t just shoot the first nice buck you see. You must make damned sure it’s a mature buck as well as really checking out the antlers before pulling the trigger. Well, as luck would have it, I got to try these out over 2 weekends and the 2nd weekend I hit paydirt. It was a cold and rainy morning, in fact, several other hunters wimped out and slept in. We have a saying “you can’t kill em from the cabin” and off we went into the darkness.

I was glassing hard into the tree line when something caught my attention. I thought I saw some horns through the thick underbrush out about 200 yards. I locked in and sure enough.. HORNS! NICE horns! The buck was not standing out in the open easy to spot. It was tucked back in the trees and I couldn’t see his body. I waited and watched for what seemed like an eternity for him to just move as I only had a partial view. Finally, he turned his head and I got what I was looking for! Mass, the buck had great mass and I could count all ten points. Decision reached.. now I just had to wait for a clean shot through the brush to drop the hammer. Again, the great glass helped immensely.

When the moment of truth came, I squeezed the trigger and down it went.

Could I have taken the deer with a lesser pair of binoculars? Out in the open? Sure.. But being able to glass extended periods of time with no eye strain sure helped and without a doubt the HD glass enabled me to see the horns in the first place.

While I did my testing in a hunting environment, I firmly believe a good pair of binoculars should be standard issue to Law Enforcement. If I were in LE, I would pay money out of my own pocket to own these to have on duty. Lots of bad things happen at night. If there were a hostage situation, or God forbid, a terrorist or active shooter I would want every advantage I could have. Being able to observe and to clearly identify people and objects in low light would go a long ways towards not only making the streets safer but also provide an officer with some insurance on making the right decisions.