First, I apologize for the length of this, after re-reading the new Sightron SIII offerings thread it just got me thinking about who's listening to shooters and who's listening to the marketing department.
At least a few times a year we have the "Leupold Bashing Posts", the "Why Didn't XYZ do it this way" posts, the "No Customer Service posts and of course the "Does Anyone XYZ Optics Company even shoot a rifle" posts? These are all in response to us, active shooters in the sport, being disgusted at poor customer service, mismatched reticles/knobs, goofy marketing invented ideas that have no use in shooting and just the overall thoughts that optics companies are designing products to look good in SWAT and Field & Stream versus actually performing good in the field.
Enter Vortex Optics. Now I heard of Vortex what seems like several years ago, most likely in a post from Doug at CameralandNY.com introducing some new special on a hunting scope. They didn't interest me then, they appeared to be a budget hunting scope that was well made, but I had those and didn't need more. What did interest me some was the "claim" of a great warranty, I put that in quotes because I figured out later it was more than just a claim, they really were that good. Anyway, Vortex like all others had (and still does) the scopes with mildot reticles with moa knobs, appealing to hunters and some shooters that "needed" the mildot but weren't really quite sure how to use it. I saw a few reviews on Vortex scopes, guys are happy with them, good glass and great warranty for the money, yada yada yada. I know that several guys have decided to use the Vortex Razor Binoculars since they are damn near the glass that the premium euro binocs are, but about 1/3 the cost. Still, I didn't need new binoculars so I'd look through the Razors at the store and admire the glass value, but never really bought anything Vortex. Then, a couple months ago, two events really got me thinking more seriously about Vortex.
Event #1 - Introduction of the Razor 5-20x50 HD, Vortex version of a real tactical scope, it appeared to be a success for their first venture in this area.
Event #2 - This was the real one that got me. Someone was asking about Vortex binoculars, not the top of the line Razors, but a lower model. Opinions were shared and stories were told, then a guy from Oregon chimed in that his Vortex binoculars (one of the midrange series I believe) had failed him and leaked if I remember right. He hadn't bothered to call customer service and figured he'd have to buy another pair of something to get him through hunting season. It seems like within 15 minutes this guy called "Sam@Vortex" was on the thread and simply stated that he was sorry for the inconvenience and if he the member would PM Sam his address he'd have a new pair sent to him in the morning so he'd have them for that weekends hunt. WTF? No "can you send a picture" or "what did you do to break them" or any other excuse, just a simple apology and resolution. WOW! I've never seen a Leupold, Burris, Bushnell or any other rep I can think of on here, much less one offering to take his time to fix our problems (and all without having to deal with someone in customer service).
Sorry again for the length of this post, I had know idea when I started that I'd ramble this much.
Anyway, enter SHOT 2010. I know that we all have been drooling at the announcements made about Vortex by the vendors here. They are adding 2 very nice reticles to the Razor HD Scope, some cool red dot sights, compact spotters, etc. And of course the Viper PST!
What I'm most excited about though is that someone at Vortex WAS ACTUALLY LISTENING. It appears that Vortex with the introduction of the Viper PST, has broken the mold out there and is going to produce a scope that has quality glass, mil reticle and turrets, illuminated reticle and do it all for under $900!! I think we all know that if these are anywhere near what we're hoping in terms of quality that they'll sell like hotcakes and be impossible to get for a few months (pre-order now from your friendly SH.com vendor). I think we all expected this from Leupold years ago, maybe even Bushnell in their tactical line, but apparently they were too big and too set in their ways to get on it. Yes, Leupold has finally announced the M5 mil knobs, but I'll bet FFP and illumination w/ M5 knobs will cost you close to $2k but at that price I'll take a Nightforce or Razor HD.
I've decided to get a Vortex Razor HD to run for a while and will be picking up at least one Viper PST for my varmint rifle when I can. It's so nice that I'll be able to have consistent reticles, knobs, etc from a $2,000 scope to a sub $900 scope, that's something you can't do with any other manufacturer that I know of right now.
Kudos to Vortex for actually listening.
Jason
At least a few times a year we have the "Leupold Bashing Posts", the "Why Didn't XYZ do it this way" posts, the "No Customer Service posts and of course the "Does Anyone XYZ Optics Company even shoot a rifle" posts? These are all in response to us, active shooters in the sport, being disgusted at poor customer service, mismatched reticles/knobs, goofy marketing invented ideas that have no use in shooting and just the overall thoughts that optics companies are designing products to look good in SWAT and Field & Stream versus actually performing good in the field.
Enter Vortex Optics. Now I heard of Vortex what seems like several years ago, most likely in a post from Doug at CameralandNY.com introducing some new special on a hunting scope. They didn't interest me then, they appeared to be a budget hunting scope that was well made, but I had those and didn't need more. What did interest me some was the "claim" of a great warranty, I put that in quotes because I figured out later it was more than just a claim, they really were that good. Anyway, Vortex like all others had (and still does) the scopes with mildot reticles with moa knobs, appealing to hunters and some shooters that "needed" the mildot but weren't really quite sure how to use it. I saw a few reviews on Vortex scopes, guys are happy with them, good glass and great warranty for the money, yada yada yada. I know that several guys have decided to use the Vortex Razor Binoculars since they are damn near the glass that the premium euro binocs are, but about 1/3 the cost. Still, I didn't need new binoculars so I'd look through the Razors at the store and admire the glass value, but never really bought anything Vortex. Then, a couple months ago, two events really got me thinking more seriously about Vortex.
Event #1 - Introduction of the Razor 5-20x50 HD, Vortex version of a real tactical scope, it appeared to be a success for their first venture in this area.
Event #2 - This was the real one that got me. Someone was asking about Vortex binoculars, not the top of the line Razors, but a lower model. Opinions were shared and stories were told, then a guy from Oregon chimed in that his Vortex binoculars (one of the midrange series I believe) had failed him and leaked if I remember right. He hadn't bothered to call customer service and figured he'd have to buy another pair of something to get him through hunting season. It seems like within 15 minutes this guy called "Sam@Vortex" was on the thread and simply stated that he was sorry for the inconvenience and if he the member would PM Sam his address he'd have a new pair sent to him in the morning so he'd have them for that weekends hunt. WTF? No "can you send a picture" or "what did you do to break them" or any other excuse, just a simple apology and resolution. WOW! I've never seen a Leupold, Burris, Bushnell or any other rep I can think of on here, much less one offering to take his time to fix our problems (and all without having to deal with someone in customer service).
Sorry again for the length of this post, I had know idea when I started that I'd ramble this much.
Anyway, enter SHOT 2010. I know that we all have been drooling at the announcements made about Vortex by the vendors here. They are adding 2 very nice reticles to the Razor HD Scope, some cool red dot sights, compact spotters, etc. And of course the Viper PST!
What I'm most excited about though is that someone at Vortex WAS ACTUALLY LISTENING. It appears that Vortex with the introduction of the Viper PST, has broken the mold out there and is going to produce a scope that has quality glass, mil reticle and turrets, illuminated reticle and do it all for under $900!! I think we all know that if these are anywhere near what we're hoping in terms of quality that they'll sell like hotcakes and be impossible to get for a few months (pre-order now from your friendly SH.com vendor). I think we all expected this from Leupold years ago, maybe even Bushnell in their tactical line, but apparently they were too big and too set in their ways to get on it. Yes, Leupold has finally announced the M5 mil knobs, but I'll bet FFP and illumination w/ M5 knobs will cost you close to $2k but at that price I'll take a Nightforce or Razor HD.
I've decided to get a Vortex Razor HD to run for a while and will be picking up at least one Viper PST for my varmint rifle when I can. It's so nice that I'll be able to have consistent reticles, knobs, etc from a $2,000 scope to a sub $900 scope, that's something you can't do with any other manufacturer that I know of right now.
Kudos to Vortex for actually listening.
Jason
