Features and Benefits of the Vortex Razor Red Dot Sight:
This sight is of exceptional quality and comes with its fair share of benefits over other sights available on the market. Each of its features is useful and make this sight a great option for hunters who want something simpler to use than just the standard iron sight. Reflex sights are becoming increasingly popular among hunters and gun enthusiasts, and this product will satisfy almost any customer. Here are all of the features of the Vortex Razor Red Dot Sight and how they can benefit users of this product.
Wide field lens: The durable lens on this sight is wide and easy to use. It is designed to be resistant to scratches, so users don’t have to worry about the most important part of the sight taking unnecessary damage during use, transport, or storage. Additionally, the lens is protected with an anti-reflective coating, making the high-resolution display easier to see in any possible condition. All of these lens features ensure that vision remains unimpaired during use of this sight.
Red dot: The red dot illuminated by this sight is brighter than most and also more accurate, so users can see it easily even in sunny weather. The brightness is adjustable with nine different levels, so it is easily customized to the user’s preference or weather conditions. The dot can be seen clearly in the day as well as night, and shouldn’t be affected by foggy weather so hunters can use it whenever they desire.
Aluminum chassis: The chassis of this sight is constructed with an aircraft-grade aluminum alloy. It is extremely durable and will last for years to come, regardless of how often it is used or what conditions it is exposed to. The aluminum alloy is chemically treated to be scratch resistant and far more durable than all the other metal options available. It was built to resist damage and to withstand recoil as well as impact.
O-ring seal: This sight is sealed with an o-ring for an extra layer of protection from the elements. The o-ring seal keeps out water and dust so that the display lens and red dot are unaffected. This allows for the ability to use the sight completely worry free and get dirty when necessary on the hunt.
6-hour automatic shutdown: If users forget to turn the sight off after they use it, an automatic shutdown feature will kick in after the sight has been on for a consecutive 6 hours. This will conveniently save on battery life so that users don’t get stuck without their sight the next time they need it. At the sight’s highest setting, it has a 150-hour run time.
Easy to use: This sight is exceptionally easy to use, even for beginners. The two arrow buttons sit on top of the sight, directly behind the lens. Holding either arrow will make the sight power on, and then the arrows can be used to adjust the brightness of the red dot. Holding either arrow again will power the sight off.
Included Picatinny mount: Vortex includes a Picatinny mount with this sight, so it can easily be attached to whatever gun the user prefers.
Drawbacks of Using the Vortex Razor Red Dot Sight:
It is an unavoidable fact that any product on the market comes with at least a few drawbacks. While the Vortex Razor Red Dot Sight is no exception to this rule, the benefits of all its included features far outweigh any negatives listed. Here are the drawbacks to consider before buying a Vortex Razor Red Dot Sight.
Sight adjustment with Allen key: Unlike some sights that can be conveniently adjusted with a coin, this sight requires a metric Allen key. This is only a small inconvenience, but it could possibly be bothersome to buyers used to the coin option.
Power-on delay: The arrow button on the sight must be held for a few seconds before the sight powers on. While this should be fine for most hunting applications, buyers who use their guns and sight for self-defense might find this delay dangerous and inconvenient.
Who Should Buy the Vortex Razor Red Dot Sight:
This sight is a high-quality option for hunters and gun enthusiasts who prefer the red dot sights over the standard iron sights. It has the durability and high performance necessary to satisfy experienced sight users while remaining easy enough to operate for hunters who are new to reflex sights altogether. The benefits of this product place it well above many other red dot sights on the market, and it has a place in just about every hunter and enthusiast’s collection. The only people who might not get the most out of this sight are those wishing to use it for self-defense purposes rather than hunting. The power-on delay could cause an issue in this situation only.
Vortex makes many popular sporting optics, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that their Razor HD 10×42 binoculars are a favorite for those with a budget around $1k. They are high-quality, lightweight binoculars with a crisp, bright image, and come with a VIP unconditional lifetime warranty. Read on to learn the specifics of these binoculars and prepare to be impressed!
Outer design:
Made in Japan, these binoculars have a true open-hinge design. This means that unlike open-hinge binoculars that have two connecting bridges that are very thin, the Vortex Razor HD 10×42 binoculars have just one thicker connecting bridge. However, this bridge connector is still much thinner than the bridge on standard roof prism binoculars, leaving more of the barrels exposed. This gives the extra security needed for one-handed holding.
Exterior
The magnesium chassis on these binoculars is much more durable and solid than the usual aluminum chassis, while the thin, dark green rubber covering will protect your binoculars from most minor impacts. The magnesium and rubber are both non-reflective, making them great for observing timid wildlife. The rubber has a sandpaper grit that is not as tactile as some binoculars’ covering, but is still non-slip, and the magnesium has a rough texture that is also non-slip. The parts of the binoculars not covered by the rubber are the bridge, a small inset on the inside of each barrel, and about one-third of the end of the barrels. While this helps lessen the load, if something metallic (such as a ring or keys) strikes the binoculars, it will make a ringing noise that may scare off some animals.
Under each barrel is a thumb indent, which encourages you to hold the binoculars in the proper position. If held in this fashion, the binoculars are well-balanced, which makes for a stiller, clearer image that is less strenuous on the eyes.
Objective Lens
The optical lens, which is a large 42 millimeters in diameter, is set about eight millimeters deep into the barrels. This helps prevent damage to the objective lenses when the lens caps are removed.
Weight
At 1.55 pounds, these binoculars are very lightweight, but remain solidly built and durable thanks to the magnesium chassis mentioned earlier.
Tripod Mounting
These binoculars are compatible with a tripod adaptor with one-fourth inch threading, allowing use on a tripod or car window mount. However, the adaptor is sold separately.
Twist-up eyecups
Made of metal and rubber, the eyecups are durable but comfortable. Forty millimeters in diameter, the eyecup is quite large, making fitting it on your eye sockets quite comfortable. In addition, the helicode mechanism of the eye cup is simple and very smooth to operate.
Eye Relief
The eye relief is a big plus for eye glass wearers at 17.5 millimeters.
Focusing
The focus Wheel diameter is thirteen millimeters, about standard for full-size binoculars. It has good resistance without being too loose and causing over-rotation. There is a decent reach distance, allowing you to turn the focus wheel while holding the binoculars in the standard position. (Based on an average man’s hand) The wheel is nicely grooved, protrudes from the binoculars a good distance, and is fairly large. This makes turning it easy even with thick gloves, such as you would wear in winter.
Diopter Adjustment
As you can with most good binoculars, you can focus one barrel separately from the other to compensate for differences in your eyes. On these binoculars, the diopter adjustment is located on the right side between the eye cup and the chassis. The nice thing about this adjustment wheel is that you can lock your setting in place, since you have to click the wheel toward the eye cup before turning it. Finally, unlike most diopter wheels, which are made of plastic, this wheel is metal with fine grooves cut into it.
Weather-Proofing
The Vortex Razor HD 10×42 binoculars are all-weather binoculars, being one-hundred percent air and water proof. This also prevents any dust or debris from entering the system. The interior is “argon purged,” which means all the air has been removed and replaced with argon, preventing fogging. As these binoculars are moisture-free, they won’t corrode, extending their life dramatically.
Glass
Apochromatic (APO) Optical System
When light travels through a single simple lens, the distance at which each wavelength comes into perfect focus varies, causing chromatic and spherical aberrations. This results in you seeing soft images and color fringing along the edges of high-contrast images. To minimize chromatic and spherical aberrations, designers of binoculars have created compound lenses, which are a combination of several simple lenses of varying optical properties and focal lengths. The most common type of compound lens is the achromatic lens, which can bring into focus two wavelengths, usually red and blue. However, these binoculars have an apochromatic lens, which means it has three elements and, because it brings the light of three frequencies together to a common focus, it corrects chromatic and spherical aberrations better. The drawback of apochromatic lenses, though, is their weight. The Vortex Razor HD binoculars, however, balance the weight of an apochromatic lens with a magnesium chassis, making the binoculars actually lighter than many binoculars on the market.
ED and HD glass
ED (extra-low density) glass is used in the design of these binoculars’ lens because it has the potential to improve image sharpness and reduce color fringing. HD (high density) glass is also used in the design of the apochromatic lens, since it is easier to manipulate and thus they are able to better focus the wavelengths to improve the color fidelity and resolution of the image even more.
Lens Coatings
More than one layer of Vortex’s proprietary XR anti-reflective lens coating has been added to each lens surface that is open to the air. This greatly increases light transmittance, which results in a much brighter image. This is very important when the ambient light is not so great, as in dense woods or at dawn or dusk.
Vortex has also added Armor Tech coating to the exterior lenses. This very hard coating resists scratches and repels dirt, making the lenses less likely to need cleaning and much easier to clean when they do need it.
Roof Prism and Coatings
While Vortex does not say what kind of prisms they use, the best guess from the quality of other parts of the binoculars is that they are using a good quality BAK-4 glass.
The first coating on the prisms is a phase correction coating. This is needed because roof prisms cause “phase shift,” which leads to a reduction in sharpness. Phase correction coating helps by preserving light in the right color phases. Thus, you get a better contrasting image with color enhancement and sharper resolution.
The next coating is the dielectric multi-layer Prism Coating. What is this and why is it needed, you might ask. The downside to roof prisms is that the first prism in the system has one surface without total internal reflection, causing the loss of some light. It is very important, then, to raise the reflectiveness of this surface. To do this, Vortex has added multiple layers of Dielectric coatings. This creates a Dielectric mirror, which is able to transmit 99% of light, creating a sharper, clearer image.
Optical Performance
Field of View (FOV)
The width of the image you can see at 1000 yards is 362 feet or 6.9 degrees. This is certainly above average and very nice, but it’s not top-notch performance.
Near Focus
The closest distance at which you can focus these Vortex Razor HD 10×42 binoculars is six feet, an excellent distance for full-sized binoculars. This near focus is great for observing butterflies and birds that land nearby, as well as other close objects.
Quality of Image
Compared to other binoculars of similar design, the Vortex Razor HD 10×42 binoculars have a higher level of brightness when the level of ambient light is low. Not much of a difference can be seen when the light is strong, however. This high light transmittance is very important for observing wildlife in dense woods or forests and when the sun is low on the horizon.
Image Contrast and Color Reproduction
When focused properly as you should expect, the image is very sharp. In fact, if you could zoom your naked eyes in, it would look like the image in these binoculars. The color hues are natural, not like the false hues of some inferior binoculars.
Chromatic Aberrations
When viewing light or white images in front of dark backgrounds, which is where color fringing is easiest to spot, there is no apparent fringing. This is where the apochromatic lens and ED glass really shine, as other binoculars without ED glass and with an achromatic lens have a lot of color fringing
Image Softening
On poor quality binoculars, the edges of the viewed image are often softened quite a bit. With these Vortex Razor HD 10×42 binoculars, you don’t get that image softness nearly as much. In fact, it is so minimal that you must really look to see any softening around the edges. This sharpness of image makes the binoculars an excellent device.
Overall, the image is one of the best ones seen on a pair of binoculars of this type. It is crisp and clear, bright and with natural color hues, as well as being without chromatic aberrations or image softness. You’re sure to love the image seen through these binoculars!
In the Box
A few other things come with the Vortex Razor HD 10×42 binoculars: a Rain guard, Tethered Objective Lens Covers, a Comfort Neck Strap, and a Deluxe Padded Carry Case.
Rain guard
The eyepiece cover, or rain guard, fits perfectly over the eyepiece, allowing for no accidental removal. It also has a flexible connector that flexes or compresses according to your interpupilary setting.
Objective Lens Covers
The caps for the objective lenses fit well and so should not fall off accidentally. However, should they fall off, they are tethered to the barrels by a rubber loop which also keeps them out of the way when you are using the binoculars. If you don’t like them dangling down, you can also detach the objective lens covers and stow them away somewhere safe like the carry case.
Neck Strap
These binoculars come with a very comfortable padded neck strap that is also shaped to fit better around your neck and shoulders. Vortex also connected the neck strap to the nylon strap with loop connectors, allowing the neck part of the strap to remain undisturbed when you lift the binoculars to your eyes.
Carrying Case
The carrying case for these binoculars is fairly well-padded, and the binoculars fit snugly without being too tight for easy access. Accessing the binoculars in their case is easy with a quick-release buckle and strap. There is also a mesh pocket on the inside of the lid for storing a few personal possessions such as an ID, a hunting license, and/or a lens cleaning cloth.
There is a separate unpadded neck strap that comes with the carrying case, but it can be attached or removed. If removed, the padded neck strap of the binoculars can be threaded through to be used instead. You can also carry the binoculars on your belt via a few loops on the back of the case.
While not as luxurious as some binocular cases, this carrying case does the job and has easy access to the binoculars.
The overall performance of these binoculars is exceptional. They have a crisp and clear image, are easy to focus and adjust, and have some extra details that add up to greatness, such as the neck strap’s comfortability and the tripod or car window mount possibility.
The Vortex Venom Red Dot may be used with almost any pistol, rifle or shotgun. Despite being small in size, this daylight-bright Red Dot is very precise, allowing for a rapid acquisition of the target in no time. The hunting accessory features scratch-free lenses that have an anti-reflective coating. The coating used in the device is a full multi-coating type of surface, which allows the MOA to deliver high-quality images. The device is also a preferred model because of its comparatively wider field of view. The exterior part of the Venom Red Dot is built using an aluminum chassis. This rugged outer chassis enhances the durability of the equipment, regardless of the environment, the device is used in. The intensity and power controls for the equipment are also conveniently positioned, making it easy to use. Throughout this Vortex Venom Red Dot review, you will understand why this is a must-have piece of hunting equipment.
Versatility
The Red Dots are preferred hunting accessories because of their versatility. Additionally, their devices allow for easy targeting—, especially for the long range hunters. As such, you can easily target your prey from a long distance, up to 100 meters, using these devices. The newest of the red dots—the Venom Red Dot–promises to be even better. For one, this happens to be a firearms-grade piece of equipment. Additionally, it is compact enough to fit on the sides of various firearms. Despite its small size, the Venom Red Dot offers a remarkable field of view as well as impressive image clarity.
Vortex Venom Red Dot Packaging
One of the things that you will love about this piece of equipment is its packaging and accessories. Vortex Optics is renowned for offering generous add-ons with their products. The Venom red dot is not an exception, in this regard. In addition to the optic device, the packaging includes an assortment of helpful accessories. Some of the accessories contained in this packaging include a slick picatinny mount as well as the required hardware to secure the red dot to the mount, spare screw, a piece of cloth for cleaning the lens a torx wrench, double-ended screwdriver, battery, and manual.
The double-ended screwdriver features large and small flat heads, which may be used to open and close the battery compartment of the device. You may also use the screwdriver to make sighting adjustments on your equipment. The torx wrench, on the other hand, may be used to secure the device to the mount. Additionally, you will also find a soft rubber cover for the optic within the packaging. This soft rubber is for protecting the device and conserving battery power when the device is not being used.
Design and Built
Vortex Venom Red Dot has a rugged, shockproof exterior body. As such, the device is capable of withstanding firearm recoil force and impact. This piece of equipment is also lightweight, an aspect that may be attributed to its single-piece chassis. The compact optic features O-ring seals, which make the device waterproof. As such, it is impossible for dust, debris, and even moisture to penetrate into the device. This not only makes the device reliable, but also very durable. This being the case, you can use the optic in virtually any hunting environment without worrying about the device being damaged by dust, moisture, and debris. Again, it also features a hard, low-glare, anodized mantle finish—which enhances its durability. The exterior lenses on the device are protected from damage and scratches by the ultra-hard, ArmorTek coating technology by the manufacturer.
Specifications
This device offers some of the best specifications, for devices within its price range. Some of the aspects that make the Venom Red Dot superior include:
A magnification of 1 x
3 MOA Dot Size
Compact size, measuring 4.8cm long
Lightweight, measuring about 1.1 ounces (31 grams)
An Elevation Adjustment of up to 130 MOA
A Windage Adjustment of up to 100 MOA
Adjustment Graduation of 1 MOA
The device is Parallax free
An unlimited eye relief
Convenience
Just like the other dots by this manufacturer, the Venom Red Dot is very convenient to use in an array of hunting conditions. The convenience associated with this device is as a result of the various convenience features it offers. For instance, the unlimited eye relief feature provided by the dot allows for rapid target acquisition using the device. The extended battery life offered by the equipment also makes it more convenient. The auto-shutdown feature helps to maximize battery life, allowing the device to run for up to 30,000 hours—with the lower battery settings. For the highest battery configuration, the device can operate for up to 150 hours.
Through the Venom Red Dot, Vortex Optics filled the gap between the high quality, expensive optics, and the cheap low-quality optics. At an affordable price, hunters can now have a high-quality optic with an array of superior features. If you are searching for a durable, reliable and affordable optic that will give you accurate targeting and high-quality images, the Vortex Venom Red Dot is the perfect option.
Features and Benefits of the Vortex Razor Red Dot Sight:
