O.K. i`ve tried a few compac`s but have had no luck. The ones i`ve tried seem to give out after a couple years. I`ve got a set of Nikon Action Extreme 10x50`s and love `em but need some opinions on good compact`s for hunting. Most of `em seem to be junk.

Burch :confused:

Have had two sets of Pentax for years - one a 10x42 and the other a 9x21. Both give crisp, clear views and without eyestrain after prolonged use.

I've got a set of Burris compacts that I've had since '95, they've been great glass, trouble free and bright and crisp.

Do either one of you gents hunt with `em ? My only concern is after about 8 hours of glassing will I have a headach like the cheaper ones. I`ve bought stuff like Tasco and Bushnell`s in the past and had brain damage buy the time I got home.

Eyestrain after using binoculars for an extended period of time is caused by very minor misalignment of the 2 sides of the binocular.
If the 2 barrels of the binocular are, say, 1/10th of a degree from parallel, when you look thru the binocular, the binocular is trying to force you to be crosseyed by 1/10th of a degree.
You won't be able to detect this problem right away, but you will feel eyestain later in the day, and you'll likely want to take the binocular down from your eyes after a few minutes.
Unfortunately, it's really hard to detect this defect in the store.
The only way I know to avoid this eyestrain causing problem is to throw money at it- really fine quality binoculars aren't likely to be misaligned. Misalignment is purely a quality control issue, from the manufacturing point of view, so the folks making binoculars to meet a price point can't be as fussy as the folks that are building the top quality stuff.
And, of course, dropping the binoculars doesn't help :)

Yes, my Pentax's are used regularily for hunting.

Yes, my Burris Compacts also go hunting on a regular basis, as well as for marine use!

I have a pair of Swarovski SLC 7x30s. They really are amazing, as bright as my 8x42s for all but the last few minutes of light. Keep an eye on eBay, they can often be picked up for not much. Got mine for about $450.

Eyestrain after using binoculars for an extended period of time is caused by very minor misalignment of the 2 sides of the binocular.
Eyestrain is also the consequence of extended viewing through roof prism binoculars without phase correction.

"By design, roof-prism binoculars split the light entering the barrels into two separate paths. After passing through the objective lens, the light waves are reflected off the surfaces of the roof prism and are split into two out-of-phase beams of light. Light reflected from one roof surface is 1/2 of a wavelength shifted from the light hitting the other roof surface, sometimes referred to as "out of phase" or "phase shift". Although the light waves are subsequently forced back together when they reach the viewer's eye, this phenomenon results in reduced contrast and image resolution. This effect does not occur in Porro prism designs. A manufacturer can apply a thin coating on the roof prism surface of the binocular which forces the light beams back into phase, thus improving image quality, also affecting color fidelity, brightness, contrast and resolution, creating a sharper view, especially noticeable when viewing fine detail or hard to resolve distant objects."