it's why i cant have nice things.
 

i am bummed.

i saved my a$$ for three years. just a secret stash of cash from skipped lunches, side jobs, etc. when i had enough, i bought a pair of Leica Binoculars. i used them all the time. bowhunting and epic hiking trips. i spent some money on a chest pouch to keep them safe. a few months ago, a friend and i climbed 2.5 hours up a trail-less mountain. it rained and turned the entire area into a slip slidy mess.

i get home and unpack. !#$!@#!$!@$%!! i look at my binos and it looked like a piece of gravel dragged across the lens. i dont know how it happened, but it did. i took them back to the shop i bought them from and the owner almost cried. he looked thru them and said he could see the "light flare" i saw the flare but i thought it was because my eyes were teary. :) i pay shipping/insurance and we say a prayer and he sends them to Germany. he sells A LOT of Leica, so he thinks his chances are 50-50 if the shop charges me. it has been a couple off months. i called him and he said..."oh, it will be a long time before we hear from them".\

2007, i had a brand spanking new .257 Weatherby with a new Leupold VXIII scope. climbing a shale face, a piece comes off underfoot and i "snowboard" down the hill a bit before an ungraceful dismount. i clean the rifle at home and put it away. until i pulled it out one month ago. rifle was still clean, but i took a closer look at the scope. rut-roh. focus seems off, and the scope is dented. !#$!@#!!. i send it back. a shop guy calls in a few days and says scope is cosmettically challenged but still sound. my turrets need changing..so i opted for the $130 CDS turrets with Mil-dot striations.

so far: Leupold Service > Leica Service :)

i am about to buy a pair of Vortex binoculars. i just have to decide if the endless eye rolling from the tiny wife will be worth it. i heard Vortex has a no nonsense, no fault warranty. sounds like something i NEED.

Sounds like you need more money, less fancy tastes, or to buy your toys and keep them in the house for display.

Actually, outdoor toys are like brake pads or tires at the track...if you are not hard on them, you are just not trying hard enough.

Local place here says they will repair any brand of optics to like new for $50. An uncle had a pair of field glasses done and he said they work great again.

I can't even keep a nice pair of sunglasses. If I don't do a face plant while wearing them, or leave them on a shop counter somewhere, the someone else will surely sit on them when I'm not looking...:(

That's a bunch of BS that Leica takes so long. What would be the big deal to just replace the damages lens? It's not like they have to go out and start with mining the material to make it.

WHOA!!

the shop just called!! he is surprised as i am..i got them back!! fixed for free!! he said they just showed up, no note, no phonecall..nothing.

i'll file this (thread) in the "crazy timing" category!!

Hey, they probably wouldn't have ever shown up until you posted this thread.

Not a story of damaged optics but traumatic to me was the loss, in a Louisiana bayou, of the beloved and virtually indestructible bolo that was presented to me by a Filipino tribesman in 1977. Lost it in 2002 and am still pissed at myself nearly a decade-and-a-half later (Idiot!). Given how deep in the bayou we were that day, if it was ever found, I hope the Coonass who was lucky enough to stumble across it has put it to good use.

_

This is prolly going to come across as kinda ass-holeish, but it isn't meant that way:

Don't buy snob stuff and it won't hurt so much when it gets used up.
I have never even heard of those companies.
They are too high-end for me and I'm a go-zillionaire.

"Stuff is eaten by dogs, broken by family and friends, sanded down by the wind, frozen by the mountains, lost by the prairie, burnt off by the sun, washed away by the rain. So you are left with dogs, family, friends, sun, rain, wind, prairie and mountains. What more do you want?" Federico Calboli

Have you considered going to iron sights?

I bought a pair of used but nearly new Zeiss Classic 10x40 binoculars way back around 2001 or so at a used camera store called Jim's Campus Camera in San Luis Obispo. I remember buying them because I could see individual raindrops falling outside the door, and I was at the back of the store. They came with the leather pouch, lens covers, original box, papers, etc.

They were stolen out of the Porsche. Some crackhead kid smashed the window and grabbed them, thinking they were a purse or something. Anyway, the cops arrested the kid but kept the binocs. I found another pair, same deal, on Ebay years later. Best binoculars that I have ever owned, and they are worth every penny. My dad probably got jealous and bought a pair of Leica classic binoculars at some estate sale, haha!

I get bummed when my nice stuff gets messed up, but it happens. It's all just stuff. And I'd rather use things and get them banged up rather than let some cheapo bastard like me and my dad have it for nothing when I die.

boy, i am in such a good mood :)

as to why i got the binos in the first place.

we climbed up this big giant mountain in the Klamath. i know exactly where we were sitting because we could see hikers doing the Pacific Crest Trail moving behind us. my friend sees this big whopper deer and said the worst words heard by mankind. "hey if we move fast, i bet we could get next to those deer before sunset". we motored. we speed-walked down the mountain cross country style, jogged across this big huge valley and then climbed up the adjacent mountain. i was soaked by the time we got to the top and the sun was going down fast. i started searching the mountain over. i found nothing. zip, nada. the deer was gone. i hear my friend whisper, "i see him!". after that session which reminds me of "who's on first?" i still cant find the deer. he unsnaps his Swarovski binoculars and hands them to me. i put them to my face and POOF!! i found the brown deer in the brown woods. just like that.

it made me think to myself. after exerting all that energy to get somewhere, it is such a crushing waste to not see anything if it is there. i started saving my money as soon as i got home.

This just goes to show ya why you don't take a NIB Python out and shoot it..Shyte happens and you can not undo damage to original factory finish. What you do is buy one from an idiot who took his out and fked it up. That way another scratch or two don't matter no how.

PS I discovered long ago the best way to buy high end stuff is when it has been gently used.

If ya can't shoot it, why buy it?

So you can go onto discussion forums and tell everybody about the new-in-the-box firearms you own but never shoot. SmileWavy

Glad to hear that the binos worked out well.

I found that Midland, maker of two-way radios, also has great customer service. They fixed a few radios for free, and offer very good replacement parts. I use the hell out of our radios, and go through quite a few each year. Cobra is also pretty good. Motorola sucks.

Valentine One is very good.

Apple Computer is beyond great.

Most of what I buy is considered non-repairable, such as power tools, chain saws, electronics, etc. When something is designed to be repaired, and the manufacturer will fix it, I appreciate it a lot.

Then don't buy it....

If you had a very low SN Python NIB you could buy an SC with it.

Not an SC that hasn't been driven.

_

And if you have a low-SN SC, you should never drive it. As soon as you take it out of the box, it loses 80% of its value.

You Boyz are sounding as silly as Dipso..Hilarious.

This reminds me of the brand new in the box Sinclair C5's(Google it-you will be surprised) that show up occasionally on eBay. No-one usually buys them because they don't know for sure if it is a cunningly resealed box just containing bricks; the idea being that once you buy it and open the box, a good part of the value is gone.

That's pretty funny on a Porsche forum

Leica are generally VERY good about making repairs, often at no cost. Even many years later. The cost to get in the game can be eye-watering, but they do take care of their customers.

^ Leica sent me a perfect, brand new camera strap for my V-Lux 1 for free. It's basically a collector's item now though. I moved on to a V-Lux 3, partly because I liked the support from Leica, and their software is tweaked nicer than the Panasonic Lumix.