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O light Javelote. Comes as a kit with recharging, clamp, switch.

Very happy with the bags, going well after 6 months. Outlasted the zips on cheaper bag bought at the same time.

Outdoor edge razor pro or lite. Replacable blades . Lite is without the gutting bade. break a buff down with one blade. Requires some effort to keep clean Top Pro and bottom piranta, mouse sharpener

Pelican 1750 Secure, plenty of room well padded, wheels, lockable and easy to wheel around. Yes pricey but look at how much $ worth gear you are putting in the trust of the airlines. Watched mine fall of cargo trolley at airport once. On the way home thankfully. Done about 5 trips to NZ few to Vic so paid for itself. Customs also like how its layed out.

Glenn, I was in the same boat. Swaro is exceptional but we found carting it around in NZ was hard work Great from camp, to spot tahr then decide on how to get there. Ive gone with a vortex razor 16-48x65, optics are good Compared them too the Zeiss gavia and swaro 85mm . Significant weight reduction. Optics wise still good glass. Huge difference in price! Swaro did a magnesium model that hunters like but have discontinued............... When coved is over might get to use it in NZ. Watto on the swaro's above camp 850m away pulled up

Just received a couple of the rifle bags. Quality looks good ! Will see how it goes over the next 6 months as to how they stand up to a bit of use.

Good to see you join Jezza . Cheers Mick

Had the conversation a couple of weeks back. Told the guys that we're hunting with me that they are not necessary here. Agreed that they were carrying extra weight for nothing by about 14:00. Used to carry them when I was guiding.

Go with quality glass up to 10x42's. if you go to the 10x50's you will find they are very hard to hold still. And really require a stand, to get the best performance out of them. Ive gone with the other option of Leicas in 10x42 with rangefinder option and the use of a spotting scope. For long range trophy identification. Saves a lot of leg work in NZ. Went with the lighter option Vortex razor 18-48x65 , so still light enough to be portable with a tripod. Even the 10x42's are hard to hold steady after a climb or rushed usage. On the range finding side of things , after using seperate range finders of smaller magnification. the time lost refinding and ranging the target is inconvenient and I've lost shot opportunities with the time taken to locate animals. The option of instant range at the push of a button whilst viewing thru bino's is worth the extra coin.

I had a pair of stoney creek rusa grewakes. Got great use out of them . Really liked them for everything except, the squeak they made.Every step they would squeak and it near drove me mad. Tried the X8's on in Balingers in Nz, liked them immediately and the following two trips to Nz have had great performance out of them. Bought a couple of pairs of woollen socks recommended by the assistant and have had warm feet pretty much ever since. Ive had more trouble with trying to keep my feet warm around camp. Hoping the sorels ae the answer.

Lowa Z 8's and decent socks are what I'm using after several other name brands. Light comfortable, quiet . As for water proof , In NZ your going to get wet feet. Waterproof only until the water goes over the top. Im using seal skin waterproof socks as well. Second pair around camp , Sorel caribous.

Yeah for winter. Going again in April and Ballot block in May this year.

Stoney creek Black Stag 900 or 750 . with a ultra lite mat and a reactor liner. has served me well for NZ tahr trips.

Hunt Fish NZ has Eberlestock H2 Gunrunner Pack - Western Slope Camo for sale $399 o two other styles.

Led lenser MH6 and petzel Actik core , both same battery and charger. Lenser does a full 8hr night shift for me. Cheers Mick

Have a look at the Osprey range !

Thats about where Im at.... is it worth the outlay for once a year.

Just changed my mind on spotting scopes after using Watto's swaro's in NZ. Only problem is the price. looking at the Zeiss conquest Gavia 85 30-60. Anyone used the Zeiss? Not as light weight as the swaro's.

Welcome Wato!

looked at the swaros and leicas....10x42's happy with the leics, wondered how I did with out them for so long.

I use the one with the gutting blade as a light weight / hiking option. Has worked well so far. Used on the weekend to take out back straps and recover projectiles from Buff. cheers Mick

We use the Rhino's with radio , GPS function and a track or locate each other mode. Carry a E perb for emergency situations.

Paul I purchased the geo's, well worth the extra coin. Joey hit the roof after finding out how much they were. She said "yes' to a new pair of binos. Just didn't realize how much! Glassing and range finding this trip was a breeze. Spotted animals 1km+ on the high peaks. Rangefinder option was great with me calling ranges for Chris as it was happening. Couldn't get harness pack in time so had one made also worked well.Heres a couple of pics cheers Mick 10x42 geovids Glassing NZtrip

I missed an opportunity at a decent stag this year with binos doing the majority of the hard work then change to the range finder single objective and stay still enough after finding the animal to range him. Pretty horrible conditions didn't help. By the time id moved on him and ranged him he was getting past my confidence range........ Better left for another day. Had a look thru some swaros another hunter we met had and pretty much made my mind up there and then. The better glasss just made spotting animals easier which equates to better plan of attack how to approach them. His glass was so much better than my Zeiss and Pats steiners. Pat purchased a set of leicas when we got back to town. Im saving ATM. PM sent.. cheers Mick

Buy the best you can afford. I looked at quality binos for a long time, before settling on a pair of zeiss 10x40B's. very expensive at the time but Ive had 20 years of good use out of them. Sent back to zeiss for repairs/ service. replied that they had been abused! Still out do most binos until they get wet then misting occurs. So Im on the market for a upgrade as well. It dosnt matter weather you bow hunt or rifle shoot , spot stalk or long distance, a quality pair glass makes it much easier and they out perform other glass at last light or poor light conditions. I narrowed it down to 3 types , kahles, swaro's and it looks like the liecas are what ill settle on. Im going for the range finder option as I want one piece of equipment instead of chopping and changing binos to range finder. The Geovids in 10x40 with range finder are very nice. Theres a couple of kahles loden on used guns at the moment, these are also very good. I went thru plenty of cheap binos before upgrading to the zeiss. Cheers Mick