Today, we’ll take a look at the Burris Droptine 10x42mm binoculars. Are these binoculars worth your hard-earned dough? Stay tuned, because I’m giving you the rundown on them!
Burris Beginnings
Burris is a very familiar name in shooting circles and well-known for their quality optics. Rifle scopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, rangefinders, thermal scopes… they have a lot to choose from. Burris’ lineup also includes hunting and tactical scopes, red dot and reflex sights, and an entire line of rings and bases for their products.
The company was founded by Don Burris and has been in operation since 1971. They’ve had a considerable amount of time to build a solid reputation. Don Burris was a design engineer at Redfield before he headed out on his own. While at Redfield, Burris introduced a few innovations:
- The first 4-12x and 6-18x rifle scopes
- The Redfield Wideview Rifle Scope
- The Redfield Accu-Range Trajectory Compensating dual reticle scope
- The first non-magnifying reticle in a variable power scope, which has been widely adopted today
Burris’ Forever Warranty
With their “Forever Warranty”, Burris really stands behind their products. It’s a lifetime warranty against defects in workmanship. I’ve never had to use their warranty. However, from what I’ve heard from those who have, Burris basically replaces the gear with no questions asked. That’s my kind of warranty!
Burris Droptine Specs
This particular pair of Burris Droptine binoculars are 10x42mm. 10x42mm means they have 10x magnification and the objective lenses are 42mm. This size is popular in the industry among binocular manufacturers.
The field of view is advertised as 330 feet at 1,000 yards. This means your view through the binoculars is approximately 330 feet wide at 1,000 yards. Eye relief, which is the distance your eyes can be from the lens to see through the optic, is .65 inches. Close focus distance, the minimum distance the binoculars can focus on, is seven feet.
These binoculars measure 5.6 x 4.8 x 2.0 inches and weigh in at 20.1 ounces. In other words, they’re not tiny binoculars, but aren’t huge either. For field carry, they’re a very reasonable weight.
Burris Droptine binoculars are waterproof, fogproof, and shockproof. Of course, the lenses are fully coated.
Burris Droptine Package
Burris ships the binoculars inside their padded case, which is then placed into the packaging box. This provides for a very safe and secure package. A short, simple manual (not complicated at all — I love it) is included along with two straps: one for the case and one for the binoculars.
Focus Setup
This process is fairly easy and simple. Set the diopter adjustment, located below the right eye cup, to zero by lining up the hash marks. Next, cover the right objective lens with the provided lens cap and use the center focus knob to focus on an object 25 yards away. After that, uncover the right objective lens and this time, cover the left one. We’ll be looking at the same object again to focus. Turn the right diopter ring to bring the object into focus. Your binoculars should now be focused. From this point on, you can exclusively use the center focus ring for all of your focusing.
Center Focus Knob
The center focus knob is especially well done on these binoculars. There’s just enough friction that it won’t spin on you when you don’t want it to. At the same time, the ring is easy to turn. There is a knurled, rubber coating to give the fingers a bit of grip which really helps to smoothly adjust the focus knob.
Straps
Both the binoculars and case have side attachments for the included straps and makes it very easy to affix them. The included straps are excellent. The strap that attaches to the case has a great neoprene pad that slides, giving your neck a break without digging into the skin.
The strap that attaches to the binoculars is a little more heavy duty and also has generous padding for user comfort.
Rubber Armor
The entire body of the binoculars are covered with rubber armor that has texturing throughout.
Aside from the rubber armor helping to protect against shock, it also gives an outstanding purchase for the hands when handling the binoculars. It gives them a sort of tacky feel that prevents the binos from slipping. I’ve never handled a set of binoculars that felt this good and it’s due to the rubber armor coating. In case you haven’t noticed, I think this quality is the bees’ knees.
Finally, they have a two-tone color scheme: the main color is a brownish-green with black highlights. The colors are low-profile and look pretty good.
Adjustable Eyecups
The adjustable eyecups allow us to vary the distance of our eyes from the ocular lenses. This is especially useful if you’re wearing eyeglasses. Twist the cups all the way in to allow you to get closer to the lenses if you’re wearing glasses. If you’re not, you can twist the eyecups all the way out to extend the eye relief.
I wear glasses all the time. However, I can use these binoculars with and without my glasses very well. Most of the time, I take my glasses off as I like resting my eye sockets on the eyecup rims because it feels more stable that way.
I’ll also mention the eyecups have very positive adjustments when twisted in or out. When you set them, they stay put; pushing on them won’t move them unless you intentionally adjust them. They’re also covered in rubber armor, so they’re comfortable to rest your eye sockets on.
Lens Caps
I commend Burris for including lens caps for both the ocular and objective lenses! Lens caps protect your optics from dust, rain, snow, mud, and all the other nasties that just love to perch on your glass.
The objective lens covers are attached very securely and won’t come off unless you intentionally remove them. They flip down and out of the way when using the binoculars. The ocular lens covers are one unit and easy to remove when you are about to use the binoculars.
Case
The black Nylon case is simple and nicely padded to protect the binoculars. There are two buckles on either side to attach the included carry strap. The lid, which flips up easily, is secured by a quick-release plastic buckle to the case body. The Burris logo is embroidered in red across the top of the case and looks nice. Inside the lid, there is a small mesh pocket secured by a zipper. Overall, the case is thoughtfully done.
Burris Droptine in the Field
Burris Droptine 10x42mm binoculars work great in the field. Images are clear and crisp with good color.
I did my usual test and glassed the next town over. It was easy to see details in the university there as well as the water towers, houses, and surrounding farms. Many of these objects are a few miles away, so the distance is considerable. I saw people walking and cars driving as well as windows and other details in buildings. I consider it a blessing that I am treated to this view right off the back deck of my house and it makes testing optics feel almost like I’m cheating.
After checking out the distant town, some birds in the corn field behind my house caught my eye, so I checked them out. Ranges varied from about 25 yards to around 200 yards. The center focus adjustment knob made focusing over the various distances easy and fast. The tacky feel of the rubber coating inspired confidence; I knew I wasn’t going to drop the binoculars.
Final Thoughts on the Burris Droptine 10×42
Overall, these are some of the best binoculars that I’ve ever used. The grip texture is second to none. The lenses allow a lot of light in and give the user an impressively clear picture. They’re light weight and easy to focus.
They’re durable and waterproof, so they’ll stand up to abuse in the field. If anything does happen to them, Burris has a no-questions-asked warranty, so they’ll fix you up. You don’t even need a warranty card or sales receipt.
As this is written, Burris Droptine 10x42mm binoculars sell from GunMag Warehouse for $279.99. In my opinion, that’s a very fair price for some excellent glass. The contents including case, lens caps, and straps show a lot of thought went into this overall package. These binoculars get two thumbs up!
