Brand · Trail Cameras & Optics
Leupold binoculars come in numbered series, BX-1 through BX-5, and the number is the maker's own ladder: higher means the optical system it says is built for longer glassing. Around the binoculars sit laser rangefinders with a bow mode (the RX-1400i and RX-FullDraw 5), one rangefinding binocular and a handful of chest harnesses. The short version: pick the series, then the size, and if you hunt with a bow, read the rangefinder's bow mode before its maximum range.
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On this site, Leupold covers three product types: binoculars, laser rangefinders and binocular harnesses. One of the binoculars has a rangefinder built in. The grid above filters by type and changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the series and what separates them, not about how many are listed this week.
Leupold also makes riflescopes, red dots and other firearm optics. This site doesn't cover firearm gear, so none of that is in the grid or on this page.
Most specs in the grid come from Amazon listings, marked that way. A dash means the listing didn't say.
Here's what actually changes from one name to the next. A Leupold binocular name has three parts:
Quick math on the numbers: a 10x42 makes things look ten times closer, through front lenses 42 mm across. Leupold's guide on binocular numbers says the bigger front lens gathers more light and gives a brighter image, but costs more and weighs more. It also says field of view shrinks as magnification goes up. More power, narrower window. It's the zoom on a phone camera: you see the deer's ear tag, and lose the rest of the field.
HD in a name is part of the model name in Leupold's lineup. Don't compare two binoculars on those two letters. Compare series and size.
Leupold says the BX-1 series is for the active hunter who spends more time walking than behind the glass. The BX-1 models in the grid, per their listings:
Porro and roof are the two prism layouts. A porro binocular has the offset, zig-zag body. A roof binocular has straight barrels. The listings say which is which; neither label decides how sharp the view is on its own.
Leupold says the BX-2 series uses improved optical prescriptions for a clearer, crisper image than the BX-1, aimed at people who glass for long stretches. It places the BX-3 between the BX-2 and the BX-4, built for hunters who rely on clarity to spot movement.
The 8x42 is the one in this group I'd look at first for a tree stand. More on why below.
The maker says the BX-4 series is designed for all-day glassing from dawn to dusk. The grid has two sizes: a 10x42 and a 12x50 Gen 2. Gen 2 marks the newer version of the same model; compare the listing of the exact generation you're buying.
Leupold says the BX-5 series is designed for endless hours and days of glassing, aimed at guides and people who spend a lot of time in the field. The grid carries the BX-5 Santiam HD 15x56. That's big glass. Leupold's own advice is that once you get to 12x and 15x, you'll want a tripod to hold the view steady.
(Physical therapist aside: your arms can hold big glass steady for about as long as it takes a deer to step behind a tree. Shoulders are not tripods.)
The BX-4 Range HD TBR/W 10x42 is a binocular with a laser rangefinder built in. Its listing states angle compensation. Leupold's rangefinder guide lists Archer's Advantage, its archery ranging mode, on the BX-4 Range HD. One device instead of two means one less strap around your neck, at the cost of a bigger binocular. Rangefinding binoculars from other makers are on the rangefinder binoculars page.
Three Leupold rangefinders are in the grid. All three listings state angle compensation and a bow mode.
A bow mode gives you the distance the arrow actually flies on an angled shot, not the straight line from your eye to the deer. From a tree stand, the deer is below you, and the straight-line distance reads longer than the shot. Leupold's rangefinder guide says its BOW mode gives angle-compensated ranges out to 175 yards, and shows the plain line-of-sight distance past that. For a bowhunter, the 175 is never the limit that matters. Your effective range is.
The RX-1400i TBR/W comes in two versions in the grid. The Gen 2 listing gives a 1,400-yard maximum range and a red OLED display. Leupold's rangefinder guide describes the Gen 2 display as bright red. The first version's listing states angle compensation and a bow mode without a display type.
TBR/W in the name refers to Leupold's ballistic ranging modes. For a bowhunter, the line that matters in the listing is "bow mode", and both versions have it.
The RX-FullDraw 5 is the one Leupold aims straight at archers. The maker says it's built for the bowhunter and the competitive archer, with a bright red OLED display and 6x magnification. Its Archer's Advantage mode, per Leupold, takes your arrow speed (170 to 550 fps), arrow weight, peep height and the shot angle into its calculation.
Leupold also lists features specific to the FullDraw 5:
Quick note on that velocity range: FPS is arrow speed in feet per second. Your bow's speed goes in as a number, so chronograph it or use the maker's figure before you set the mode up.
Other bow rangefinders are on the hunting rangefinder page.
A chest harness holds the binocular against your chest instead of swinging on a neck strap. The Leupold harnesses in the grid:
The maker says the enclosed harness has a magnetic fold-down lid for quiet one-handed opening, a front zippered pocket, a rear phone pocket and a fleece lining. Magnetic or bungee is the choice that matters here. Fit is the other: the GO Afield page gives its pouch as 6.25 by 6.25 by 2.5 inches, so check your binocular's size against it. More harnesses are on the binocular harness page.
My one opinion on this page: for a bowhunter in the eastern woods, an 8x or 10x beats anything bigger. Here's the checkable reason. Leupold's own guide says 6x to 8x gives an extra-wide field of view that suits tree stands and thick cover, that 10x balances reach and field of view, and that 12x to 15x needs a tripod. You don't carry a tripod up a tree. So the BX-2 Alpine 8x42, the 10x42s and their cousins are where I'd start. The 12x50s and the 15x56 make more sense for glassing open country from the ground.
The BX number is the maker's own ladder, from glass-and-go to all-day glassing. Decide how long you'll actually look through it. A morning sit with a few quick checks is not a day on a western ridge.
Two devices give you a smaller binocular and a pocket rangefinder. The BX-4 Range HD puts both in one. Either way, check that the ranging side states angle compensation and a bow mode if you shoot from a stand.
Pick the harness after the binocular, because the binocular decides the pouch size. Magnetic closures open quietly with one hand; the maker says so of its enclosed harness.
More on binoculars across brands is on the hunting binoculars page.
Leupold runs two guarantees. Its lifetime guarantee covers binoculars, along with other optics: if one doesn't perform, Leupold says it will repair or replace it free, whether you're the original owner or not, with no warranty card and no time limit.
The electronics guarantee is separate. It covers defects in the electronic parts of RX rangefinders and BX rangefinding binoculars for five years from the date of purchase. Proof of purchase may be required, so keep the receipt.
Rangefinders run on batteries. Swap the battery before the season, not on the stand at first light.
Both brands make hunting binoculars in roof and porro prism designs, plus rangefinding binoculars and chest harnesses. On this site, Leupold's binoculars run from the 10x25 BX-1 Rogue to the 15x56 BX-5 Santiam. Vortex's run from a 6.5x youth binocular to 18x56 models.
The guarantees differ in one place. Leupold's lifetime guarantee covers its binoculars, and electronics get five years. Vortex calls its VIP warranty unlimited, unconditional and lifetime, and it doesn't carve out electronics. Its listed exclusions are loss, theft, deliberate damage and cosmetic damage that doesn't affect performance.
Compare the exact size and series you want. The Vortex brand page has its lineup.
Leupold's history page says Fred Leupold and Adam Volpel went into business in 1907 as Leupold & Volpel, making surveying equipment by hand. In 1968 the company moved into a new plant and headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. The same page notes that in 1992, Leupold binoculars were made in the United States for the first time in more than 20 years. The company's legal name today is Leupold & Stevens, Inc., and it calls itself a family business.
Before you buy, write down three things: the series, the size, and whether the rangefinder says "bow mode". That's my whole spreadsheet for this one.
What the maker and the listings state is checkable: Leupold describes each BX series by how long it's meant to be used, from the BX-1 for hunters who move more than they glass to the BX-5 for days of glassing. The listings give sizes from a compact 10x25 to a 15x56, and binoculars fall under Leupold's lifetime guarantee. Pick by series and size; the grid lists both.
All three Leupold rangefinder listings here state angle compensation and a bow mode: the RX-1400i TBR/W, its Gen 2 version and the RX-FullDraw 5. Leupold says the FullDraw 5 is built for bowhunters and archers, with an Archer's Advantage mode that uses your arrow speed, arrow weight and peep height. The Gen 2 1400i listing gives a 1,400-yard maximum.
The BX-4 is Leupold's Pro Guide HD series, which the maker says is designed for all-day glassing from dawn to dusk. The grid carries a 10x42 and a 12x50 Gen 2. The BX-4 Range HD TBR/W 10x42 is a separate model: a binocular with a laser rangefinder built in and angle compensation, per its listing.
No. The RX-1800i isn't among the Leupold listings this site carries right now, so the grid has no specs for it. The Leupold rangefinders listed here are the RX-1400i TBR/W, the RX-1400i TBR/W Gen 2 and the RX-FullDraw 5. Compare bow mode, display and range in the grid.
Leupold says its lifetime guarantee covers binoculars, among other optics: if one doesn't perform, it repairs or replaces it free, original owner or not, with no warranty card and no time limit. The electronic parts of RX rangefinders and BX rangefinding binoculars are covered separately, for five years from purchase, and proof of purchase may be required.
Leupold's history page says Fred Leupold and Adam Volpel went into business in 1907, making surveying equipment by hand, and that the company moved into a new plant and headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, in 1968. The company's legal name is Leupold & Stevens, Inc.
