Recently on a local forum, a member mentioned that he found a pair of Leupold Yellowstone 10x40x binoculars at Costco for $149.99. Some research revealed that these are made for Costco but are the same as Leupold BX2 Acadia found at Cabelas ($250) and Amazon ($200)
I could not find them on the Costco website but have seen them in the local store. Item # 1336364
The next time I went to Costco I picked up a pair of these for my son. They are marked $179.99 in the display but you get a $30 instant discount at the cash register so $149.99+tax. I subsequently found a pair on Ebay for $129.99. The package had been opened but the binocs were new and apparently returned or pawned or something. After checking out my son's I bought the pair off of ebay.
The pen looking thing is actually a retractable lens brush.
..The chest harness is really nice. Has an extra zippered pocket. You could use it to hold a small pistol, my LC9 actually fits.
The harness attaches to the case and the binoculars. If you take the binocs out of the case they are still attached to the harness. You can carry them either inside or outside the case. My Nikons didn't come with a harness just a soft case. I will say that the flap on the case is secured with an odd hook and elastic band type release. It is difficult and awkward to use. Seems like it's upside down.
If needed the Leupold case is detachable from the harness though not easily. You can carry the binocs without the case using the harness as a neck strap since the side straps have nothing to attach to when the case is gone. You can also use the quick detach clips to remove the binocs from the harness to use separately but then you'd be without a neck strap. The only negative I can see with the harness is that it might not fit over heavy clothes, like while hunting in November.
I carried my Nikons on a neck strap all through the Oct bow season and Nov rifle season. I usually carried inside my jacket when walking and climbing my tree stand to keep it from bouncing off my chest but hung it outside the rest of the time. I sometimes took it off and hung it up inside my box blind which was handy.
For hiking, backpacking etc, the harness is definitely the way to go. For hunting a neck strap may be better.
The lens caps on the Leupolds are also nicer than on the Nikon. The front lens caps are attached to the binocs and the rear (near the eyes) can be attached to the harness strap and are easily moved out of the way. On the Nikons the rear caps are similar but the front/forward caps are not attached to the binocs and must be secured to the strap individually. They are awkward to manipulate.
The Leupolds are about an inch, maybe an inch and a half shorter than the Nikons. They are definitely more compact though the weight is about the same.
In terms of clarity. I looked through both side by side for about 20 minutes across a field and school grounds about 1/4 mile away. I couldn't really tell much difference between the two.
Finally, the Leupolds come with a lens pen which is a retractable soft brush. The Nikon came with a lens cloth.
When I was looking at binocs in the fall I looked at 5 or 6 different kinds including the BX2 Leupold Acadia which is what this one is except labeled differently for Costco. At the time the Acadia didn't come with the harness and was $7 more expensive ($200) through Amazon. I also looked at comparable models in the $200-250 price range from Vortex, Bushnell and a few others and picked the Nikons as the best bang for the buck. They were a joy to use throughout the fall. I have to say that I am impressed with these Leupolds. At this price they are a better bang for the buck than the Nikons.
