Best Of The Best Gear - Really?
Field & Stream touts itself as “The World’s Leading Outdoor Magazine” and I agree, it is a classic. I grew up reading it and it is still found regularly in my rather prodigious night stand reading pile. But I gotta to tell you that I am more than a little disappointed in their “Best Of The Best” gear awards. I would have hoped that a prestigious publication like Field & Stream would be a little less cavalier with a term like best. As a Field & Stream reader I expect more than the obligatory and completely unoriginal list of the seasons “hot” items. The items on most of these lists are not the best or even hot, they are usually just new.
Case in point, binoculars. If you look at their Best Of The Best awards for the last three years they list nine different pair of binoculars. Nine. Why do the models change every year? The best for 2005 wasn’t good enough for 2006 or 2007? Was there some quantum leap in binocular optics technology that knocked the previous award winners out of contention for those subsequent years? No, of course not. This is commercialistic, Madison Avenue marketing garbage and it has become all too common. It is disingenuous and it rubs me the wrong way.
What’s worse is that of the nine sets of binoculars that won the “coveted” “Best Of The Best” award from Field & Stream, there is only one model from Zeiss and nothing from Swarovski, Leica, Docter, Pentax, or Nikon. Are you kidding me? You put out a list of the best binoculars and include Brunton, Steiner and Burris but not Leica or Swarovski? Either the people who selected these winners haven’t spent enough time behind really good glass or they have sold out.
Hey, if you want to promote a product, that’s fine but please don’t piss on my boots and try to convince me that it is raining. Superlatives like best, great, tremendous and phenomenal mean just that. They shouldn’t be tossed around and misused because it sounds catchy and looks good inscribed on a medal. Call it “Good Gear” or “Gear You Should Check Out” or “New Gear” but not best. That is reserved for, well, the best. Like the Swarovski 10x42 ELs. Spend a day with these binoculars and the credibility of any “best” list that doesn’t include them immediately becomes questionable.
I guess I can’t be too hard on them though, they are just trying to sell magazines but that is precisely why you need us. We aren’t trying to sell anybody anything and we aren’t beholding to the manufacturers, distributors or retailers. We are not easily won over and we give you our honest opinions. We use what we like and we promote what we use. That way we keep our integrity and maintain our independence.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Wade Nelson
Editor
Sorting through the fads and fashion of the outdoor equipment industry to identify and promote the very best wilderness gear for high end recreational users, backcountry professionals and government agencies.
Hardcore Outdoor is dedicated to those who won't or can't turn back.
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