I am wondering if I need to bring my spotting scope and tripod on my alaskan black bear hunt in order to assess the hide for rubs or would an 8 power Swarovski binocular do the job well enough? I am already probably taking too much stuff but shooting a bear with a super hide is very important to me. The bears will be black only where I am going to hunt so rubbed areas will be brownish and relatively easy to spot compared to a rub on a brown phase black bear. Thanks, Rufous.

Depends on how you're planning on hunting. If you're hunting Southeast from a boat watching beaches, you could get by with the binos. If your hunting by looking over large meadows or avalanche chutes a spotting scope is a great help.

You can certainly judge a bear hide with binoculars well enough if you are within shooting range but if you don't want to stalk that close I'd take a spotting scope. there are some nice light, little ones if weight is a problem. They can save a lot of hiking.