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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GeneralEverything" data-source="post: 1338567" data-attributes="member: 71227">Hey Tom, maybe I'm showing my true colors (tenderfoot green), but is there some particular warning against a particular make/model you're implying, but don't wish to let others know? Send me a PM if you don't want to say it publicly; but I'm completely oblivious to the etiquette of not insulting makes/models that are inferior. And the figures... I can read them, but really, what matters most is subjective perspectives, as I have had little enough experience I could spout off about diopter adjustments and FOV, but be completely clueless, and not realize how a sticky focus wheel might destroy any leisure binoculars.Tero, I hope I don't come off as dismissive, petty, or insulting. My post count is low, my lurk count very high. Your contributions to this website are nothing to sniff at, and actually taking time to help me with this choice, I have nothing but respect for you. However, I do honestly want to know: do you carry at ALL times a pair of 25mm, or your preferred formats(?) x28 or x32 at all hours that you are outside of your house? If so, what else do you carry with you? I am looking for a pair of binoculars that will be with me as constantly as I do my cell phone, keys, flashlight, pocketknife. For EDC, or every day carry, people are willing to pay a premium, sometimes like 50% or more to cut some ounces or to lower the overall volume by 10%. Sometimes I don't have my bag with me, and it might go on a belt, or, heaven forbid, pants pockets. If there is a magical way to carry larger binocs with me for 16 hours, every day, ALL the time (until I lay me down to rest), without it being more cumbersome, I'm all ears. Tom, as always, courtesy is met with courtesy, and high estimations of my judgment by a more seasoned member is met with exceeding deference on my part. Alas, to invest in the high end at this point is simply not feasible. No meaningful discernible income at this point = insanity to insist to the powers that be (parents) that purchasing alpha bins is a good idea. And the powers that be have been more than generous with help along my educational career, and my mother being a CPA means that she overlooks my tax returns when helping me out..."GenEV, what's this $1,200 gone from your account here?""Oh, yeah, forgot to tell you! I found an awesome pair of Ultravids on CameralandNY, and had to get them!""Umm... that's a stock?""No, just about the best pair of binoculars ever!""Right... [a few hours later] GenEv, we think you should finish your final semester at another school""Really mom? Well, alright, where is it?""Just follow the men in the white coats outside..."Forgive my digression. What I'm trying to say here, is that I'm prepared to invest in some instruments that are investment worthy, but only to a point. Small roofs don't seem to be getting better by leaps and bounds, so that purchase should stay good. The large format bins, however, leap so much in difference every few years, I can't justify going the ramen/no beer/odd-jobs/parents thinking I'm crazy for a pair of binoculars that will have a 3% advantage over ones that cost 1/3. If I do become a police sniper, I will upgrade. But let's talk about that after I (unbeknownst to me!) become a sniper. Righto. Thanks for the confirmation of suspicions. Yes, I've agonized over them quite a bit. May be in consideration, but I'm trying to maintain the myth of 2 bins at this point! That might not be the truth in the future, but for now, please, let my castles in the clouds stand!! Again, I want to go as high as possible with compacts... but the price differential between everything and the ultravids... it's killing me. $150 (minimum) could be so much better spent on large optics... Those cascades are EXTREMELY attractive at the price. What's the cheapest that beats it- a promaster/hawke? I do know all about the cheaper porros- I'm thinking about getting 2 or 3 yosemites or something when funds are more free to have around in different places. Point blank question: are the Meoptas better than the promaster/hawke, and in what ways? Again, considering that my discretionary spending at this point amounts to... I'm going to guess off the top of my head, around $3,000... Yeah. 1/3rd of my total discretionary for the year. On binocs that may not be better than something that's 1/6th my discretionary fund. It won't always be this way; but take that into account- I've got a girlfriend (dates, etc.), champagne tastes, a beer budget... and I need to make it all work! I have saved some money for combined, at this point, of under $1000, and that $1000 mark is the point where I cry (not entirely joking) if the binoculars aren't like having transplanted eagle eyes. Right! Your post is one of those that I cut the least out of, because your post is almost exactly my thought process. I'm committed to no longer buying crap, ever. If I buy something, I want it to be worthwhile. If I buy a promaster, yeah, I might upgrade to a Swaro EL, but that promaster is too good to let go to waste... and it would still fit somewhere as a purpose. But I don't buy cheap these days, if I can at all help it.Post was awesome. Just read it. Thanks for the review! Very helpful. Anyway, I'll continue to read and answer posts. In the meanwhile, I'm busy seeing if I can arrange a time to play with another forum member to play with his compacts, to get an idea of what I'm doing! There's a reason I joined as opposed to just lurking...</blockquote>

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