MR,
I know exactly what you mean. In astronomy it's "aperture fever" that drives one into bankruptcy; in birding it's the desire to buy the latest and greatest (even if they only have incremental improvements, which is especially true with Leicas since they've been making the same Trinovids/Ultraivds for decades, with some incremental tweaks).
I started feeling a little "feverish" with the SFL, but after much research, I convinced myself that they are not for me, so the feeling is past, and my credit card is securely back in my pocket.
As I mentioned on another subform, the best birder I know used a $200 Pentax roof with a 6.5* FOV. But he could recognize birdcalls and even imitate some birds and coax them out of the woods, so during the fall bird count, which lasted from 5 am to 5 pm seated inside a 15 foot circle, he ID'd have the birds on the list! It didn't need a $3K NL Pure. It's a myth that you need an alpha to be an even better birder. But the alpha makers would like you to believe that.
That extra 5-10% optical quality comes at a steep cost, but some believe they need it. Others know they don't but they are binocular fetishists like myself.
It's the same with amateur astronomy, the best amateurs aren't the ones with the most expensive GO-TO telescopes but the ones who know the night sky like the back of their hands, and who can help others including the public at skywatches to find celestial objects in the sky and tell them something about them that will help them appreciate the wonders of the universe.
Does my 8x32 EDG make me a better birder than my Cabela 8x32 Guide? No. A lot of the work in the hobby of birdwatchings is done at home. Reading about birds and their habitats (I'm just starting to learn that because I moved and birds aren't as easy to find as they were in the woodsy area where I lived before, so now I've got to find out what they eat here, which leads me to them). So that when you go out into the field, you are prepared.
Do I derive more pleasure looking through the EDG than the Guide? Yes. The Cabela's are great for their price point, but the EDG is eyegasmic and fits my hands like a glove. The EDG doesn't make me a better birder, but it makes me a bit happier, and when you listen to the news these days, that's worth something!
Do what makes you happy. If that's owning a BL, sell your armored HD+++ and buy a leather BL and a pair of Gortex gloves!
Brock