A
binocular in the hand is worth a dozen
binoculars left in the vehicle or in the closet at home because you didn't want to carry the weight of a large binocular. Arguing the fine points of binocular performance is academic in the truest sense of the word if you don't have a binocular when you need one. I've experienced this, myself, so many times over the years that it is now second nature to me to always have a
compact binocular at my disposal.
In the long rum I have made as many great bird sightings with a compact binocular, such as my
Leica Trinovid 8x20, as I have with my larger, dedicated birding binoculars. Why? The Leica just happened to be handy when I needed it and, with birds, you never know when you are going to be in a birding situation. Great example is yesterday morning. I was riding my bike a mere two blocks from my suburban apartment when a beautiful Coopers Hawk glided quietly about twenty feet over my head and landed in a small tree in someone's front yard. It's not exactly the place I would go looking on purpose for a Coopers. Never leave home without a binocular.