I've been aware of the usefulness of a good pair of binoculars for a long time. I've usually bought Bushnell 8x35s, and they worked okay for when I was young. I moved from those to Nikon 10x50s, which were an improvement, but they are big and heavy. A couple of days ago I saw an ad on craigslist for a pair of Zeiss 10x25B binoculars and called the seller, but the weird weather we've been having made the roads too risky to drive on. I called the guy again yesterday, and met him and bought his binocs that he's had for about 25 years. They show some wear but he's taken good care of them, and for $200.00 I thought I got a pretty good deal. They're very compact and light, weighing less than 8 oz. I think I'll be able to put them to good use in the years to come.