I joined this site in 2008 at the beginning of my binocular quest. Well that quest turned into an addiction and after a year or two of obsessing over optics, where you are never happy with what you have and always looking for that next almost perfect thing, I just relaxed and used what I had rather than over analyze everything.
I ended up with 6 pair of binos:
1) 6x30 Yosemite
2) 7x50 Fujinon
3) 8x32 Nikon SE
4) 8x42 Leica Ultravid
5) 8x42 Pentax DCF
6) 10x42 Nikon SE
For those that don't know, the Nikon SEs are Nikon's no holds barred porro design that hold their own optically against any alpha roof prism out there.
Anyway after just relaxing and using my binos these past four or five years I found that I use my wonderful 10x42s less than 10% of the time. I use my 6x30 Yosemite's when I'm backpacking in the mountains and a more specialized use on "water blinds" when I'm running my retrievers in field trials.
Most of my hunting is in the timbered mountains of western Montana, for that 90% of the time I either carry the 8x32 SE's or the larger, more durable 8x42 Ultravids. The one place I use my 10x42s is eastern Montana antelope and mule deer hunting.
Not that I want to obsess again, but I'm thinking about selling my 8x42s and buying a new pair of 8x32 Swarovski EL SV's.
