When I started out 30 years ago I got a pair of Nikon 8x30 DIF's and Minox 8x20's, both decent glass at the time and each for a different job. The Nikons were my primary hunting glass and the 8x20's were back-up or carried when having a binoc was an option not a necessity. For some reason that model of Nikon is still very popular with UK birders.
As time went on They began to show their shortcomings. I gave the Minox to my mom for the opera and got a pair of Zeiss 8x20B's, rubber armored. To this day fantastic pocket binocs.
I still have the Nikon 8x30's, I keep them in my truck but they just can't measure up to their replacements, Minox 6.5x32 IF. Sadly no longer available new but turn up on eBay. Minox got everything right with this glass and they sold new for $200. Clear, bright, crisp and very good at dawn & dusk. Ideal for eastern hunting and timber hunting though out in the open you want higher power. And the higher power 9x's in the same series were not nearly as good.
Then6.5's are larger than compacts but smaller than full size, certainly convenient enough to carry on a harness. Worth seeking out.
