I mostly agree with the above post by Boats.
Personally, I would prefer the 20 or 25 mm compacts to be 6x or 7x if I could find them in a quality binocular.
Glass quality & coatings have improved over the years but optic principles remain the same & for a given objective size lower power always give better definition & for me lower power is much easier to use in a small, light binocular.
As far as a spotting scope, I would like to try something like a high quality 15x56 binocular on a tripod in place of a spotting scope. Binocular vision trumps mono vision & in my experience you can't often use more than 15x to 20x in a spotting scope under hunting conditions because of wind shake & mirage. The weight between the two choices is about the same & I agree that you will need to carry a binocular of 7 or 8 power for scanning as well with either choice.
I have a good quality 77mm spotting scope so at this point in my life I will probably never make the switch but if I was starting over I would certainly consider the option of a large objective, high power binocular instead of a spotting scope.
