your load and should you lose or break your primary pair you can grab these and carry on. they may not offer quite the same level of performance or function as a full sized pair but they will be far better than nothing and may make the difference between a successful hunt and disaster. this is especially important to consider on those once in a lifetime trips; to miss out on the buck of lifetime or for a decent look at that rare bird after saving and traveling because you dropped your binoculars on a river crossing or they got broken while in your luggage at the airport for the 