Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought these on a Prime Day special to take to South Padre Island to use for close up viewing of gulls and shorebirds on the beach and for viewing from beach to wave surface. My husband and I are fairly serious birders and own numerous pairs of slightly higher end and stronger magnification binoculars and spotting scopes. I really didn't consider these to be super legit optics, just an affordable backup pair for the beach. We had spent half an hour or so hanging out, making friends with seagulls, taking cell phone pictures. The longer I used these little binos, the more I liked them-they felt nice in the hand (love their rubberized coating!), had great edge to edge image quality, small but substantial. My (type 1 diabetic) husband seemed happy, sitting on his beach chair at the edge of the surf, dozing on and off, and enjoying the scene. But, as the low waves surrounded him, his beach chair sank deeper and deeper into the sand and I realized he was doing nothing to extricate himself. It was then I knew his blood sugar had tanked and he was already unresponsive. I had to get him up onto his feet and out of the water rickticky, pull his beach chair out of the sand, gather up all our stuff, and find him something to eat ASAP, or call 911. In the melee, I dropped the binoculars into the edge of the surf, and by the time I could grab them they (as well as my husband and I) were completely coated with sand and dripping wet. I shook the binoculars off but I had more important things to worry about, pulling my husband out of his sinkhole and getting a grip on the load of gear including both of our cellphones, the heavy beach chairs, and wet towels I would have to carry. Luckily, a woman nearby came to our rescue and helped me get him up and heading for the stairs and shower at the beach exit. Her friend gave him some crackers and, to my amazement, he came to enough to move out of the danger zone. When we reached the shower I haphazardly rinsed off the binos along with everything else. I figured they were ruined forever. I got him some food and glucose, and to this day he doesn't remember anything at all, like it never even happened. The same is true of these binoculars! As soon as they dried and I brushed the rest of the sand off of them, they were as good as new-no fog, no messed up focus wheel or gears, no scratched lenses. Even though I would have sacrificed them to my husband's medical emergency, I believe they are a great little pair of sturdy, useful, WATERPROOF, binoculars. 5 stars, easily!