They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So true. They also say you can't judge a book by its cover. But when it comes to binoculars, you can judge binoculars by their cover. 

When you buy a pair of binoculars, what you see first tells you so much about what's inside. But what you see on the outside - the bag or the case is emblematic, symptomatic, and at times problematic. What you are seeing is the stark contrast between the new plastic bag and the vintage leather and velvet one. They mirror what's inside. One is disposable, but not really; one handsome and protective has been repurposed, has already lasted decades, and may last for generations to come. 

That bag will wind up in the landfill, where it will break down into microplastics- which will seem to disappear into our air, sea, and water. Frankly, we can no longer think like we have all this time- that things are truly disposable. That goes for what's inside the bag, too. Small mechanical parts invisible to the user are made from the cheapest plastics. Everything has been minimized and cheapened and will not tolerate any abuse or hard use. The coatings will crumble, the eyepiece cups will fall off, most won't focus close up, and nobody connected with their product will give a damn. As a repairman, I need to be able to get inside to clean it, and none of the new binoculars allow for this; they are "waterproof" - meaning unfixable. 

 That bag costs about a dollar to make, and as I said, it will become toxic waste eventually. The logo is ironic. The bag provides no protection whatsoever -only trash. The leather case is

beautiful, unique, and protective.