You might consider a spotting scope. Out west, it is nice to be able to see and judge game at distances which only a spotter can do. If you have a pair of bino's to share, you might find a good spotterwould really add to your ability to spot and judge game. When I was out west with my dad and unckle last year, I had my Leupold spotter on a monopod. It helped us quite a bit when hunting for theirantelope. It is hard to judge antelope >500 yards away without a spotter.

Also, IMHO, I would buy binos, where I will primarily use them. I use 7 x 42's because I normally hunt in the woods in Ohio. I didn't find myself at a disadvantage to my dad and unckle whom have 10x binos.

In reality, lens quality is much more important than magnification. I can see as well or betterwith my 7x binos than a slightly lower quality 10x. I would guess moving up to Swaro 8.5x EL'swould be like turning the lights on compared to my 7 x 42 Bushnell Discoverer's. Trouble is, it is impossible to tell at the store because the lighting and colors are so different than outdoors.