Great binoculars, horrible rain guards and case - Nikon Monarch 7 8x42mm Binoculars

Like the other reviewer stated the eye cup covers (rain guards) from Nikon are completely worthless. I have a pair of $75 Nikon Aculons that have the same rain guards. I could see the Aculons coming with these cheesy rain guards but not the Monarchs. Also the carry case it comes in is pathetic. You would think that Nikon would take a page out of Vortex' book and give you a decent carry case and some rain guards that are actually useful.

But getting that out of the way, I have to rate the binoculars themselves 5 stars. I chose these over the more expensive Vortex Vipers. The field of view with these are great and the optical quality is on par with the Viper HD's but these are over $100 less expensive. I compared these in store with Zeiss Terra ED, Vortex Viper HD, Vortex Talons HD, Leupold Mojave, Steiner Predator and the Monarch 5's.
For the money, the Nikon Monarch 5's are the best buy (only $250 depending on where you find them) They blow away the Vortex Diamondbacks which are in the same price range (about 30-40 bucks less, but can't even come close optically to the Monarch 5)

But concerning all the rest, The Monarch 7s (at least in 8x42) have them beat in my opinion. The Vipers were just as good optically, but field of view is substantially less and they cost over $100 more, so it was an easy choice for me. (although the Vipers in 8x32 is a different story)
Im very happy with the Monarch 7s (except for the extremely stupid rain guards and carry case....Vortex has Nikon whooped in this regard)

5 star for the binos, but an overall 4 stars because of the case and eye protectors