Digital Home Thoughts: Rock Steady: Four Image-Stabilized Binoculars

"Jittery hands shouldn't get in the way of a good view. A fine set of image-stabilized binoculars use electronic gyroscopes and fluid-filled prisms to compensate for the shakes and give you many moments of clarity... These 14 x 40 rugged rangers are built for real-world abuse. The waterproof body survived a full submersive dunk with no ill effect. For rougher conditions, they also come with a heavy-duty hard-shell Pelican carrying case that handles a 50-foot drop with no visible damage. And while the 14 x magnification cranked in on distant action nicely, the real jaw-dropper on these was the incredible image stabilization. Even when rapidly shaking the binoculars by about 30 degrees from the center axis, they maintained a steady, stable field. But all that ruggidization and steadiness comes at a price: At 43 ounces they're heavier than a Tolstoy novel."

I have never taken a deep look at binoculars. The ones that my parents had when I was a kid seemed nice enough, though very basic and heavy, and the ones I see on TV (movies like Rambo, Commando, etc) always seemed too unrealistic. But then I happened to come across this article on Wired. Very interesting. Do any of you have recommendations on good binoculars? And more importantly, how often do you get to use them?