Funny enough my cheap set finally cracked on me last month, so maybe there's something to the upgrade.

My buddy learned that "fine print" lesson the hard way, just like you said, morgan.joseph.

Totally get that... had a guy at a camera club say my bird photos were just "sparrow on a branch" over and over. Now I try to add something dumb like "this one was yelling at a squirrel," and it really does connect more.

Rangers have saved my butt more than once. I was dead set on a summit hike in the Rockies until one pointed out the afternoon lightning storms that roll in like clockwork. He rerouted me to a lower ridge with better cover. That kind of on the ground knowledge is pure gold. You can stare at maps all day and miss the real world stuff that makes or breaks a hike.

Been there, done that, got the shrapnel.