I have some cheapo Bushnell 8X21 minis in my BOB not only for locating water and game, but also for finding the easiest route to traverse. It's a lot easier to stop and glass a potential path than it is to later retrace your steps because you ran into a semi-concealed patch of thick timber. Makes the weight worth it IMO.

I carry a monocular range-finding scope that i got from radio shack for like ten bucks.It works well for me.

One thing to keep in mind, el cheapos are fine for short term viewing, but if you think that you might spend a long time with them up to your eyes (as is scanning for deer, etc, on a large hillside), you will be better off spending more of your hard earned bucks on some quality binocs. The cheapos, and I own several, do not have the same quality glass and coatings, and can give you an eyestrain headache after a while. At least they do me, my wife, and others I know...

How do you recognize a quality one? Usually the more $ the better but sometimes there are high priced products (Sony, Nike for example) whose quality doesn't match the higher price.
What are some good brands.

The old adage "time spent in recon is time well spent" is true. I have a lightweight little monocular that rides in my EDC bag. Very useful when you need it.

In the case of binoculars you can change that to "pretty much always." I hunt with an old '60's pair of Bausch & Lomb 7X35 Zephyrs that I bought on Ebay for $135. To me they look almost as clear as my friends $500 Nikons, but not quite. And neither of those two are as clear as my other friend's pair of Zeiss, which I believe set him back about $1200. But this is serious hunting glass. For my BOB I'm happy with my aforementioned Bushnells, which I think cost me about $19 new.

As far as brands go, Zeiss, Svarovski, Canon, Nikon, Leupold, or Steiner seem to have the best reputation and will certaintly get the job done. Whether or not you want to pay that much is up to you.

I have had good luck with Bushnell, Bausch & Lomb, and my all time favorites, bought overseas long ago, and far from being compact, are Pentax...

The monocular from County Comm is pretty good for a light, small unit. It's not high end, certainly the price is very reasonable at about $12! Still, I find the quality to be pretty good, I have some high end binoculars for the boat that I wouldn't carry around in my daypack hiking, but, this is small enough to always having in that kit.
http://www.countycomm.com/optics.htm

What did I say?

One thing that's rarely mentioned is columnation (aligning the two halves of the binoculars so they point together. I had a nice pair of 7x50's knocked out of alignment years ago and it didn't matter how clear the glass was, they didn't work. A good optics technician who ran a telescope shop back in VA straightened them out and now they're great again. Cheap binoculars will get knocked out easier and I've found they're harder on my eyes. Nikon and Steiner for me. Leupold seems to make good binoculars too.

I have a pair of Pentax DCF MC 8x22 in a small camera bag zip tied to a shoulder strap of my Camelbak. It is great when I am hiking. I can reach over and pull them out to look at wildlife etc.

I think it is worth paying extra for phase coated prisms if you can afford it. I think for a PSK 8x20 to 8x25 is the right size.