I have one of these: Little Mak

10 x 30. Magnification of 10x seems useful but I often have a difficult time holding it steady enough to clearly see what I am looking at, thereby loosing the advantage of higher magnification. 8x might be a better magnification. I am not an optics expert but it seems to have quite good image quality for it's price. It is relatively large diameter so it provides a fairly bright image.

It is also light weight. When I bought mine I believe the price was around $20 so I didn't worry about taking into rough or dirty conditions. It seems to no longer be available so I am a bit more careful with it. Is a shame. It gives a lot of image for the price.

One reason I like monoculars is that every time I use my binoculars, the two sides are not in focus together. It takes a little extra time to re-adjust it. For day hiking I like the light weight and smaller volume of the monocular. My Nikon binoculars overall have a better image quality but are significantly heavier and larger.