When I went to Bible College, the required version was the RSV. I used my RSV for quite a few years, re-covering it several times because it was falling apart. Eventually, my husband had nagged me so much about "aren't you embarrassed to preach with that old Bible?" that I decided to get a new one, and, since the NIV had just been released, bought a NIV study Bible.
Problem was, in those days I was prone to hold my Bible in my hand and kind of wave it around while I was preaching (I don't use notes and in those days didn't use a pulpit.) The study Bible was so heavy that the first time I preached from it I ended up feeling like my hand was falling off!
Then I saw an ad in a Christian magazine for a nice compact version of the NIV, and hubby and I decided to get one each. Sent off the order for 2 Bibles - and back came 2 boxes of Bibles! We ended up buying them, and passing them on to people who needed a Bible. The last few ended up being sent to one of our pastors in India a couple of years back.
blessings,
Lynn