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Night Vision Holosun DRS

gxer

Private
Minuteman
May 15, 2021
79
59
CA

You can hate a company all you want, but give credit where credit is due. This optic is going to kill off a lot of competitions if it comes out with the planned price range.

NV: $1000
Basic thermal: $1600
Pro thermal: $2300
 
Haven't seen one yet but I heard about it. From the video, my .02 right now:

- I don't know why reviews of it like to mention how compact it is because its fucking huge. Sure if you tried to mount a thermal, NV and a RDS you would use up a lot of space. But its still fucking huge.

- The NV on it looked blurry as fuck. Given that it was done in a room that was fully lit, I have a feeling that its NV capabilities are basically something that will pick up items as blobs and you wouldn't really make out if thats a gas grill or a cow over there.

- The only aspect I'm interested in is the thermal. No one that knows what theyre doing at night is using the NV version of this as you'd have helmet mounted NV on anyways. It's no different than trying to use a single weapon mounted PVS14; its fucking stupid. The thermal overlay, assuming you can see it with helmet mounted NV (if you can't that's a huge fucking failure to the point that we should just no longer speak about this thing ever again) would achieve what we try to do with rail mounted SkeetIR units. The other question then is, what's the detection range of the thermal? 30 feet? 500ft?

- Thermal and I'm guessing the NV 'tube' are on the front bottom of the housing? You know, like in the area your hand and PEQ15 tend to go infront of?

- ~4 hour battery time. LOL As your weapons main/only optic. LOL. I also wouldn't trust it to hold whatever zero it had between charges.

- It has onboard recording. Motherfucker, I dont even bring my cell phone when I go out incase I have to shoot someone. Do you think I want my fucking RDS recording shit?
 
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I looked at them at Shot.

You can't get a decent pic showing the view of it, at least I couldn't. So if it looks crappy in the video, I would assume that's why.

I didn't even know it supposedly has "NV"- everyone had some sort of digital NV deal this year.

It's big, not like PVS30 big, but not an Eotech HWS size either- which is probably what people are expecting.

Be next year anyways from the sounds of it. "Q4 at least" is what I was told. That generally means next year in new items/Shot Show parlance... LOL
 
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It has onboard recording. Motherfucker, I dont even bring my cell phone when I go out incase I have to shoot someone. Do you think I want my fucking RDS recording shit?
Be afraid of the folks in the shadows that aint carrying cell phones. They aint playin.

They gettin down to bizzness. :)
 
Hecque, slap a Flir Breach in front of your day optic. Goodie for out to 150 yards.

Unless you're hunting pigs or coyotes or whatever where you'd have a thermal optic, I don't even mess with thermal on the carbine. I've off and on considered the SkeetIR thing, but even that has its drawbacks and isn't as useful as you'd think.

All you need is what we used on security halts to see if we were being pursued or to make sure the route we were on wasn't about to run us into something we couldn't see ahead via NV - a stowed PAS23.

We didn't need to see if the guy's shirt had 4 or 5 buttons. All we needed was a return that SOMETHING was there. This is where I figured the Holosun may have been useful as you could have flipped between modes; but given the estimated detection range and the battery life, coupled with the fact that its also my go-to aiming sight and its a hard pass.
 
All you need is what we used on security halts to see if we were being pursued or to make sure the route we were on wasn't about to run us into something we couldn't see ahead via NV - a stowed PAS23.
You ever run the PAS 29 COTI. Pretty good thermal that adjusted correctly for that times emissivity conditions will pretty much only hit on a live animal. Provides good continues scanning while on the move so no need to take security halts unless you want to put stronger longer range handheld thermal out there.
 
You ever run the PAS 29 COTI. Pretty good thermal that adjusted correctly for that times emissivity conditions will pretty much only hit on a live animal. Provides good continues scanning while on the move so no need to take security halts unless you want to put stronger longer range handheld thermal out there.

I have one.

It's ok. The extra weight on the front of another NV unit does add up after some time. If you forget its there you'll run it into the gun at some point too.

I've noticed that with the 29 vs the PAS23, the dedicated thermal is better at detecting and making you see what it sees, compared to the 29's overlay.
 
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I've noticed that with the 29 vs the PAS23, the dedicated thermal is better at detecting and making you see what it sees, compared to the 29's overlay.
Agreed on the PAS 23 being better.

I view the Pas 29 COTI as more of a early warning system that says heads up, investigate further and then throw better thermal on item of interest. But the nice thing is it is a 24/7 early warning system that is working all the time without obstructing the NV scene much at all without having to stop and scan periodically unless you are looking for longer range heat signatures.
 
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Agreed on the PAS 23 being better.

I view the Pas 29 COTI as more of a early warning system that says heads up, investigate further and then throw better thermal on item of interest. But the nice thing is it is a 24/7 early warning system that is working all the time without obstructing the NV scene much at all without having to stop and scan periodically unless you are looking for longer range heat signatures.
Imo a highly under rated aspect of the coti is it doesn't require any brain power like a dual band system or stopping to scan with a dedicated unit.
 
Seen video of the new Holosun DRS but hadn't seen any pictures (interesting the optic in the video in the original post has a different design from the image they show below, I wonder which one is making it to market?)

1675778858533.png


Holosun DRS Thermal
Holosun surprised the marketplace at SHOT Show '23 by rolling out prototypes of its Digital Reflex Sights (DRS), which will eventually be available in night-vision and thermal models. The design is what the company calls a "fusion sight," in that it will combine Holosun's current red-dot technology with thermal-imaging capability. In particular, the sight will feature an LED Multi-Reticle System with two reticle options, 1024x768 resolution display at 50 frames per second, 8X digital zoom and video recording. Five thermal-imaging modes will be available, including white hot, black hot, highlight, outline and fusion. Holosun also plans to offer a DRS-TH Pro model that boosts imaging resolution by 33 percent. Powered by a 18350 rechargeable unit, the battery life ranges from 10 hours on the Pro model to 20 hours on the standard model. At press time, no details were available regarding pricing.
Found another video
 
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Looks like you can pre-order the straight thermal version as of a couple days ago. I'm going to wait for the pro-version, want to use it on a .22lr for solo larping on my property.
 
Played with the Thermal version at Shot 2024, not sure where 68 meters came from neither were they(or at least the rep I talked to, he said he had seen deer out much farther).... At the price point, I was impressed with the integration of the red-dot to the thermal. Seems like the perfect thing for a suppressed 300Blk, I am going to get one to try out, they are supposed to be shipping soon. (1600$)

I played with the thermal intensity a bit at the Show, so not in the dark, but I liked how the thermal and visual overlay-ed. There is of course a slight lag between the thermal image vs what you see with your eye, but it is slight.
 
Played with the Thermal version at Shot 2024, not sure where 68 meters came from neither were they(or at least the rep I talked to, he said he had seen deer out much farther).... At the price point, I was impressed with the integration of the red-dot to the thermal. Seems like the perfect thing for a suppressed 300Blk, I am going to get one to try out, they are supposed to be shipping soon. (1600$)

I played with the thermal intensity a bit at the Show, so not in the dark, but I liked how the thermal and visual overlay-ed. There is of course a slight lag between the thermal image vs what you see with your eye, but it is slight.
I have a 300BLK this would be ideal for, but I have heard this first implementation (from Holosun is a bit lacking) so am waiting for valid field reviews.
 
At the show the topic came up, at one point they were developing a thermal and night vision device not sure if that's the high end device your speaking of. Of course they are not going to release all their plans but I got the impression anything new was a year out at least.....but you never know.
Depending on who you are, you can already order the standard thermal and nv version (the low end version). Their is development of a Thermal Pro version but I don't want to speak outside my lane or give anything away. I wouldn't say a year though.
 
Haven't seen one yet but I heard about it. From the video, my .02 right now:

- I don't know why reviews of it like to mention how compact it is because its fucking huge. Sure if you tried to mount a thermal, NV and a RDS you would use up a lot of space. But its still fucking huge.

- The NV on it looked blurry as fuck. Given that it was done in a room that was fully lit, I have a feeling that its NV capabilities are basically something that will pick up items as blobs and you wouldn't really make out if thats a gas grill or a cow over there.

- The only aspect I'm interested in is the thermal. No one that knows what theyre doing at night is using the NV version of this as you'd have helmet mounted NV on anyways. It's no different than trying to use a single weapon mounted PVS14; its fucking stupid. The thermal overlay, assuming you can see it with helmet mounted NV (if you can't that's a huge fucking failure to the point that we should just no longer speak about this thing ever again) would achieve what we try to do with rail mounted SkeetIR units. The other question then is, what's the detection range of the thermal? 30 feet? 500ft?

- Thermal and I'm guessing the NV 'tube' are on the front bottom of the housing? You know, like in the area your hand and PEQ15 tend to go infront of?

- ~4 hour battery time. LOL As your weapons main/only optic. LOL. I also wouldn't trust it to hold whatever zero it had between charges.

- It has onboard recording. Motherfucker, I dont even bring my cell phone when I go out incase I have to shoot someone. Do you think I want my fucking RDS recording shit?
Who the fuck is this guy?
 
Saw the updated versions at Shot last week.

The thermal version is interesting. Still not overly wow'ed with the digital NV version- but when your used to good 3rd Gen analog, it's easy to downplay digital NV.
You have to be careful about being trapped. I am guilty of this. I have used next gen 4K thermals. I have to remember not to try to bridge the current market offerings with the current state of technology. From an end user point, this stuff is at par and getting better than the Steiner and L3 stuff the public saw 5 years ago. It is tough but I try my best to remember not to compare the two different fields.
 
A new review of the Holosun Thermal (DRS-TH) and Night Vision (DRS-NV) Red Dots. The night version model seems solid for $1,000. The thermal seems to glitch once in a while in which an image sets in and the unit needs to be re-booted to clear.

 
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Folks already like to talk trash about you using Holosun optics.
They are going to lose their minds when people start running Holosun Thermals and NV

In my case, I say go for it, the more we can get in the hands of the masses the better.
Once it reaches critical mass it's really hard for the oppressors to shove it back in the box.
 
Folks already like to talk trash about you using Holosun optics.
They are going to lose their minds when people start running Holosun Thermals and NV

In my case, I say go for it, the more we can get in the hands of the masses the better.
Once it reaches critical mass it's really hard for the oppressors to shove it back in the box.
Talk all the trash you want. I run Trijicon, Holosun, Sig, and more. I have never had someone shoot my Holosun EPS MRS Green and not instantly want one. They work, and they have good clear characteristics.
 
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I got mine through AR15discounts, they often run sales and have fantastic customer service.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

I'm thinking of trying one to see how folks I take to the range prefer them over the DeltaPoint Pro.
 
Right, I was curious the same (I have both) but EPS and Reptilia piggyback mount still sit in their boxes next to my desk, I really need to unpack that stuff 🤪

Vortex also just came out with their new Defender-ST which I can get a pretty good deal on.

So many decisions and choices.

How soon are you going to do your review?
 
Vortex also just came out with their new Defender-ST which I can get a pretty good deal on.

So many decisions and choices.

How soon are you going to do your review?
Review? I’ve never reviewed any RDS’s before, but first time for everything right. The Vortex Defender ST slipped under my radar, might be fun: DPP v EPS v Def ST

Back to this thread, I wonder if Holosun would like a yahoo like me to review their new DRS series… they are intriguing for the price point alone.
 
Vortex also just came out with their new Defender-ST which I can get a pretty good deal on.

So many decisions and choices.

How soon are you going to do your review?
After having run closed emitters more lately. I will not be going back to an open emitter. Dust, dirt, etc etc on the lens, over the electronics... have to clean, have to puff air with a brush..... Closed emitter all the way from now on. Grab a micro fiber, wipe both sides and drive on. Plus the benefits of the solar backup if your battery dies... Win/Win in my book. I have removed my Trijicon SRO from all but two guns. Those are both rifles with dust covers on them as a backup. I like my Trijicon's but again... closed emitters for the win!
 
After having run closed emitters more lately. I will not be going back to an open emitter. Dust, dirt, etc etc on the lens, over the electronics... have to clean, have to puff air with a brush..... Closed emitter all the way from now on. Grab a micro fiber, wipe both sides and drive on. Plus the benefits of the solar backup if your battery dies... Win/Win in my book. I have removed my Trijicon SRO from all but two guns. Those are both rifles with dust covers on them as a backup. I like my Trijicon's but again... closed emitters for the win!

Thanks for that note,

So just to make it a bit quicker for me to narrow down the list

I'm assuming that specific Holosun one is a closed emitter?
Are most of the Holosun ones that way as well or just certain ones?

Are the Vortex ones, Trijicon standard RMR ones, and the DeltaPoint Pro all open emitters?

Thanks.
 
Thanks for that note,

So just to make it a bit quicker for me to narrow down the list

I'm assuming that specific Holosun one is a closed emitter?
Are most of the Holosun ones that way as well or just certain ones?

Are the Vortex ones, Trijicon standard RMR ones, and the DeltaPoint Pro all open emitters?

Thanks.

Not all Holosun are closed emitters but the 509T, EPS, and EPS Carry all are. The 509T is basically a titanium ruggedized EPS. The EPS is like $450 ish street price.

Trijicon now has closed emitters as well thankfully. But the SRO is not one of them. The new ones they just released are in the $1000 range.

Vortex RDSs like you would use on a handgun so far are all open emitters.

Deltapoint Pro is open emitter. All Leupold you would use on a handgun currently available are open emitter.

Closed emitter options examples for handguns:
  • Holosun (Example EPS, EPS Carry, 509t etc)
  • Sig Sauer (Romeo M17)
  • Aimpoint (Example Acro P-2, Micro H-2)
  • Trijicon (Example RCR)