Night Vision Help me step into thermal

[emanresu]

So I got my feet wet and now that leads me to wanting my own - you know how it goes... Trying to work out something for shots around 150 up to 300y with mixed use between woods and field.

The extent of my knowledge is that I don't really like scanning with my rifle so I think I've narrowed into wanting a thermal monocular on head gear of some sort and an optic for the rifle. But there is such a wide range of options available I am not sure where to start.

Will something like the Flir Breach work for scanning or leave me disappointed - I can't really seem to find anything else like it until you get into top tier consumer gear at triple the price? Perhaps a recommendation on a good pairing? Is this something where I really should step in at the Thermion, Halo, REAP-IR level or are some of the more economical options plenty for what I've described?

 

[diggler1833]

You can easily survive being left to hunt with something as lowly as a Pulsar Trail XQ38, Thermion XM38, it FLIR PTS536. They don't compare to the higher end units that you mentioned, but all of them are good enough to solidly identify specific animals at the ranges you listed.

The hand held units for simply spotting a heat signature are less important IMO, and you can possibly save a little there. However it is nice to know quickly that you aren't getting excited to stalk up on a hog...only to find out that it is a deer 500 yards later.

I walk/stalk my ranch with only a Trail XQ38. I use my Trigger stick as a platform for scanning every 50 yards or so. I can tell the difference between animals from a long ways out, most of the time. My hardest differentiation are calves and lone boars...but even then I can positively ID the animal within 250 yards.

Is my setup as good as the guy with $12K in optics next to me? Absolutely not. Can I get within 100 yards and kill hogs just as good as they can? 95% yes...with the only drawback being the lack of native magnification for further shots.

 

[diggler1833]

Case in point. This was at 0430 this morning right smack in the middle of a herd...

 

[wigwamitus]

Pulsars have been working for hog hunters since the Apex first came out in 2015 ...

 

[emanresu]

Case in point. This was at 0430 this morning right smack in the middle of a herd...
View attachment 7202686View attachment 7202687

Can't argue with that!

 

[newguy2k3v2]

My brother recently bought a Breach to headmount with his pvs-14 for a poorboy fusion setup. I looked through it a bit and it seems pretty nice. Much lighter than my patrol. His only gripe is that it eats 123s like candy. He uses a pulsar xp50lrf and it seems pretty decent as well but he's one of the ones that has had zero shift issues.

If you're going to get into this be aware that it's an expensive, cold, sleepless road to travel.

 

[WhereNow&How]

My brother recently bought a Breach to headmount with his pvs-14 for a poorboy fusion setup. I looked through it a bit and it seems pretty nice. Much lighter than my patrol. His only gripe is that it eats 123s like candy.

Make sure to put this in your Brothers Christmas Stocking. He will love you long time. Be sure to check whether he has Course Threads (Gold Colored) or Fine Threads (Silver Colored) before making an order. I run these with my Breach's and get 5 hours run time. The rechargeable 16650 Batteries are great and very cost effective. I do not like having external battery cables on my helmet if there is any way I can get around it. These battery extenders and the rechargeable 16650's are bullet proof from my experiences running them.

Battery Extender for FLIR Breach PTQ136 Thermal Monocular - MOD Armory

Extend your range 3 times that of a regualr CR123 with the MOD Armory Battery Extender for FLIR Breach PTQ136 Thermal Monocular.

www.modarmory.com

 

[WhereNow&How]

I forgot to list the batteries. The 2 below are probably the best 16650 Rechargeable Batteries out there.

16650 Protected Li-ion Orbtronic Rechargeable Battery - Replacement for 2x CR123A - Battery case included

16650 Battery Protected Rechargeable Li-ion Replacement for 2x CR123 2500mAh | Orbtronic 3.7V cell.

www.orbtronic.com

Amazon.com: 1 Pcs KeepPower 16650 2500mAh 9.25Wh 3.7V Protected Lithium Rechargeable Battery P1665J Cell Made in Japan as Replacement for 2CR123A: Health & Personal Care

Buy 1 Pcs KeepPower 16650 2500mAh 9.25Wh 3.7V Protected Lithium Rechargeable Battery P1665J Cell Made in Japan as Replacement for 2CR123A on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders

www.amazon.com

 

[newguy2k3v2]

Make sure to put this in your Brothers Christmas Stocking. He will love you long time. Be sure to check whether he has Course Threads (Gold Colored) or Fine Threads (Silver Colored) before making an order. I run these with my Breach's and get 5 hours run time. The rechargeable 16650 Batteries are great and very cost effective. I do not like having external battery cables on my helmet if there is any way I can get around it. These battery extenders and the rechargeable 16650's are bullet proof from my experiences running them.

Battery Extender for FLIR Breach PTQ136 Thermal Monocular - MOD Armory

Extend your range 3 times that of a regualr CR123 with the MOD Armory Battery Extender for FLIR Breach PTQ136 Thermal Monocular.

www.modarmory.com

I had him come help me with a large group of pigs last night and he has an external battery pack now.

To add to the topic of the thread he did say the breach doesn't do well in wide open fields. He couldn't pick up the pigs 900+ yards out while I could with my ir patrol.

 

[WhereNow&How]

The Patrol with a 19mm lens (focasable) at 640 x 480 has definitely got more power and range than the Breach at 9.1mm (fixed focus) lens at 320 x 256. Your Brother might try switching to the Arctic Pallete and turning his Gain up from the normal 100ish up to around 200ish. This gives me about the best longer range Detection. However, 900 to 1,000 yard is a pretty long stretch for the Breach. I have seen deer and pigs at about those distances on a couple of occasions in a completely clean field, but could not at anyway tell what they were. They were just tiny glowing dots but I knew something was out there. I have never spotted anything further as I just have not had it in a place I was hunting that offered further distance. But still, from my 900 to 1000 yard experience I doubt it would go further.

 

[newguy2k3v2]

Even with the patrol I couldn't see any definition, just little blobs. The number grouped together and the way they were moving told me "pigs."