Night Vision Silly Thermal Spotter (Breach) Capability Question

[NighthawkCG]

No recent experience with any new thermal devices, but I am wondering what something like the Breach is capable of. I'm looking for handheld detection capability, not PID. Helmet mount is a bonus, not necessarily required. I live in an area where I'm not doing the people, coyote, or hog hunting so those type of references, while somewhat helpful, don't really get me to the capability limit. I can see those pics online and am somewhat sure the breach will do all of that with relative ease.

To help put it in perspective for my thick head and bad eyes, what is the lower realistic limit (say in a yard, light treeline or low cut field) of detection at 50 yards from a static position? Coon, rabbit, grey squirrel, chipmunk, or field mouse?

Are there better units than the breach for around the same price point, even if they aren't as tacticool? Looking for function over form. Thanks in advance.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

The breach will handle that no problem although you probably aren't going to be seeing many field mice unless the grass is very short or it's a wooded area with no grass. Even well beyond 50 yards you'll be able to detect squirrels, rabbits, and larger game but ID will come by either knowing the terrain and distance to gauge body size or based on movement. Some species, especially the larger they are you'll be able to tell apart based on body shape like raccoons and opossums.

I don't think there's a better thermal in the $2K range than the breach.

 

[NighthawkCG]

Thanks for the reply. I thought that was the case, but wanted to make sure. I figure if its good enough to see something like a mouse (in the open) then its easy enough for me to see the rest and have it do what I'm looking for.

 

[j-huskey]

I second the rednecks comments. It's got a helmet mount option. And it's lighter than, I think, all the others.

 

[benzy2]

There isn’t much in the sub $2500 range. If you don’t care about head mounting very much, then maybe the Pts233 is a better choice. Being weapon mountable is a bonus and it’s cheaper. Certainly not the form factor of the breach but I also think you’ll see better resale from the crowd wanting a weapon sight as well. You get a little extra optical magnification with the pts233 (1.5x vs 1x) which is probably beneficial for spotting the itty bitty things, though it won’t be as easy to use for navigation/walking.

Really, the breach is the choice to take if you have to head mount but outside that I would rather the slightly larger PTS233 for the extras it provides. The Pulsar RXQ30v is another option with arguably better image (about 40% more pixels) but no video recording and less screen color options. If the image was all that mattered, the Pulsar is supposedly better by a little. I haven’t used either it or the new FLIR options personally so I won’t stand behind which is better. The Pulsar is a few hundred less than PTS233. If budget is the concern, I think the Pulsar is the best bag for the buck on the bottom priced end.