Best way to use thermal? RE: What do I buy?

[Eurodriver]

My buddy uses a FLIR RS32 - the base model. It's good compared to nothing, but I want something with a little more resolution. His max deer sized animal detection range is about 250 yards which is pretty good but at that range it's just an orange blob. (See below why that's an issue) We use thermal for finding piggies at the market and on their way home, and when we decide to do SUTs for giggles on about 100 acres of swampland. We do not bait anything to make it "fun" but we have in the past to make it "easy". It is no shit walking around palmettos and getting spiders and bugs on you while hoping you don't step on a rattler or get Zika. Durability and waterproofing is paramount.

I can't decide, and am seeking input to help me choose, if I want to spot with a handheld or use a weapon mounted optic.

We all use NV to navigate which is way easier than using thermal. Given that our weapons are slung and we are walking, a thermal handheld seems much more practical than weapon mounted. Additionally our weapons are ready to go with IR lasers if we come up to something, and by choosing weapon mounted you have to remove your day optic and hope your thermal retained zero. Ain't nobody trying to scan and assess all day with a rifle up to their shoulder.

On the other hand, I have been in situations where game could be seen through the FLIR but not through NV even though we knew it was there! You can't shoot what you can't see.

Another problem we have with the FLIR is that every single orange tree is lit up like a Christmas tree. It's impossible to differentiate game from trees in the groves. I'm not sure if other optics will rectify that issue but I figured I'd make the issue known anyway.

[GTF425]

Get a COTI and run it in outline mode when indoors, patrol mode when not.

COTI = PAS-29

[JoshNC]

Okay, this is very simple. Take the money you have set aside for thermal and put it toward a transferable HK sear in a mp5 host.

[hotrodder636]

Don't know about Euro, bu I am game for this...got any good leads/price on sear and host?

Okay, this is very simple. Take the money you have set aside for thermal and put it toward a transferable HK sear in a mp5 host.

[Nightvisionary]

There are a lot of interesting things coming down the pipeline this year in regards to thermal optics. The unreleased FLIR Q-14B comes to mind although it appears it will have a limited range. Right now Pulsar is the name of the game when it comes to performance and price in thermal optics and they have a TON of super cool new Thermals coming out this year. I had the same problem with my FLIR PS 24 Scout. In the desert way to many things give off heat signatures that can be mistaken for a person. I had to get within 20 feet of a large barrel cactus before I was able to confirm it was not a kneeling man. I just purchased a refurbished Pulsar HD-50S with 1 year factory warranty from Selmark which is Pulsars parent corporation. It is a $4400 optic and I paid just over $2K for it. I will post a review once I get it Monday. It has a 1250 yard detection range vs the FLIR PS 24's 350 yard range. This is a recently discontinued model and it's 384x288 microbolometer resolution is still better than the FLIR RS 32.

[MegademiC]

There are a lot of interesting things coming down the pipeline this year in regards to thermal optics. The unreleased FLIR Q-14B comes to mind although it appears it will have a limited range. Right now Pulsar is the name of the game when it comes to performance and price in thermal optics and they have a TON of super cool new Thermals coming out this year. I had the same problem with my FLIR PS 24 Scout. In the desert way to many things give off heat signatures that can be mistaken for a person. I had to get within 20 feet of a large barrel cactus before I was able to confirm it was not a kneeling man. I just purchased a refurbished Pulsar HD-50S with 1 year factory warranty from Selmark which is Pulsars parent corporation. It is a $4400 optic and I paid just over $2K for it. I will post a review once I get it Monday. It has a 1250 yard detection range vs the FLIR PS 24's 350 yard range. This is a recently discontinued model and it's 384x288 microbolometer resolution is still better than the FLIR RS 32.

Did you get a change to use the pulsar yet?

I'm starting to look at this stuff, and I'm thinking along the lines of what euro was saying - NV for nav, thermal for detection/shooting - no orange trees here.

Are there any Thermals that retain zero when taken off/on? Could any be fitted to a rtz mount?

[Nightvisionary]

Did you get a change to use the pulsar yet?

I'm starting to look at this stuff, and I'm thinking along the lines of what euro was saying - NV for nav, thermal for detection/shooting - no orange trees here.

Are there any Thermals that retain zero when taken off/on? Could any be fitted to a rtz mount?

I sure did. I have used it a little bit from a 7 story parking structure at work that gives me a field of view out to 800 yards. It is a night and day improvement over my old FLIR PS 24 Scout. The difference in performance is just amazing. The detection range of about 1300 yards is about 4x the FLIR's detection range. The clarity is amazing. I can point it at the sky and it doesn't bloom out like the FLIR. Now that I said that, it is a $4400 optic which is over twice the price of the FLIR Scout. As I mentioned before I purchased it as a refurb on Ebay from Selmark for $2075. It's in new condition so I would say it's worth every penny. I will post a review after I get some more time with it but so far I am very impressed.

[Alphasig]

Sorry being a little windy.

In my hunting environment (coyote), our max range is about 125yards in the winter and 250 in the summer when not baiting. We hunt out of mobile hunting blinds with double pane windows and heated. Really roughing it.

For me, I have a hard time finding animals with nv especially with the standard green/black. The white phosphorus isn't as bad depending on the lighting.

I bought my thermal, armasight 640 3x24 75mm 30hz about a year and half ago. I watched a lot of videos on YouTube to see the what the different kinds of thermal and what their videos look like. In a lot of the videos they will list the temp and humidity which is important more on that later. You can see a big different from a cheaper one than a more expensive one. I talked to several people on different forums. After watching the video I narrowed down my choice down to two. Armasight 640 75mm and the ir hunter. I talked to a couple of people that own or used the both. My question to them was in the worst hunting condition which one would do better and they recommended the armasight. For my experience you get what you pay for especially in thermal. I had a pvs-14 mounted the rifle with a eotech. But it had the poi issue in the cold.

Hunting out of a blind with windows, I either have to hunt with windows open to use the thermal to scan with or use nv. In the summer I mainly use the thermal mounted to rifle to scan with, less equipment plus I can see much better with the thermal. Which isn't that bad but I also hunt with an 12.5 6.8 sbr suppressed. In the winter it depends on the condition and lighting, but I normally use the nv. If poor conditions I will use the thermal and leave the windows open.

The down side to thermal is not being able to use through windows. The only hunting condition that I have found to effect thermal image is high humidity. Which include fog, rain, and snow. Anything over 80% humidity will downgrade the video. If I was walking through a field I probably use nv but then I would stop and scan with my thermal every once in a while.

The last thing to keep in mind is the zoom. If you buy a 640 and use the digital zoom you cut the quality in half each time. For example my Zeus is 3x. So if I zoom in once which is a 2x. I would be at 6x at 320 quality. If you zoom in again you would be at 12x but 160 quality. With that in mind if you bought a 320 instead of 640. The quality will drop quicker

I bought mine a optic planet. I lucked out. I was looking at their site around Veterans Day and a pop came up and offered a special deal on the scope I was looking at. So I clicked on it and a chat window started. We started to talk and I told them I was looking for this thermal scope. They said they can give me 8% off. I said I was looking for a 15% off around Black Friday. They came back and offered 12%. So I called the my accountant (the boss/wife). Lol. She approved. So the scope was 6400 minus 12% plus free shipping. Total was 5800. No regrets. I started my own YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2V...0nKwUBO1IDpB8A

Not sure if this will help or not. Good luck.




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[Eurodriver]

That is good advice about the humidity. It is Florida so it is always over 80% humidity. In summer at night it is no shit 100% humidity with dew points in the mid 80s.

[Alphasig]

A lot of people in Texas I know use thermal for hog hunting. But I'm not sure if their humidity is always high like Florida would be.

You may look at renting a unit. There are site that will rent one for a couple of days. Normally about 2-3 hundred.


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