Hi all,
Am looking to recommend a thermal scope to a friend. This optic is to be mounted to an AR, and I’m thinking that ideally it would be in front of an RDS on some sort of a swing mount for quick deployment when needed.
All of the ones I seem to find are either heavily magnified, or are designed to be handheld. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
TIA!
Define “tactical use.”
Does he have his night vision requirements squared away first?
Using thermal is typically better as a supplement to a NOD setup. Dedicated thermal optics are best suited to use in a static environment, and I’m not sure where a flip to side thermal would be of value compared to running head mounted NODs. I understand that visual obstruction from smoke, foliage, or lack of ambient lighting can be a limiting factor to the effectiveness of NODs. This is why the (heavy) setups like Fusion goggles (PSQ-20s and PSQ-36s) and the Clip On Thermal Imagers like the PAS-29 show their value.
If I’m going room to room, I want NODs+laser (or NODs+EOTech on a riser if you got that big dick sneaky pete shit going on) and the ability to use a white light if necessary.
Thermal optics don’t play well with others due to the way they work. You won’t be running one in conjunction with a red dot.
TL;DR- Get a high quality PVS-14 and a COTI. Enjoy your murdery ass Predator vision to use with IR lasers and keep an eye free for a white light fight if it goes to that.
*Edit to clarify: When I mean “best suited to a static environment”, I mean that in order to use it, you have to be physically shouldering the weapon and looking through it. It’s why I’m fairly against weapon mounted PVS-14s for use in conjunction with an RDS. I would greatly prefer a helmet mounted NOD for continuous use and either using a laser or RDS on a riser for engaging.
Thermal optics are digital AFAIK. They will have their own reticle and I am not familiar with any that will work with anything in front of them. We used to issue the PAS-13 and used it on observation posts as a supplement to our night vision in lieu of having it weapon mounted. We got so much more use out of them that way because our thermal wasn’t married to a gun.
Wut he said.
Lasers exist for something other than picture threads.
Thermal generally doesn’t allow for facial recognition; at least not as well as NODS. They’re great for spotting shapes across a field (ISIS or hog hunting…) but not for most civilian shooting applications.
Good stuff gentlemen, thank you all. I’ll pass the info onwards. In the mean time, I may be shopping for a NODs setup for myself.
Pulsar has some “cheaper” thermal clip ons(core series).
Tnvc also sells the reap-ir and patrol from trijicon EO. Iirc both are monoculars, clip-ons, and scopes (can be used either way).
For hd, running/gunning, I think a helmet with pvs 14 and a laser would be optimal. Maybe augment nv with thermal. Use nv to get around, thermal to detect hidden targets, and use nv to ID. If can’t see nv you can clip on thermal.
I’m skipping nv and going thermal. I have a light for hd and want thermal for hunting purposes. Using dedicated scope fwiw.
Thermal clip ons go in front of optic like a pvs 22 (pvs28?). Thermals can’t see through glass so being behind an optic would be a blank screen. I don’t know if they work with 0x optics, but they do work with lpv scopes.