2019 Night Vision & Thermal Thread

[smokin feathers]

Any feedback on thor lt?? Good bad indifferent!!

[dallascowboys]

Just wondering if the wraith is better than the photon? Or any opinions would be helpful, looking to either get a sightmark or a ATN 4k

[10-96inTexas]

What is the wait time for a Wraith? I don't do much night hunting but finally have decided to take the plunge and I'm looking for the best bang for my buck. ATN, Photon, Wraith? I'm not in a big hurry. Is the Wraith worth waiting for?

[TX03RUBI]

I’ve shared a shop with a pretty large NV and thermal distributor for some time, who also happens to be one of my best friends. It’s worked out in my favor over the years as I have had access to any of the demo equipment whenever I wanted as long as they weren’t being used at that time. Well a few weeks back I finally bit the bullet and made a purchase. Snagged a Pulsar XP50LRF and XP38. I’ve put down a few hogs and a couple coyotes lately with the 50, but so far I’ve only used the 38 as a handheld. I’m running the Zro Delta Mount on the 38, and I swap it back and forth between my 11.5” SBR and scanning duties. So far the only thing it’s shot is targets, but I can’t wait to get on a sounder up close in the wheat again. This weekend I’m going out to the lease and going to try and wreak havoc on them, but I’m mounting a Helion to my side by side with a remote control pan head to use as a scanner. I’m pretty excited to try it out.

[Russ81]

What is the wait time for a Wraith? I don't do much night hunting but finally have decided to take the plunge and I'm looking for the best bang for my buck. ATN, Photon, Wraith? I'm not in a big hurry. Is the Wraith worth waiting for?

From all the reviews the wraith is well worth the wait and for the money is a jam up scope.


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[Outdoor Legacy]

Any feedback on thor lt?? Good bad indifferent!!

I looked through it at the SHOT Show and I'll tell you what....it was the first and only thermal rifle scope I've ever looked through inside a building and immediately thought it was terrible. I'm sorry if that offends anyone who owns one, I'm honestly not trying to be mean but I've always said that I try not to judge thermal and NV image quality from what I see at the SHOT Show because every thermal looks good inside of a convention center. Well I've found an exception to the rule.lol It was seriously bad. I would highly suggest either not buying anything at all or spending $500 on something like a Sightmark Wraith HD or Photon RT. I can see no reason to spend $1,200+ on one.

Thermal has definitely gotten a whole lot cheaper in the last 3 years but good usable thermal for hunting is still going to cost you about $1,900+ as of right now.

Again, not trying to be rude about it, I just think a $500 NV optic would do you a whole lot better. Hope that helps.

Jason

[Outdoor Legacy]

Just wondering if the wraith is better than the photon? Or any opinions would be helpful, looking to either get a sightmark or a ATN 4k

What is the wait time for a Wraith? I don't do much night hunting but finally have decided to take the plunge and I'm looking for the best bang for my buck. ATN, Photon, Wraith? I'm not in a big hurry. Is the Wraith worth waiting for?

The next shipment of Wraiths is coming in July but they are all pre-sold. The next shipment will be August/September and there will be monthly shipments starting then. There are still scopes available on the August shipment and I really think it's worth the wait. And I say that as a dealer who has Photons in stock right now and I even have an X-Sight on the shelf but I wouldn't advise buying it for lots of reasons.

Without getting into a long spiel I just wouldn't buy the ATN at all any longer. Read the reviews and you'll see for yourself, its just not worth the pain and suffering. I sold them for years and it just came to the point we had no choice but to stop because of the terrible customer service for both us and our customers and the lack of quality and reliability.

The Wraith is my choice between the two. The Photon RT is still a great scope that holds it's own and it's tried and true but I'm really loving the Wraith for what it is and for the money. The Wraith has a longer range, better image quality, better zoom and it's full color during the day time which is nice if you need it but I realize a lot of people don't care about that.

Here is our comparison of the Photon RT and the Wraith HD on The Late Night Vision Show

- Jason

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPVw-W3ZMWQ"]Ep. #50 | Sightmark Wraith HD 50mm VS. Photon RT 4.5 x 42s - YouTube[/ame]

[35remington]

I’m mounting a Helion to my side by side with a remote control pan head to use as a scanner. I’m pretty excited to try it out.

You gonna use The Owl for that, or something else?

[TX03RUBI]

Yes sir. OWL with a Helion XP38. I’m running a couple of Trails, and the Helion is my buddys demo unit. If it works out like I hope I may sell another rifle to fund a Helion as well.

[kkp005]

Jason- I saw some thermions shipped from pulsar today. You getting any to test out?

[35remington]

Yes sir. OWL with a Helion XP38.

Good setup. Great setup, as a matter of fact.

[Sleepy]

For those of you using thermal, I have a question. Would you say that the videos posted on youtube from these scopes are an accurate depiction of what the view looks like when actually looking through the scope? Or is it generally a little crisper and cleaner when behind the scope vs the video?

[Russ81]

For those of you using thermal, I have a question. Would you say that the videos posted on youtube from these scopes are an accurate depiction of what the view looks like when actually looking through the scope? Or is it generally a little crisper and cleaner when behind the scope vs the video?

I’ve noticed with mine (Trail XQ50 and Axion XM38) going from thermal unit too smart phone it loses a little bit but not much, and some of the higher units don’t lose much clarity though


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[Sleepy]

I’ve noticed with mine (Trail XQ50 and Axion XM38) going from thermal unit too smart phone it loses a little bit but not much, and some of the higher units don’t lose much clarity though


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Thanks for the feedback. I pulled the trigger on a Trail XQ38. Some of the videos on YouTube look pretty good, but not as crisp as what I thought they would be.

[Outdoor Legacy]

Jason- I saw some thermions shipped from pulsar today. You getting any to test out?

Yes sir there were a handful of Pulsar Thermions that showed up to the US last week (the week of 5/27/19). Only a small single digit amount of dealers were shipped some of these early release Thermions and I'm thankful to have been chosen to be in that group. There were only XM38 and XM50 models, NO XM30, XP38 or XP50 units. I'm emphasizing that point because another dealer on FB incorrectly said that XP50's were already shipping but that's not true. A, hopefully larger, shipment of Thermions should be headed to the US within the next few weeks. It is expected that the XP models will be coming as well but the base XM30 model is not expected to be shipping soon. It could be closer to the original August estimates, maybe sooner, maybe longer, no one knows right now but we've been told not to be expecting it soon.

Overall first impressions.... I really like the tube based scope design a lot more than I thought I would. It's really very "comfortable" to have on your rifle and to use. I like the weight balance and at a glance no one would even notice that it wasn't a daytime scope. I don't believe the Thermion is any kind of huge game changer, I think it is a nice incremental step forward with some improvements over previous models. But so far I'm liking it a lot more than I expected. Again, more thoughts after I use it more and we will go in more depth on The Late Night Vision Show.

- Jason