Hand held Thermal recommendations

[Long_Hunter]

Need one for detection...looking hard at FLIR TK Scout and the Leopold LTO-Tracker 2 HD.

I have PVS14s for identification and moving...need a thermal handheld to increase my detection capabilities.

Does anyone here have experience with both or with one...detection range is leaning towards the LTO, but not hip to reviews about the distance you have to hold the LTO from eye.

Any review from one who owns both or one or the other would be appreciated. If there is one you have experience with at less than a 1K price tag that you really like, would be interested in hearing about it as well.

Many Thanks.

 

[JimP42]

Opticsplanet has FLIR and Armasight on clearance now, I suppose because FLIR is getting out of the civilian market.

I have a Tracker HD (not the gen 2) and it works surprisingly well (to me at least). I don't have much to compare against from personal experience but I wasn't at all disappointed after getting it compared to how the youtube and other reviews described and compared it. I don't know about other thermals, but it isn't a scope as such. You aren't looking "through" it, but at a small screen on the back, so it isn't really the same experience as a monocular, but it was easy for me to adjust to using it.

It is very cool (warm?) to see footsteps in the carpet for a while after the dogs walk on it. Same outdoors, or a handprint on a post, or whatever. The sensitivity is set according to the hottest thing in the frame, so if there is a campfire in the frame you won't see footsteps on the ground. But if you are just scanning around with it, it is very sensitive to small temp diffs.

I chose the tracker HD because of resolution. The lower priced FLIRs like the base scout are much lower res (fewer pixels) than the Tracker HD.

 

[CHRIS_WNC]

I have a handheld FLIR PS32, owned a Pulsar RXQ30V for a while, and currently also have a FLIR PTS233.

All three were as described above. You have an eye relief set up for you to focus on that little display. The three that I’ve owned has fairly short eye relief and had a rubber cup for you to bring up to your eye. If I remember correctly, the LTO had longer eye relief and no rubber cup thing. Is that correct, @JimP42?

That was a quirk with the LTO and the Sig thermal that I played with. Having that display lighting up your face just seemed odd to me. Also having the cup lets me light up to my eye quickly and be lazy and let it rest on my brow for scanning.

Between the two that you have listed, the LTO has the bigger sensor thus will have better detection range. The eye relief is the only thing that would make me hesitate on ordering one without handling one again.

BTW: a handheld thermal plus a PVS14 weapon setup is solid. I did that for a while with a gen III 14. Scan and detect with the thermal. Identify and shoot with the 14.
CHRIS

 

[JimP42]

I have a handheld FLIR PS32, owned a Pulsar RXQ30V for a while, and currently also have a FLIR PTS233.

All three were as described above. You have an eye relief set up for you to focus on that little display. The three that I’ve owned has fairly short eye relief and had a rubber cup for you to bring up to your eye. If I remember correctly, the LTO had longer eye relief and no rubber cup thing. Is that correct, @JimP42?

I can’t compare the eye relief but correct on the lack of eyecup. Probably wouldn’t be too hard to add one though. I might, mostly to avoid illuminating myself with it. I just looked on Amazon - lots of add on eyecups. Worst case a zip tie would fit one on nicely.

It is a shame the thermal monoculars aren’t rated for use mounted on rifles. You can identify some things (hogs, coyotes) pretty easily and heck, with the thermal mounted at 45 degrees offset from regular NV it would be very fast to switch back and forth.

 

[Long_Hunter]

Thank you @JimP42 and @CHRIS_WNC for the feedback...exactly what I was seeking and very much appreciated. Going with the LTO 2HD.