Foreword—Scope

The choice of sights is a hot topic for hunters all over the world. There are many factors to consider when choosing a sight. The first thing to consider is what kind of environment you are using and what target you are hunting. If it is at night you have to choose between a night vision scope and a thermal imaging scope.

Differences between thermal imaging sights and night vision sights

Thermal imaging can detect the infrared energy emitted by an object, and it can generate images well without any visible light or other assistance. Daytime works just as well as nighttime. When hunting, you can clearly find the heat of the animals, and you can clearly see the prey on the display. And the detection distance is much longer than the night vision.

Night vision devices require external light sources to use, such as starlight, weak light from the external environment. In a completely dark environment, you can only use the light supplement, just like a flashlight. You can use infrared light. You can also use the night vision to image and see the target clearly. This infrared light is invisible to the naked eye, and prey cannot be detected.

Identify the difference between targets

Once suspicious targets are found, hunters must figure out what they are.

If you use a thermal imaging scope, you can judge by the contour characteristics of the target imaging, or determine what the target is exactly based on observing their action posture and so on. Although thermal imaging can detect distant targets, it is more difficult to identify the farther away. Thermal imaging sights usually have white heat mode, black heat mode, iron red mode, and other pseudo-color modes to help hunters find and judge targets.

The night vision device finds the target more difficult. Generally, only the eyes that shine on the prey are more obvious, because the eyes are reflective. But with night vision sights you can see the target completely and directly determine what kind of prey your target is. It's like looking at a black and white image. Although it's not obvious, you can see it clearly.

The advantage of a thermal imaging scope is that it can help you quickly target and recognize camouflage puffs.

Durability

Both the thermal imaging sight and the night vision sight must consider the durability of the product when selecting it. The most important manifestation of durability is the shock resistance of the sight! If you value a product, you must consider how much recoil it can withstand.

Price

For hunters, price is a very important consideration. Although the thermal imaging scope is better and more convenient, the price may generally be several times that of a night vision device. Thermal imaging sights are a newer technology with higher manufacturing costs and were originally military products. Night vision devices have been around since World War II. They are cheaper to manufacture and cheaper. Of course, there are also more expensive military-grade low-light night vision devices. But that is impossible for most people.