Rangefinder Freezer Test

[mt terry d]

Got my Fury 5000s back from Vortex and the explanation attached below.
(Says they performed the cold weather test. Didn't say if it passed or not.)

I sent it in with no batteries. Came back with one installed and two extras.
A sticker, cleaning cloth.
Looked like it had a day at the spa. Nice.

Left it in the freezer overnight. Pulled it out and Low battery (one bar)
comes on and wouldn't range over 550 yards.
No issue with the brightness of display.

Left it out for a couple hours to warm up and no battery light and ranged to @ 2500

As far as carrying a warm battery in a warm pocket, get real. It's zero, you range
and get nothing, and you're going to change that battery? It's difficult enough
in a warm house, let alone with cold fingers, wind, dropping the cap in the snow.....

It's a tight fit in the Marsupial bino harness but I guess next step is to try to
stuff a handwarmer in with it until someone comes up with a heated bino harness.

 

[Bowfinn]

I tested an Sig 10k gen 1 today. It had been sitting out side the past 3 days with temps ranging from -14F to 6F. This morning it was -16F when I finally tested them and they performed great. I was able to range the furthest object visible at 1400 yards after a few tries, but everything under 1000 yards was instantly ranged. The screen is functioned great with no lagging. The battery did show low battery at this temp, and I don’t know anything about it(brand or age).

 

[Bowfinn]

Got my Fury 5000s back from Vortex and the explanation attached below.
(Says they performed the cold weather test. Didn't say if it passed or not.)

I sent it in with no batteries. Came back with one installed and two extras.
A sticker, cleaning cloth.
Looked like it had a day at the spa. Nice.

Left it in the freezer overnight. Pulled it out and Low battery (one bar)
comes on and wouldn't range over 550 yards.
No issue with the brightness of display.

Left it out for a couple hours to warm up and no battery light and ranged to @ 2500

As far as carrying a warm battery in a warm pocket, get real. It's zero, you range
and get nothing, and you're going to change that battery? It's difficult enough
in a warm house, let alone with cold fingers, wind, dropping the cap in the snow.....

It's a tight fit in the Marsupial bino harness but I guess next step is to try to
stuff a handwarmer in with it until someone comes up with a heated bino harness.

Can you set the temp manually in the Fury’s? If you do the hand warmer in the bino harness you gotta remember that you will likely hit low at distance.

 

[mt terry d]

I don’t use the ballistics.
I’d like them to bino and work when it’s cold
Is that really too much to ask for $1500 ?

 

[Bowfinn]

I don’t use the ballistics.
I’d like them to bino and work when it’s cold
Is that really too much to ask for $1500 ?

That is frustrating, It shouldn’t be too much to ask for in the cheapest RFbino you can buy.

 

[mt terry d]

Did those whose fury 5000s work in the cold pay more for that?

I didn't see that as an option when purchasing.

 

[2buffalo]

Garmin l60i left outside for 42 hrs. First night low of 3 degrees high of 18. Low of -7 degrees this morning furthest reading was 1171 yds. (furthest I had something to range) and multiple closer starting at 150. No issues including display or low batteries.

 

[mt terry d]

Update

I called Vortex and talked to Scott

He said he wasn't surprised that continued use around zero
would cause them to fail. This was not encouraging, though
I added that others with the same binos were having better results.

When I pulled my returned binos out of the freezer to range I did not
wipe the fog off the lenses. That could be why they wouldn't range.
I'll do the test again and wipe off the lenses.
I know this was not the problem with them when
I sent them in. He said let them know and we'll go from there.

Oh, I asked about what their "cold test" consists of :
1/2 hr in the freezer.

 

[Bowfinn]

Update

I called Vortex and talked to Scott

He said he wasn't surprised that continued use around zero
would cause them to fail. This was not encouraging, though
I added that others with the same binos were having better results.

When I pulled my returned binos out of the freezer to range I did not
wipe the fog off the lenses. That could be why they wouldn't range.
I'll do the test again and wipe off the lenses.
I know this was not the problem with them when
I sent them in. He said let them know and we'll go from there.

Oh, I asked about what their "cold test" consists of :
1/2 hr in the freezer.

I noticed that I had reduced ability with ranging distance when I was testing the sig 10k when fogging up of the lenses was present, even with consistent clearing of the lenses. That was with temps around 0 to -4f.

When I finally got a cold snap(-16f) and I could just leave it outside it performed much better. Maybe this is happening with your unit.

 

[mt terry d]

Fogging was never an issue when hunting ( except when I breathed on the eyepieces)
It was never brought in the house and was near freezing in the garage every night.

Testing now. Will update in the morning.

 

[mt terry d]

Took my laser thermometer and the coldest spot I could find
in my refrigerator/freezer was the ice cubes at 11 degrees
Laid the binos on the ice.
At 30 minutes the binos were 31 degrees. They ranged but low battery indicator was on.
Hardly a "cold weather test" IMO. I mean 30 degrees and the battery is already low?
At one hour bino temp 22 degrees. Ranged with low battery indicator on
90 minutes bino temp 21 degrees Ranged with low battery indicator on
Overnight bino temp 18 degrees Ranged with low battery light on

The frosting of the lense definitely is a factor in this test as I had to clean the
objectives before it would range. Understandable. But as I said before when hunting I've
had zero issue with fogging up.

 

[AZ Gator]

I’ve done two cold soak freezer evaluations with an Sig Kilo10K gen ii and an Sig Kilo6K. Both are less than a year old and have the original battery still. Batteries were left in the rangefinders.

I established a baseline with two repeatable targets I could range from my front yard, 760 yds and 2890 yds. The only asterisk here is the kilo6k wouldn’t always range the 2890 target. I would say it would get a return about 80% of the time.

Cold soak #1: both rangefinders stayed in the freezer for 12 hours. Within seconds of pulling them out of the freezer (freezer was at -10 when I pulled them), a heavy layer of frost and could not range any distance. I could tell the display on the kilo6k turned on and otherwise appeared to work properly. After 30 minutes, the frost softened enough to wipe it away and quickly get a range to the 760 yd target, but wouldn’t range the 2890 yd target. After 45 minutes, it would range the 2890 yd target with similar consistency to the baseline.

The display did not turn on at all for the kilo10k. After trying it at 15 minute intervals for 3 hours, it never came to life. I gave up and pulled the battery and let it sit a couple more hours. It then started working normally and ranged as it previously did.

Naturally, I suspected it was the batteries, so I replaced them with new Energizer lithium CR2’s (manufactured 12/2025).

Cold soak #2: 13 hours and freezer was at -5 when I pulled them.

I immediately looked through them to range a 90 yd target before they frosted over. Both turned on and ranged appropriately. After 15 minutes, I could clear the frost away well enough to range the 760 yd target with both rangefinders.

The kilo10k could also consistently range the 2890 yd target at this 15 minute point.

The kilo6k did range the 2890 yd target one time at this 15 minute point, but otherwise struggled to reach it. After 30 minutes, it was able to range the 2890 yd target with similar consistency to the baseline.