Rangefinders in smoke, fog, mist, etc.

[Truck24hr]

I notice my RF binos often have trouble in adverse conditions. I haven't noticed it with my handheld RF's, but don't use them often for as much distance as I do the bino's.

Is this an issue with all RF's, and are some noticeably better than others?

 

[low2497]

This past year, I had issues ranging through fog with a pair of Vortex Fury Binoculars. The deer were around 60 yards away and the binoculars would not give me a range. I happened to have had my Maven Rf.1 with me as well and it worked perfectly in the same conditions.

 

[Wrench]

My maven also works when most others can't.

 

[Skerhunter]

I test mine when I get them to ensure they will work in poor conditions. I’ve had friends run into this issue with normal RF before.

Currently have a leica for rifle hunting and it does great.

 

[Weldor]

Leica's don't like fog or sleet. most other either. the best I've seen work in adverse condition are the sig's 10k in fog mode. Don't like the glass but they seemed to work well.

 

[htlt_surfboards]

Where I live we get a lot of fog in the spring. I used to have a lower end vortex RF that I was always having problems with getting ranges in fog. I upgraded to a better leupold and it was definitely an improvement when I compared them side by side but still did not completely fix the problem. Im guessing the higher end RF have a more powerful laser so this is probably a you get what you pay for scenario.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

My older sig Kilo 1600 has trouble in non-ideal conditions. Couple weekends ago I couldn't get a range past 5 yards in the fog.

 

[Truck24hr]

Well, I guess I'm in the market for a new handheld RF. Sucks that some mentioned trouble with the Leica.

I'll check out the Maven. Any other suggestions? Don't need ballistics, but wouldn't mind them, and would prefer something that'll get 1500 yards or so.

 

[CMF]

I've had trouble with handheld vortex impact in fog. I'm interested to see if anyone has actually done any real testing on this. Where's the youtuber gear testers at?

 

[Skerhunter]

Well, I guess I'm in the market for a new handheld RF. Sucks that some mentioned trouble with the Leica.

I'll check out the Maven. Any other suggestions? Don't need ballistics, but wouldn't mind them, and would prefer something that'll get 1500 yards or so.

FYI I have tested the leica 2800.com and 3200.com - both still ranged beyond 1000 yards or further than you could make out a deer in snow/fog/light rain conditions. I also let them sit outside in temps colder than I would hunt to ensure the battery holds up (worked fine).

I have only tested one unit of each though. Not sure if that explains people’s comments about failures or not.

 

[Weldor]

Where I live we get a lot of fog in the spring. I used to have a lower end vortex RF that I was always having problems with getting ranges in fog. I upgraded to a better leupold and it was definitely an improvement when I compared them side by side but still did not completely fix the problem. Im guessing the higher end RF have a more powerful laser so this is probably a you get what you pay for scenario.

That's my understanding also, the shape of the laser.

 

[Macintosh]

Fog, snow, etc is water. Smoke is a particulate. Theres differences in what is obscuring or dispersing the rf signal, and in different rf’s, but it all significantly degrades the ability to get a reading back, regardless. It will never be as good as the range you can get a good reading in clear air. Regardless of anything, make sure you get a rf with plenty of additional range beyond the distance you hope to use it, or this will be an issue.

 

[HuntHarder]

Don't forget, that lots of rangefinders have different modes. If your model let's you pick the mode. When its slightly foggy or raining, you want it set on "last" setting vs. "Best."

 

[Weldor]

I think the word we're looking for is beam divergence. The shape of the laser beam that it sends out. Plenty of good info out there. I'm sure it makes a difference on weather conditions.