This will be a few of posts because I want to share a beginner's experience for other beginners thinking of getting a thermal.
First and foremost I want to give a huge shout out to @ZeroFoxGiven. Upon the recommendion of others here I reached out to him because I didn't know where to even start when it came to a thermal. It was a very good decision. Levi is a wealth of knowledge and more than willing to help. He knew what questions to ask so he could narrow down the choices to meet my specific needs.
Ok, so about this thermal. I will admit, I was a bit apprehensive because there is not much info online to be had regarding this make and model. But Levi told me it is one of the best resolution 384 thermals he put his eyes on.
The other selling point for me was it came with a laser range finder and a ballistics calculator. I can thank Levi for this as well. He told me that he will not use a thermal without one anymore. More on that later.
Once I got my hands on the thermal I realized how substantial it was. It took me a minute to start figuring things out. The thing has loads of settings and options. I looked for an online manual but nothing. So I reached out to Levi. He responded immediately and told me he'd reach out to the manufacturer. Before I knew it, I had a link to a bunch of informative vids.
So the first thing that stood out to me was the layout of the controls. One big focus knob, a joystick and a button. That's it. I realized what a big deal that was last night when we went looking for rabbits. I know little about thermals. But I know what a pain in the ass finding a bunch of buttons are in the dark. These worked beautifully. Even with my minutes of experience I did not have to fumble in the dark or use a light to find a button. The functions are so well thought out. Anything you use while hunting are there at a push of a button. All the other stuff, more setup related, require a double tap to the joystick. These are all functions you would do at home, not the hunt. It's very well thought out. I'm not sure I can stress enough the benefits of the simplicity of the buttons. Especially when you have gloves on because it's 23 degrees with 25 mph winds.
Ok. I will post about actually using it in the field next.
First and foremost I want to give a huge shout out to @ZeroFoxGiven. Upon the recommendion of others here I reached out to him because I didn't know where to even start when it came to a thermal. It was a very good decision. Levi is a wealth of knowledge and more than willing to help. He knew what questions to ask so he could narrow down the choices to meet my specific needs.
Ok, so about this thermal. I will admit, I was a bit apprehensive because there is not much info online to be had regarding this make and model. But Levi told me it is one of the best resolution 384 thermals he put his eyes on.
The other selling point for me was it came with a laser range finder and a ballistics calculator. I can thank Levi for this as well. He told me that he will not use a thermal without one anymore. More on that later.
Once I got my hands on the thermal I realized how substantial it was. It took me a minute to start figuring things out. The thing has loads of settings and options. I looked for an online manual but nothing. So I reached out to Levi. He responded immediately and told me he'd reach out to the manufacturer. Before I knew it, I had a link to a bunch of informative vids.
So the first thing that stood out to me was the layout of the controls. One big focus knob, a joystick and a button. That's it. I realized what a big deal that was last night when we went looking for rabbits. I know little about thermals. But I know what a pain in the ass finding a bunch of buttons are in the dark. These worked beautifully. Even with my minutes of experience I did not have to fumble in the dark or use a light to find a button. The functions are so well thought out. Anything you use while hunting are there at a push of a button. All the other stuff, more setup related, require a double tap to the joystick. These are all functions you would do at home, not the hunt. It's very well thought out. I'm not sure I can stress enough the benefits of the simplicity of the buttons. Especially when you have gloves on because it's 23 degrees with 25 mph winds.
Ok. I will post about actually using it in the field next.
