paul o'
Well-Known Member
Last year the wife booked vie A1 Decoy a night out for me and my shooting partner for a Xmas gift That said after it was booked by her and when i unwrapped my gift to be used 3rd Aril 2020 .
Then C19 it had to be Cancelled .
So .
Fast forward 5th September .
-----------------
On setting up we had a new tool in the box, we were very lucky to have been sent a thermal hand held unit from Optical Solutions Ltd .
Cliff the owner of the this company had kindly sent us this unit, this was on loan to test, after our visit to his outlet a while back. Cliff was very informed and was happy to show us all the types of thermal units he sells and let us use them outside. The thermals ranged from a small unit for shotgun/pistol all the way up to rifle mounted thermal optic's
We looked at many at the shooting show and in comparison they were clear with a better picture and they were cheaper than most in my personal opinion, albeit it was the hand held units we were most interested in at the time of arranging our visit to Cliff.
One question I had was why do they now all seem to have the same generic shape? Having thought about it, this makes perfect sense as the cone shape fits perfectly in the hand, so why not, its whats inside that matters. Should you wish to know all about the tube and workings feel free to contact Cliff as he is has a wealth of knowledge in all things thermal and is well informed on these items . Optical Solutions Ltd .
-------
The Unit that we had been sent came in a well crafted fitted box , along with two small boxes containing a soft cover/bag and the charging wire. On requesting how long the charge would last we were told around 4 hrs when fully charged.
We started tuning the unit on and off from 6.40 pm as the keeper had been also in contact with Cliff at Optical Solutions on just this matter, so it made sense for him to also get hands on with one as he also was interested in a hand held thermal.
In the high box we did't stop turning it on and off out in the cold all through the night until 6AM, and the unit still showed 3 bars of power only having 4 at the start, so I feel the run time is greater than stated, but I am no thermal battery guru .
This was the base line model but on testing I was able to view birds flying at 416 yards limited by only the woods during the day and yes I range found it after viewing lol.
At Home and out at night i was watching the dogs and other small game and large animals they also were very easy to spot at around 300 yards plus, I could also make out small birds in the trees and ground animals at around 200 yards or more without any problems .
---
Getting back to the outing we both had NV fitted to our rifles i had a Pard 007 and for event I found this easy to zero and compact unit with a rubber welly butt pad fitted. My partner had a Photon that he also likes.
It was't the darkest of nights due to the Moon but still dark enough that we could not pick out anything well ,
-------
This is where the Thermal Spotter was a game changer we both were using it and it became a game as to who could scan with it ! bats could be a good way to stay awake with the Red filter as you could spot them flight.
The Bagger came out a few times so did a nice 4 pointer Roe buck and within the 200x200 field ish there was nothing that was not going to get looked at many times before the end of the night lol.
------
view out of the Box .
So come around midnight a fleeting large dark shape came in from my left the upright and widow strut did't allow me to spin in the seat quite enough to get plotted up and OMG is this my chance after waiting 5 yrs ! So up with the Thermal and as clear as day it was !!! placing the unit down as slowly as i could as it was on loan , without clagging into the wooden uprights it was up with the rifle on with the scope only to see its Golden rivet trotting up the field with my hart pumping but sinking fast I rested the rifle back down and picked up the Thermal and watch its rear end until it was out of sight more as i could still see it in the thick undergrowth .
Sadly this was the only Sow or Boar to come into the field all be it not stopping or turning for a shot . some may be saying why did't i take a wild shot and hope i'd reply i like to kill it and not hope i did .
Dawn came ( " Morning dawn" "morning boys" )
In conclusion :
A/Is the Thermal hand held the future of daylight stalking . Hmmm Yes .
--
B/Is it a cheat and will remove the way guys stalk from now on Yes. ( We can call this Ambushing not stalking ! )
--
but your still need the skills to get on the targets to pull the trigger so all is not lost
--
C/Will it upset the Old Guard without doubt YES its got to ! but then so did the tractor and the spinning Jenny.
--
D/Its a tool to be used and the more that are used the cost will come down like all things Techno .
--
E/Seeing and educating yourself thats a skill that needs honing as to the lack of depth like with any NV its a problem , but that too is changing with rangefinders now being built into them all at a cost ! but go to your gun safe and start working out what is in there and I bet you will have spent more on daylight optics and add on units over the years , if you sold the optics and spare optics we all seem to have you could get an all singing thermal with all the bells on
Quick disclaimer : I have nothing to do with Optical Solutions ltd , but Cliff was the only one with the foresight to know normal guys like us prefer to get hands on and try kit out for real and not just reading words in a book or by watching Youtube and some guy standing the other side of a table BLA Bla bla
---
So hats off to Cliff at Optical Solutions Ltd
Thank you Cliff for your trust in us and i know from my pal you have lots of new products on there way , so I am sure will be on line very soon .
All our very best Paul & Pete.
Sorry guys the RED X YET AGAIN on the pix ???? pix were , one of the unit in its packaging and one a view out of the highbox in the dark ,
Then C19 it had to be Cancelled .
So .
Fast forward 5th September .
-----------------
On setting up we had a new tool in the box, we were very lucky to have been sent a thermal hand held unit from Optical Solutions Ltd .
Cliff the owner of the this company had kindly sent us this unit, this was on loan to test, after our visit to his outlet a while back. Cliff was very informed and was happy to show us all the types of thermal units he sells and let us use them outside. The thermals ranged from a small unit for shotgun/pistol all the way up to rifle mounted thermal optic's
We looked at many at the shooting show and in comparison they were clear with a better picture and they were cheaper than most in my personal opinion, albeit it was the hand held units we were most interested in at the time of arranging our visit to Cliff.
One question I had was why do they now all seem to have the same generic shape? Having thought about it, this makes perfect sense as the cone shape fits perfectly in the hand, so why not, its whats inside that matters. Should you wish to know all about the tube and workings feel free to contact Cliff as he is has a wealth of knowledge in all things thermal and is well informed on these items . Optical Solutions Ltd .
-------
The Unit that we had been sent came in a well crafted fitted box , along with two small boxes containing a soft cover/bag and the charging wire. On requesting how long the charge would last we were told around 4 hrs when fully charged.
We started tuning the unit on and off from 6.40 pm as the keeper had been also in contact with Cliff at Optical Solutions on just this matter, so it made sense for him to also get hands on with one as he also was interested in a hand held thermal.
In the high box we did't stop turning it on and off out in the cold all through the night until 6AM, and the unit still showed 3 bars of power only having 4 at the start, so I feel the run time is greater than stated, but I am no thermal battery guru .
This was the base line model but on testing I was able to view birds flying at 416 yards limited by only the woods during the day and yes I range found it after viewing lol.
At Home and out at night i was watching the dogs and other small game and large animals they also were very easy to spot at around 300 yards plus, I could also make out small birds in the trees and ground animals at around 200 yards or more without any problems .
---
Getting back to the outing we both had NV fitted to our rifles i had a Pard 007 and for event I found this easy to zero and compact unit with a rubber welly butt pad fitted. My partner had a Photon that he also likes.
It was't the darkest of nights due to the Moon but still dark enough that we could not pick out anything well ,
-------
This is where the Thermal Spotter was a game changer we both were using it and it became a game as to who could scan with it ! bats could be a good way to stay awake with the Red filter as you could spot them flight.
The Bagger came out a few times so did a nice 4 pointer Roe buck and within the 200x200 field ish there was nothing that was not going to get looked at many times before the end of the night lol.
------
So come around midnight a fleeting large dark shape came in from my left the upright and widow strut did't allow me to spin in the seat quite enough to get plotted up and OMG is this my chance after waiting 5 yrs ! So up with the Thermal and as clear as day it was !!! placing the unit down as slowly as i could as it was on loan , without clagging into the wooden uprights it was up with the rifle on with the scope only to see its Golden rivet trotting up the field with my hart pumping but sinking fast I rested the rifle back down and picked up the Thermal and watch its rear end until it was out of sight more as i could still see it in the thick undergrowth .
Sadly this was the only Sow or Boar to come into the field all be it not stopping or turning for a shot . some may be saying why did't i take a wild shot and hope i'd reply i like to kill it and not hope i did .
Dawn came ( " Morning dawn" "morning boys" )
In conclusion :
A/Is the Thermal hand held the future of daylight stalking . Hmmm Yes .
--
B/Is it a cheat and will remove the way guys stalk from now on Yes. ( We can call this Ambushing not stalking ! )
--
but your still need the skills to get on the targets to pull the trigger so all is not lost
--
C/Will it upset the Old Guard without doubt YES its got to ! but then so did the tractor and the spinning Jenny.
--
D/Its a tool to be used and the more that are used the cost will come down like all things Techno .
--
E/Seeing and educating yourself thats a skill that needs honing as to the lack of depth like with any NV its a problem , but that too is changing with rangefinders now being built into them all at a cost ! but go to your gun safe and start working out what is in there and I bet you will have spent more on daylight optics and add on units over the years , if you sold the optics and spare optics we all seem to have you could get an all singing thermal with all the bells on
Quick disclaimer : I have nothing to do with Optical Solutions ltd , but Cliff was the only one with the foresight to know normal guys like us prefer to get hands on and try kit out for real and not just reading words in a book or by watching Youtube and some guy standing the other side of a table BLA Bla bla
---
So hats off to Cliff at Optical Solutions Ltd
Thank you Cliff for your trust in us and i know from my pal you have lots of new products on there way , so I am sure will be on line very soon .
All our very best Paul & Pete.
Sorry guys the RED X YET AGAIN on the pix ???? pix were , one of the unit in its packaging and one a view out of the highbox in the dark ,
