New "Reveal XR" from seek thermal imaging - opinions

[Drew's Lab]

We have them for sale at www.drewslab.co.uk. The Reveal XR is 30hz. Of course they can't compare to the Pulsar units as they are a fraction of the price, but I believe they are good out to about 100yards. We will be testing and reviewing one soon.

 

[Sabian223]

Quick update. Took it out tonight and I'm far from impressed. I'll be sending it back tomorrow. Will give a full review tomorrow when I get a spare 20 mins.

View attachment 70014

 

[Blackwood Outdoors]

Quick update. Took it out tonight and I'm far from impressed. I'll be sending it back tomorrow. Will give a full review tomorrow when I get a spare 20 mins.

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There ok for checking your house pipes and insulation, thats one good point!!

 

[Drew's Lab]

Review from Airgun World Mag today -

REVIEW FROM AIRGUNWORLD MAG - MAY 2016
I picked up the RevealXR at the recent northern show and was immediately impressed. It's not much bigger than a mobile phone and feels great in the hand with its non slip rubber outer. Up to now i've manage...d to utilise it for locating dropped wood pigeons from the bluebells and holly bushes which I might not have found without it.
A rather impromptu visit to a known feral pigeon hangout gave me some surprising results but more of this in my next AGW write up but suffice to say the Seek outplayed the LED lamp in the conditions. Another quick outing saw some interesting results spotting rats at distance and young calves were no problem for the RevealXR. As mention above 50-100 metres for rabbit and fox with Roe deer maybe double that.
Knowing that I was only on short outings I left the unit turned on throughout my outings and the battery level is still reading 86% and I've also been showing it off at work checking out heat build up from electrical distribution boards and heating pipes. In summary this is a great entry level unit at the right price, and I can say this sincerely as I actually bought this Seek unit and wasn't supplied it as a review item, its ability to capture images and download to your pc is another great feature as are the different filters for the images and built in torch.
One thing is for sure ... this will be a permanent item in my gunbag.

 

[Dagben77]

Pretty poor is right. Went out the other day with a friends. I dropped a fox and we tried to detect its thermal signature once one the ground and it wouldn't pick it up at (approx) 40-50 yards! .243Hunter is right, no good for stalking etc, building services etc would be ok, especially for the price point.

 

[Mr. Gain]

I dropped a fox and we tried to detect its thermal signature once one the ground and it wouldn't pick it up at (approx) 40-50 yards!

You may be right, though it may also depend how long the grass was.

I shot a fox a while back that ran from the shot. I climbed down from my perch on a pile of straw bales and tried to find it with a Quantum HD50. No joy. I simply couldn't see it. Then I stepped on it. It was stone dead, shot clean in the chest, and had gone only about 20m from the strike site, but the 8" grass had screened it completely.

 

[rodp]

You may be right, though it may also depend how long the grass was.

I shot a fox a while back that ran from the shot. I climbed down from my perch on a pile of straw bales and tried to find it with a Quantum HD50. No joy. I simply couldn't see it. Then I stepped on it. It was stone dead, shot clean in the chest, and had gone only about 20m from the strike site, but the 8" grass had screened it completely.

.
Now that does surprise me Thermal at, say, 5'6" and 8" grass, thought you'd have seen it much further away. I know I can spot rabbits with my wt37 dozens of yards away but so well hidden behind grass I can't see them with nv.

 

[Dagben77]

It was in a opening between fields where there was virtually no growth.

 

[hybridfiat]

I've been seriously looking at the Torrey Pines Logic T12-W 3x Mini Thermal Imager. It appears to be better than the Seek products in that,; it has better resolution and range. Plus it can be mounted on a Picatinny rail.
I'm looking at setting it up on my NZ rifle as a spotting aid with a rifle mounted LED spotlight and scope for the shot. Find a hide/nest with good views and wait for nightfall, spot the deer, line it up with the TI, then on with the spottie and bang. I'm not convinced it would be good for heavy cover stalking as the screens are too small.

 

[Mr. Gain]

.
Now that does surprise me Thermal at, say, 5'6" and 8" grass, thought you'd have seen it much further away. I know I can spot rabbits with my wt37 dozens of yards away but so well hidden behind grass I can't see them with nv.

Surprised me too, Rod!

The grass may have been 10" rather than 8", but it wasn't super-long. Long enough to hide a smallish but very dead fox from quite a good thermal, though.

 

[Blackwood Outdoors]

Personally I would avoid one like the plague for any hunting application.. who believes any magazine review, seriously, have you ever read a bad one??? If you do want a budget thermal try a FLIR TK £400-£500 640x480 eye display only 9hz, very small sensor and lens though but its not a major issue for very close range, in all honesty save up for something better or your just wasting money, your looking at £2000 upwards for the Pulsar range and £3000 upwards for anything decent from Guide as a starting point for decent performance.