Night Vision vs Thermal Optics
Are you interested in getting into night hunting however, you’re not sure what is the best optic for you? There’s tons of information on the different night vision and thermal optic units available but most don’t tell you what would be the best choice for your specific use. We’re going to tell you a little about each and then dive into what optic would best fit different applications.
What is Night Vision?
Night Vision is a unit that collects ambient light and intensifies it through an intensifier tube or with usage of a IR Illuminator. If shooting at night, the moon and stars should provide sufficient light for a quality night vision scope. In the absence of natural light, IR illuminators are used to generate light. They work like flashlights for night vision; but are not visible to the naked human eye. However usage in daylight or with bright lights, it will damage the intensifier tubes that make the night vision scope work.
What is Thermal Imaging?
Thermal Imaging recieves heat signatures without any usage of light. They can be used in daytime or night time as Thermal Imaging detects minute differences in heat when detecting people or game. Thermal scopes detect heat radiation and do not require any visible light to produce an image. Humans and animals generate heat and are warmer than their surroundings, making it possible to detect them at great distances using thermal imaging.
Some information from Teledyne FLIR:
“Everything we encounter in our day-to-day lives gives off thermal energy, even ice. The hotter something is the more thermal energy it emits. This emitted thermal energy is called a “heat signature.” When two objects next to one another have even subtly different heat signatures, they show up quite clearly to a FLIR regardless of lighting conditions.
Thermal energy comes from a combination of sources, depending on what you are viewing at the time. Some things – warm-blooded animals (including people!), engines, and machinery, for example – create their own heat, either biologically or mechanically. Other things – land, rocks, buoys, vegetation – absorb heat from the sun during the day and radiate it off during the night.
Because different materials absorb and radiate thermal energy at different rates, an area that we think of as being one temperature is actually a mosaic of subtly different temperatures. This is why a log that’s been in the water for days on end will appear to be a different temperature than the water, and is therefore visible to a thermal imager. FLIRs detect these temperature differences and translate them into image detail.”
What is the Difference from a Night Vision Monocular or Binaocular and a Weapon Mounted Night Vision Scope?
The biggest thing that is different is a Night Vision Monocular or Binocular is not rated to take the recoil from a weapon. The internal components are made to take some shock from normal usage in the field however they are not designed to take the recoil from the discharge of any size of firearm. Another difference is most of the Monoculars and Binoculars offered do not come with any crosshairs or sighting modes to signal Point of Impact.
What is the Difference from a Thermal Moncular or Binocular and a Weapon Mounted Thermal Scope?
Just as for Night Vision units, the difference is a Thermal Imaging Monocular or Binocular is not rated to take the recoil from a weapon. The internal components are made to take some shock from normal usage in the field however they are not designed to take the recoil from the discharge of any size of firearm. Another difference is most of the Monoculars and Binoculars offered do not come with any crosshairs or sighting modes to signal Point of Impact.