700SPS

+1 on jeansy's post. I also use thermal and the latest military nv, and there is no comparison. I was sitting in a valley outside of Cooma, 3am, using Gen 3 nv. I could see plenty of roos, but if they were nice and still it was hard to pick them out of the trees. Switched to thermal, and I reckon there would have been over 100 animals (roos, rabbits foxes and pigs) within 500 metres of where I was sitting! You get what you pay for with nv. Unfortunately the thermal I use is restricted - it would be asewsome to hunt with (i have used it to scout occasionally ) The grainy image produced by my personal 2+ gear pales in comparison. Commercial Gen 1/1+? Forget it, you are better off building your own, like some of the guys here.

Thanks Rono! Downloading now

Sculpty, Yeah it is good for that, although the other layers of the map (like the one attached) pretty much show every watercourse you could ever want. The contour stuff is great when looking for nice swampy, piggy areas though! Rono, I use to use Shonky maps before I got the OzTopo product. For something that is free it's a fantastic product. From memory it went down to 20m contours?? Also, I do a bit of work in the Islands to the north of Australia (Indonesia, PNG, Sol) and these are covered in OzTopo, as is NZ. Cheers, 700.

Sculpty, I use OzTopo on my Garmin. It comes with Tracks4Australia and goes down to 10m topo contours. I have used the contours to pick paths in some unfamiliar terrain and haven't gone wrong. Can't remember how much it cost (about $200??), but I got it from GPSOZ.COM.AU I have attached a section of the Blue Mountains topo from the PC program - normally on my GPS unit I have this overlaid on the tracks/street maps as well. Cheers, 700.

Bullcat, I have used nightvision a few times now when hunting. It's great for sitting in the dark in the middle of a field, and quietly scanning for pigs. Then when you are know they are there, hit the spottie and go for it. You get what you pay for. Gen 1 or 1+ is useless for anything except seeing where you are walking. Personally I wouldn't buy anything less than Gen 3 or 3+, but you are talking big dollars. I'm not sure whether 3 and 3+ are still restricted in Australia (to LE/Military), but it's the way to go. Add in an IR torch (invisible to us humans) and the range is easily 500m+. On a side note, I have used thermal imagers a few times as well (not while shooting). It is truly amazing how much wildlife is about at night in our beautiful country. Many times I have sat on a hill and watches literally hundreds of kangaroos, rabbits and foxes that had no idea I was there! Personally, I would avoid NVT.com, they tend to sell older, cheap tech. Just my opinion. Cheers, 700.

I was sent a pair of Terra's for trial recently, and I must say I was pretty unimpressed that these are issued to our troops. They seemed to have a ridge/seam right where the back of your heel would be, which would cause carnage on a long walk with new boots. I think boot choice is a very personal thing. I have worn many types of 'combat' boots in my line of work, and I have never had one type that suited everyone. As Fenring said, the Altama's are the best jungle boots I have found. The one-way valves actually appear to work. For general hunting use I often wear Magnum Hi-Tech Stealths. For day to day I wear 5.11 boots with polymer hard caps. When I first got he 5.11's I hated them - they made my little toes go numb! After wearing them for a few weeks, they are the most comfortable I have had in a long time. As some have said, sizing is a big issue. A 12 in one brand is not equal to a 12 in another - and don't be afraid to try half sizes.

Hi austral, Hand-held UHF radios are something I carry whenever I hunt. If hunting with friends, we each carry one. The ones I have are tiny, with a 3km range (line of sight - significantly less of hills are involved). Even when using the radios, we ensure we know the general location of all parties in the hunt. It's no good calling your mate and warning hiim you about to fire, if he has no idea where you are, or you where he is. To be honest, the only time I have used the radios is when a mate became 'geographically confused' and had to talk me onto his location! IMO, a good investment though. Cheers, 700.

Thanks jindy, I missed that one.

moldyform I hope you haven't wasted your money at Jaycar yet! I bought one of those things for a camplight a while back, and they suck! They do not hold a charge well, and are more of a mid-range torch than a spotlight. As someone correctly pointed out, you need to be built like Popeye to carry the bugger around - only once have I used it as a spotlight, and I still have a flatspot on the top of my head from resting it there! Having said that, I'm a sucker for a bargain. Last weekend Ray's Outdoors had a sale and I picked up a 1,000,000 CP (claimed) rechargeable cordless spotlight for $19.00! Has incredible range, and battery live seems very useable (came with a car charger and AC charger). Has a standard tripod thread in the bottom of the handle if you want to rig your own scope mount (as some here have done). For that price if it lasts 12 months I'm happy. 700.

Hi timber man, What maps are you referring to? I have booked a few hunts now and the only maps provided are very low quality PDF's that aren't all that useful. I own a Garmin eTrex Vista Cx that has maps already loaded (topo, street and marine) and I haven't found any maps on the site compatible with my unit. I've used it all over the world, and it's by far the best unit I've ever owned or used. If I have missed out on some compatible maps from the GC site, please let me know as you can never have too many! Cheers, 700.

sorry robmaz, let's try that one again! http://www.gpsoz.com.au/ 700.

Robmaz, Check out this site - it's where i've bought most of my stuff over the years (all over the net/phone). 60csx is a little more here, but come with a 1gb card. 700.

Rono, You should also consider upgrading your etrex to the current model. I use an etrex Vista HCx, and it's a great unit (I use it both for hunting, and in the car). 2GB storage card holds all of the street info for australia, as well as 10m contour line topos for the whole country. It's rugged as hell, I've taking it to some shocking places - even dropped it out of a boat once ('waterproof' to 30 mins at 1m depth). They are at the the upper end of the scale in terms of cost, but you'll be using it for years to come. Just another opinion... Cheers, 700.

Hi All, I live in the Sutherland Shire, and hunt with a .270win. I've shot ferals for years, but only recently got into deer. Just got my R-license, so looking forward to hitting the state forests this year. Cheers, 700.