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Cheap Night Vision Alternative ?


vicfox

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I came across a post on a US hunting forum that interested me and many others, as a result the topic ran into 18 pages of posts and still going.

It’s all about a laser lights that are exceptionally good for night hunting rivaling night vision at a low cost.

This is a link to what had been a very popular light in the States.

http://www.lasergenetics.com/nd3-laser-designator.aspx

These lights are about $340 but another laser light has been tried and tested that compares exceptionally well for around $40.

The link to this low cost light is

http://www.budgetgadgets.com/focusable-green-beam-laser-pointer-flashlight-ag1006-50mw100mw150mw200mw-p-7135.html

Seeing a real interest in night hunting here with a variety of LED lights I thought this might interest a few. The range sounds terrific and has the ability to be used like a flashlight or a laser beam over hundreds of metres. I place an order and will report on how I find it.

Here is some comments from hunting users

You see the full image crisp and clear and the eyes glow really bright so you can see where the head is on point. Like I said, it is like looking through a perfect set of night vision with the bonus of the eyes glowing right back at you. On one of the fox I was taking a shot at, you could see his head move side to side as he was looking around as if it were daylight.

I was able to see through bushes, leaves on them and jack rabbits running around extremely easy among the fox I was taking aim at. I can guarantee you that the members here who have already placed orders for the laser will post the same reviews as I have and this thing will create a new trend for a fraction of the cost of a ND3/ND5 laser along with putting it's performance in the dust.

I used a $19 VTac light mount from my local gun store and I'm sure they can be found all over the internet. I mounted it on my Daniel Defense side picatinny rail in the same line of sight as my scope runs. It don't have to be set dead perfect as it produces a flashlight type beam when focused in that mode and can be seen through the entire field of view. If you are using a bolt action type rifle I'm sure they make a similar type mount for it that can be found on Google. I hope this helps. The link below shows a side view of how it's mounted on my rail.

This is why I run a spotlight to scan first then if I spot something, I light the laser up and get a better view. Where I hunt they have a ton of wild cows that I was able to spot with it but they were only shined with the laser for a few seconds and then it was turned off. From what it read online it don't seem to bother the eyes of animals at all but I don't want to keep them in the green light for any longer than it takes for me to put them down or move on. This is why I also stick to a 50mW one. It does more than enough.

You can pay with a credit card if you select the PayPal Express Checkout. No account needed

I got it mounted on my gun last night and it is AWESOME! In fact my bother-in-law saw it and is going to order one as weell. I can't wait to get a chance to try it out on a coyote or two.

I dont have a mount for my rifle yet but i velcro'ed the laser to the top of my binoculars and it worked awesome. they work like night vision binoculars. beam is a little narrow up close, but other than that just as TTS described. I can scan a field about 1000 yards from my house like its daylight

Edited by vicfox
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Laser pointers (restricted import)

Description:

Hand-held devices commonly known as laser pointers with an accessible emission level of greater than 1mW.

Permits issued by:

The Minister for Home Affairs, or an authorised person, prior to the arrival of the goods in Australia.

More information:

Customs information centre

Telephone: 1300 363 263

E-mail: information@customs.gov.au

Import controls on laser pointers

Document Form B710 - Application for permission to import schedule 2 and schedule 3 weapons

Requests to import these goods should be addressed to:

National Manager

Trade Policy and Regulation Branch

C/- Firearms and Weapons Section

Australian Customs Service

5 Constitution Avenue

CANBERRA CITY ACT 2600

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Seen them a while back.. there's some vidoes of them in use on youtube. The are a green laser with variable collator so the beam width is adjustable.. I'd expect battery life would be pretty good. Just waiting for the price to come down and I rekon it shouldn't be too difficult to get an import permit if you have a gun license.

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I love the statement "A night vision alternative". A high power spotlight with a green filter will put a big green circle in the paddock, but that doesn't make it anything like night vision. Night vision devices are passive light intensifying devices, not green torches.

But that being said, it may indeed be a good replacement for that torch that always runs out of batteries.

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I love the statement "A night vision alternative". A high power spotlight with a green filter will put a big green circle in the paddock, but that doesn't make it anything like night vision. Night vision devices are passive light intensifying devices, not green torches.

But that being said, it may indeed be a good replacement for that torch that always runs out of batteries.

Do you remember some people talking down LEDs torches for hunting before they took off..?

It's actually a green laser.. you can start fires with some of those puppies.

The advertising might be over hyped but they are definitely more than an ordiary torch with a green filter. It's the advancement in collator technology over the last few years that makes them useful as a torch. ie adjustable beam width.

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It's illegal to import lasers over 1mW. The only way you can get anything more powerfull into the country is to buy a laser module (not an actual laser pointer) it's designed to be a replacement module for laser light show machines.

You'd never get anything like that into the country. they are above 10mW, and in some cases much much higher.

http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/LaserPointers.pdf

Jase

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It's illegal to import lasers over 1mW. The only way you can get anything more powerfull into the country is to buy a laser module (not an actual laser pointer) it's designed to be a replacement module for laser light show machines.

You'd never get anything like that into the country. they are above 10mW, and in some cases much much higher.

http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/LaserPointers.pdf

Jase

Where's the part about over 1mW being impossible? That document you posted a link to only states you need B709B and B710 approval forms and permission permission from the weapons licensing in the relevant state to import lasers stronger than 1mW.

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Where's the part about over 1mW being impossible? That document you posted a link to only states you need B709B and B710 approval forms and permission permission from the weapons licensing in the relevant state to import lasers stronger than 1mW.

It's not impossible, but unless you are running night vision equipment, it's not terribly practical. Better with a torch.

I have a cheap torch ( $15 ) that will do 100m with 3xAA batteries and with a lens to reduce the beam angle by a factor of three, will do 300m with white, visible light.

Perfect for spotlighting and I'd probably use it if I wasn't already using NV gear.

Regards

David

Edited by cj7hawk
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It's not impossible, but unless you are running night vision equipment, it's not terribly practical. Better with a torch.

I have a cheap torch ( $15 ) that will do 100m with 3xAA batteries and with a lens to reduce the beam angle by a factor of three, will do 300m with white, visible light.

Perfect for spotlighting and I'd probably use it if I wasn't already using NV gear.

Regards

David

I use two torches anyway.. a hocus focus set to wide to see where I'm going and pick up eye shine and a p7 mounted on the scope. How do you know something like the ND3 is impractical? Have you used a laser torch one for hunting and found it to be so?

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Where's the part about over 1mW being impossible? That document you posted a link to only states you need B709B and B710 approval forms and permission permission from the weapons licensing in the relevant state to import lasers stronger than 1mW.

You are right, Jase can't read, ignore him ;)

Jase

Edited by Jase
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I use two torches anyway.. a hocus focus set to wide to see where I'm going and pick up eye shine and a p7 mounted on the scope. How do you know something like the ND3 is impractical? Have you used a laser torch one for hunting and found it to be so?

For hunting? No. I did decollimate a laser once to try and thought it was pretty terrible so there's no way I would waste my time taking something like that hunting. And what I do use is mostly IR anyway.

But you can follow the US forums if you like and the product has a pretty poor reputation amongst professionals from what I read of their posts, so that's two strikes against it.

Also, any reasonable power in a laser will be dangerous, even if it's spread. It could easily cause serious eye damage even when decollimated.

And to top it off, I am not sure that the ND3 is even a laser to begin with, but then I didn't investigate that further anyway.

Personally, I use a tight beam IR torch for my shooting and it's too bright for some purposes, but great to light up the area in front of the riflescope. It's too bright to use for video even on the widest setting though it has some nice features like windage and elevation settings so it can be set up for rifle use - Very useful since the beam is about 2 degrees wide.

I've seen a good laser illuminator ( again, used under NV conditions ) and it was great, but keep in mind that it was designed for NV use with system gains over 1000x. Still, it's not the sort of equipment you can easily get your hands on even if you're in the US, let alone outside the US. There are good examples of them on Youtube.

Anyway, for some further reading, here's a focusable laser - NOTE THE WARNING TO AUSTRALIANS...

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/hlp18130-focusable-200mw-red-laser-pointer-2-cr2-included-22933

And here's a torch like I use.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/x2000-flood-to-throw-zooming-glass-optics-cree-p4-wc-led-flashlight-1-18650-14450

For extra range I use a 3:1 concentrator... :)

Sure, there is good gear at top-dollar that is worth it and helps you achieve objectives. But for torches, it's kind of hard to justify more than $20 when the ones around that price are so good.

David.

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Yeah there's cheap LED torches around these days but I'm not sure many were around when I first bought the T5 in 2006, which despite the abuse is still powering on.. but then I've only been on a hunting forum for a short time and seen a lot of stuff bagged out by people that don't actually own the stuff, used the stuff or seen the stuff in action, so I'll wait to see the new gen of laser torches in action for myself before deciding if they are rubbish or not.

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Yeah there's cheap LED torches around these days but I'm not sure many were around when I first bought the T5 in 2006, which despite the abuse is still powering on.. but then I've only been on a hunting forum for a short time and seen a lot of stuff bagged out by people that don't actually own the stuff, used the stuff or seen the stuff in action, so I'll wait to see the new gen of laser torches in action for myself before deciding if they are rubbish or not.

Fair enough :) Can you post the review here after you buy one? I'd love to read it.

It's only 18mW though so you may want to make yourself a windage and elevation adjustment to get the beam central in your crosshairs. Laser brightness and LED brightness are about the same when spread over the same area.

I look forward to hearing your opinion of it -

I know what you mean about the LED torches. They have only really been around for the past year and before that, the high output incandescents were all the rage.

Regards

David

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Fair enough :) Can you post the review here after you buy one? I'd love to read it.

It's only 18mW though so you may want to make yourself a windage and elevation adjustment to get the beam central in your crosshairs. Laser brightness and LED brightness are about the same when spread over the same area.

I look forward to hearing your opinion of it -

I know what you mean about the LED torches. They have only really been around for the past year and before that, the high output incandescents were all the rage.

Regards

David

haha.. if only I had money to burn... Doubt you'd see change from 500 bucks... if they came down to a reasonable price like LEDs did it might be worth the risk just to see if they are any good.. .Had a look at the ND3 package. It comes with 2x mounts that have windage and elevation adjustment and a remote switch for use on the rifle.. but for the price they ask you'd expect a few extras. The metal box looks pretty trick though.

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Reading the posts on the laser lights where most are using the <$40 50mW unit they are reporting them to be more effective than the ND3 which although quote good for 250 mtrs they fall well short.

Disappointed to see that laser pointers are restricted when it comes to import and don't know if I'll got to the trouble of applying for a permit to import though but like the idea of not spooking game [FOXES, WILDDOGS] like conventional lights have the habbit of doing without the big dollars.

I think we'd be dreaming to expect NV equiptment to come down to anything like LED gear.

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CJ, any chance you could PM me about this 3:1 concentrator that you use on your LED torches? Very keen to get some details.

Jase

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