Press release: –-(Ammoland.com)- It’s your worse nightmare. Something went “CRASH!” in the living room and now you’re lying in bed, shocked awake and quietly trying to hold your breath while straining for tendrils of sound. The sole focus of your existence at this moment is trying to classify the problem as routine or something far worse.
Is it the cat, a cat burglar or something more horrendous? Did one of the kids get up in the middle of the night and bump a table or is someone inside your home, preparing unthinkable horrors for you and, even worse, your family?
As your feet silently hit the floor and you consider the options, your first wish is for some kind of superhuman vision that would give you a clear advantage in what could soon be a lethal-force encounter.
Fortunately, if you are among the growing group of truly prepared Americans, you have an extraordinary advantage that gives you the figurative high ground against any threat: thermal imaging and night vision devices (NVD).
Until recently, many home-defense responses involve the use of flashlights. Obvious cost comparisons aside, thermal and night vision devices represent a better alternative by all other measures, allowing a defender to silently observe the area without giving up the concealment afforded by darkness.
This ability to observe, plan and act before openly committing to an engagement provides time – a truly priceless commodity.
Long a staple of military and law enforcement teams, these two technologies are becoming a more common and important part of the home-defense plan for those who are serious about self-protection. As prices continue to decline, physical size decreases and features and image quality increase, more homes, apartments, ranches and homesteads are gaining the significant advantages that come with these devices that literally offer a sixth sense.
In the electronic vision systems arena, there is considerable confusion between the two types of devices. Thermal imaging is much more effective at finding bad actors, especially those trying to conceal themselves because a heat signature is virtually impossible to disguise.
On the other hand, NVD’s require some type of existing light, which, even if it is supplied by an IR illuminator, can still give away the user’s position. In the end the choice often comes down to cost, as NVD’s are somewhat less expensive, though the market is rapidly narrowing as thermal imagers come down in price.
Extremely handy in a variety of outdoor applications, FLIR’s sub-$600 Scout TK handheld thermal camera is a great and affordable tool for home and property-defense situations. Like the ThermoSight Pro, it also has onboard image and video recording.
For example, the new handheld or weapon-mountable FLIR ThermoSight Pro PTS233 thermal imager offers an unparalleled suite of professional features at a price starting under $2200. Similarly, the compact, 7.4-oz. handheld or helmet/goggle-mountable FLIR Breach PTQ136 multifunctional thermal monocular starts at just $2,495.
Still too much? Consider that the capable FLIR Scout TK thermal imager – ideal for detection and identification at the relatively close engagement distances typical in home defense scenarios – is available at a street price below $600. On the NVD side, the Armasight by FLIR MNVD night-vision monocular offers Gen 2 resolution for under $1700. All are solid options for those who are serious about family and property protection.
Discovering a bad guy in the living room may be one of the most-feared home-defense scenarios, but plenty of other situations involve defense of the greater homestead. While catching someone burglarizing your barn or trying to siphon gas from your truck in the driveway may not be as grave as confronting an invader inside your home, any one of these possibilities can easily justify the cost of a thermal or night vision device.
Even without a specific threat, thermal imagers or NVDs are great ways to determine why the dogs are barking or why the driveway alert went off when there is no vehicle to be seen. The ability to thoroughly scan every inch of your property while hidden by darkness goes a long way towards ensuring a peaceful night’s sleep.
The home-defense mission also often extends to livestock and pets. Having the ability to see and engage raccoons that are constantly killing and eating your chickens, the feral hogs decimating your corn crop or coyotes stalking your dog in the back yard pays real dividends in both money and peace-of-mind.
With prices dropping and ever-increasing capabilities, now is the time to seriously consider adding a thermal or night vision device to your home-defense plan. The value of increased safety and security made possible by the ability to see through the darkest night while protecting your family and property simply cannot be measured.
About FLIR Systems, Inc.
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon, FLIR Systems is a world-leading maker of sensor systems that enhance perception and heighten awareness, helping to save lives, improve productivity, and protect the environment. Through its nearly 3,500 employees, FLIR’s vision is to be “The World’s Sixth Sense” by leveraging thermal imaging and adjacent technologies to provide innovative, intelligent solutions for security and surveillance, environmental and condition monitoring, outdoor recreation, machine vision, navigation, and advanced threat detection. For more information, please visit www.flir.com and follow @flir.
The frame of the gun is grey…
Typos happen. What drives me nuts is piss poor grammar. Fortunately TTAG doesn’t have a heck of a lot of serious, basic grammar issues.
north korea CITY KILL AILL OFF THAM
A brief Google search before my post revealed three ways of spelling Mr. Heston’s first name, including the one I chose. My movie-addicted wife promptly told me my choice is WRONG! According to her, the correct spelling is “Charlton”. As usual, wives rule! I prefer to call him Ben or Moses.
Always thought Dan Z was the resident proof reader/copy paste editor. Is he no longer in the TTAG think tank?
I like the idea of generally pulling back from many areas of the world, and then having ANOTHER WW2 victory parade. Considering our military has been spread globally as such since WW2. Frankly, I say we then invest the defense spending we save in MORE nukes and more other futuristic weaponry. That’ll absolutely terrify the world.
How do I get ON “the T&E gunmaker gravy train”?
I don’t trust any review where the reviewer didn’t exclusively buy all products anonymously.
The little secret isn’t. Conflict of interest is real. Anytime you get free stuff (or increase potential to get) you’re gona feel gratitude…AS YOU SHOULD if you’re a decent person and not a complete a-hole. And whether you realize it or not, that emotional attachment is gona make it hard for you to give the whole truth and nothing but.
And product owners will not be happy obviously if you burn their product (literally or figuratively), that’s also perfectly normal. So it’s understandable if they feel bad about you theyre not gona want to give you more free stuff.
I know this is a very high standard and so I guess what I’m saying is I don’t trust anyone completely… all reviews are half truths, 3/4 truths, or 1/4 truths.
This is basically an impossible thing for you to ask. Not a high bar, impossible.
For someone to buy everything themselves would require that they be very, very wealthy and still willing to review all the gear.
Consider tents. If we head on over to REI just camping tents. Not including backpacking or shelters or bivvy’s or anything else, just camping tents we find they have 56 tents that they’re currently selling. That’s just a fraction of the market and it totals out to $28,683.57 before tax and shipping. Now consider that the average price of what they’re selling is well below the average price of the reviewed firearms on TTAG or other gun websites because the most expensive item REI has in camping tents is like $3K and the next most expensive is like $2K with an average around $375.
So to do a serious set of reviews of just that selection of tents would take at least two people working all year to test them out and cost those people nearly $27K just in the tents. They might recoup 1/3rd of that by selling that stuff or they might not.
The solution to this problem is Patreon and other similar services. Asking people to pay out of pocket to do this kind of work for you is ridiculous.
Not asking. See last paragraph
Mine will not feed, just got it this past Tuesday it is now Saturday, shot it yesterday and the bullets just jam between the upper and lower feed ramp. I am disabled and it is so frustrating. I ordered a bunch of accessories for it. Grips $37, holster, $32 ammunition, $92, Polish hammer, to give it a half stop, don’t have it yet. I am super bummed. And the dealer will most likely require me to pay to ship it back. I am on a very limited budget. I wished now I had saved longer and purchased a Taurus 1911 FS instead.
If you have the means to get it, why the heck not? I see him before he sees me. You want the odds stacked in your favor.
I’m curious, does 290 only go EAST?
You can pick one up for $139 – that price includes Unlimited data usage for Life.
It’s on the high side because we believe that the value it provides is worth every penny once you start using it.
There’s actually no device comparable (one year battery life on a cellular modem. An iphone is good for about 24hours at best).
We also have location tracking, and plan to integrate with common surveillance systems like Nest and Arlo, so when you get an alert you can also see all footage. The tech inside and supporting Duo is best in class. And we designed it to be super simple, but super reliable!
In the future, we’ll continue to unlock future value for people through “over the air” updates, and give people even more functionality. So we’re just getting started.
Thank you for the feedback!
Having considerable experience with both thermal imaging (FLIR) and image intensification (NVD) systems; my recommendation is to first use what you are comfortable with. If you have experience with one or the other, from military or LEO operations, go with what you know. You will be able to maximize the usefulness based on previous experience and knowing the “tips and tricks”.
If you have no previous experience; the article covers the benefits of each. Personally, I prefer the head-mounted night vision monocle (PVS-14), paired with an IR laser mounted to my weapons. Weapons mounted night vision is not the best choice, as already stated, due to the muzzle being directed wherever you are observing, possibly flagging friendlies. Having an IR laser, boresighted to the weapon zero, gives an immediate reference for weapons aiming, even off-shoulder, without giving away your position.
As for night vision devices needing a light source; the better the optic (Gen 2 vs. Gen 4), the less light needed. Also, most homes have sufficient light available, with all those little lights on appliances, electronics and power-strips. If you want more light for better acquisition and recognition, a few well placed red LED lights will create excellent light for night vision devices.
The most interesting part of this article is the town of goat ranchers. Who knew?
Screw Springfield Armory and their copy pistol of the Sig Sauer P238. I wouldn’t buy one of those guns from that particular manufacturer if my life depended on it, and I’m sure as hell not going to buy a gun that is a mere copy of a product that’s been available on the market for years now. Springfield just copying someone else. Trying to stay afloat. And let’s not forget what Springfield Armory and Rock River did by selling the gun owner and the family mom and pop gun shop down the road. And let’s not forget that Denny Reese also receive the NRA golden jacket AKA The Golden jacket is awarded to people that sell the Second Amendment off down the road for personal profit apparently. Screw Springfield Armory screw Rock River Arms and screw the NRA!
I agree with James Earl Hoffa completely
Here’s an exact copy of the Sig 238 the Kimber micro 380 or the Colt Mustang
The Sig and the Kimber come in a vast array of cosmetic styles of the same pistol
These three guns have been out for several years and all the teething problems and kinks (of which there plenty) have been worked out.
While the noxious Illinois law is gone for now, Springfield has not paid a proper penance
Let them make a big push for the hearing protection act or national reciprocity, or fight for bumpstocks and then we can consider buying Springfield products
Until then buy the Bel Air model of the Kimber, the titanium rainbow 238 or the black Mustang
I like the look on Chris’ face.
Most hammer fired pistols are easier to rack the slide, being a single action only pistol doesn’t hurt either.
I have taught the spousal unit to drive the grip when racking on her S&W 9mm shield.
Hold the gun firmly in the dominate hand close to body (but with muzzle in safe direction), then grip the slide with the opposite hand from top (imagine opening a jar of canned peaches), then drive the GRIP forward with certainty. She had never had an issue with racking the 9mm Shield. Jar of peaches is another story.
Alright. Enough Springfield Armory for me from this site, and the photo a couple articles down of the bird with a gat to her head was in bad taste. And if I say it’s bad taste with all of my bad decisions in life, well then… all the best to you TTAG.
So you invade wolfs’ territory and then call it self-defense?
I let friends shoot my guns at the range — even friends that just met. If I was going to hunt with a friend, than I’d certainly lend him a gun. In both cases, the gun will be used in my presence.
There are a few incorrect points of logic here. First, correlation is not causation; the use of one tool does not mean that one tool is a cause. Because of this they incorrectly conclude reducing the number of guns in circulation would positively impact suicide. There is no data to show removing a gun as an option stops suicide attempts. This argument also asserts death by gun is worse than death by any other means because…reasons.
Suicide with a gun is the most effective means, but removing guns has not provided any positive impact. The only impactful measures are based on intervention, but that’s only common sense.
The old NASA Project Orion from the late 1950s proposed a space ship with a BIG hunk of steel under it. Set off an atom bomb under the steel plate and the ship moves up at a very high velocity. Repeat as necessary to get you where you want to go. The Sf novel Footfall written in 1985 by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle used this technique to oppose an alien invasion. Its a good read and the technology is very possible if you accept the idea of setting off nuclear explosions in the atmosphere to propel a space ship. The bomb propulsion system is a lesser evil than an invasion by very nasty and hostile space aliens, although I’m sure that today’s snowflakes wouldn’t see it that way.
That donut licking thing looks gay
For class D felonies? Fair enough.
Speaking of that, I’ve always enjoyed the term “Class A felony.”
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