Thread: Thermals. Whats the point of no return.

I'm an absolute nube with this stuff but am looking to get into the market. Will need to be hand held not rifle mounted. Whats the price point below which its just crap and not worth buying. Was up Wallaby shooting last weekend and though it would be a great way to see them up in the snow grass. Any advice would be appreciated from those who have used this gear.

I wear thermals when it gets cold, well worth the investment.

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

I wear thermals when it gets cold, well worth the investment.

Didn't take long

Especially handy having thermals now that you list Fairlie as your location now !

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Didn't take long

Especially handy having thermals now that you list Fairlie as your location now !

Not wrong, alarm went at 5am this morning, thought about where I was going to go, the creeks I was gonna cross, and went naah, wife's nice and warm, staying right here!

Sorta like you need a plb and gps and etc etc to go into the bush. The NZ supplier must love the advertising this stuff about you "needing" it. My mate up the coast shot 16 stags and 2 pigs during the lock down. All bush stalking. Go figure.

@Sarvo will know.

I've compared a 4-5k unit with an 8k unit, and the latter was clearly superior with better definiton. Animals and features were more pronounced.

Whether that extra bit of performance matters, probably comes down to how efficient you want to be. But if efficiency isn't the be-all-end-all, why go for a thermal device in the first place? Unless you've just got cash to burn, it's a lot of $$ to spend on a piece of gear that will be outdated in a year or two as new models come onto the market.

How good are your binos? Apologies if you're already sorted in this area, but on the off-chance that you're not, $3-5k of thermal money could do wonders in the bino department, and they'll last a lifetime.

Bugger the early morning hunts up here,when the sun is up shining, the deer might come out.Thermo hand helds certainly help you see deer,early mornings or evenings just befor they see you.But how many deer have you gota shoot to make up the $5k cost,15 to 20 to break even depending on size.$5k =a lot of sides of beef.

Its an interesting one...we are just coming to grips with a Helion ZQ38F and I'm not yet convinced its a keeper.
Its a hell of a luxury but it seems incredible effective for finding deer in the steep scrubby country we hunt.
My worry is that it is so effective that it takes something away from the hunting. I can scan a huge amount of country quickly that would take constant glassing to pick apart.
In the right conditions, if the thermal doesn't show an animal then there is no animal there, and we seem end up with a lot of time on our hands.
I think the act of looking is a massive part of the hunting experience and why we have such unique eyesight, its not quite the some predatory experience thru the Helion (for me).
But I can tell you where the deer are in the country we haunt that's for sure.

Originally Posted by Fisherman

Its an interesting one...we are just coming to grips with a Helion ZQ38F and I'm not yet convinced its a keeper.
Its a hell of a luxury but it seems incredible effective for finding deer in the steep scrubby country we hunt.
My worry is that it is so effective that it takes something away from the hunting. I can scan a huge amount of country quickly that would take constant glassing to pick apart.
In the right conditions, if the thermal doesn't show an animal then there is no animal there, and we seem end up with a lot of time on our hands.
I think the act of looking is a massive part of the hunting experience and why we have such unique eyesight, its not quite the some predatory experience thru the Helion (for me).
But I can tell you where the deer are in the country we haunt that's for sure.

I've had a loan of the Helion XP50 and found the same. It takes a bit of getting used to but once mastered these things are pretty awesome at defining game is some pretty shitty country. I've decided though, its not for me, as I just cant justify the expense based on the amount I hunt.
Getting to the OP's question; I find its a bit like optic's, you gotta pay the money to get the good results. Yes the XP50 is pretty much up there in terms of quality and I was advised by a person who uses this gear professionally that there's a big difference between entry and top shelf. Entry level could give you an impression that doesn't really equate to the potential of thermal vision, so see if you can try a few before you take the plunge.

Originally Posted by Mathias

I've had a loan of the Helion XP50 and found the same. It takes a bit of getting used to but once mastered these things are pretty awesome at defining game is some pretty shitty country. I've decided though, its not for me, as I just cant justify the expense based on the amount I hunt.
Getting to the OP's question; I find its a bit like optic's, you gotta pay the money to get the good results. Yes the XP50 is pretty much up there in terms of quality and I was advised by a person who uses this gear professionally that there's a big difference between entry and top shelf. Entry level could give you an impression that doesn't really equate to the potential of thermal vision, so see if you can try a few before you take the plunge.

I would love to have been able to try them all...my impression is that the XQ38 is pretty adequate (I said ZQ above...getting old) I was massively tempted by the new Axion 30s for convenience but got sick of waiting. The other thing that pushed me up spec was I heard that the axions are a bit harder to use with glasses, as it is I prefer to use this with my glasses off, you have to push in a little with them on to get the full picture.

So if I understand correctly you probably need to spend around $5000 to get something that is adeqaute anything less is not worth it?

the ones I saw were approx that and they were amazing
just watching farm animals and hares boxing in the grass

same for me too much $$, Or im too poor/tight arsed
bit of both I think

I have used one......and thought it was great. Spotted a deer at night from the hut that I wouldn't have seen before..But still it didn't matter as you can't shoot it anyway!! However, the reason I don't see the point is this.........

Say you buy a model that costs $5000. Well plenty of places charge you $100 to shoot a deer on their farm. So therefore taking the money you would have spent on a Thermal device you could go and shoot 50 deer!!! That's a hell of a lot of animals and venison!! And if you spent the $5000 on the thermal you would have to shoot a hell of a lot more than 50 deer to make it viable. Plus, how many of those deer that you have shot that you had located with a thermal would you have been able to pick up with Bino's anyway???

Originally Posted by Dermastor

So if I understand correctly you probably need to spend around $5000 to get something that is adeqaute anything less is not worth it?

I suspect the Axion 30s at $3600 will be well worth while...

Originally Posted by Dermastor

So if I understand correctly you probably need to spend around $5000 to get something that is adeqaute anything less is not worth it?

Most I know who are using started with cheaper units (2500-3000) and upgraded.
To say 5K buys a lot of Venison - yes true - but 40 -50 80K boats buy a a lot of fish fillets too :-)

Thermal has/is great for commercial operators like Pet food guys - but also exc for farmers policing poaching