Thread: Thermal binoculars vs Monocular

I was all set to buy a handheld thermal monocular but went into H&F the other day and checked out the Hikmicro HE25L thermal binocular which is a binocular, thermal and rangefinder all in one for $3k.
Don't know much about these or handheld thermals so would appreciate any feedback on either option.
Thanks.

A friend has pulsar binos. A big step up from a mono. Easier to hold still for a start. Better field of view. As always try and compare a couple. Like scopes, viewing enjoyment can be and is very subjective. No doubt there'll be a few people on here close enough to be of help letting you look through theirs.

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You spend most of your 'thermal time' in animal search and identification mode. This is 10x less stressful on your eyes if you use a set of binoculars where both eyes are exposed to the same level of light intensity, rather than one eye looking at a bright OLED screen while the other is looking at pitch black. Spend the money on the bino's over a monocular. You wont regret it.

Originally Posted by hotbarrels

You spend most of your 'thermal time' in animal search and identification mode. This is 10x less stressful on your eyes if you use a set of binoculars where both eyes are exposed to the same level of light intensity, rather than one eye looking at a bright OLED screen while the other is looking at pitch black. Spend the money on the bino's over a monocular. You wont regret it.

Wouldn’t this mean you are then blind in both eyes after looking through them then carrying on stalking up in the pitch black? I at least have one functioning eye when using the monocular at night

I don't think they are binos, they look to me to be two 'monoculars' welded together. One side is therma, the other is day/IR. Which ever image source is selected is fed to both displays.

The true benefit is you carry one device instead of 3.

Originally Posted by Juicy

Wouldn’t this mean you are then blind in both eyes after looking through them then carrying on stalking up in the pitch black? I at least have one functioning eye when using the monocular at night

This is the problem with thermal binoculars, learn very quickly to use off eye using a monocular, I’d imagine a thermal binoculars would totally screw up night vision, don’t know this for fact, just guessing

Originally Posted by Bent Barrel

This is the problem with thermal binoculars, learn very quickly to use off eye using a monocular, I’d imagine a thermal binoculars would totally screw up night vision, don’t know this for fact, just guessing

I've used both a lot and find the binos way easier on the eyes. Yes you lose the night vision on both eyes but it's much less disorientating for me rather than having one eye ok and the other not.

What sort of hunting are you intending to use it for?

Originally Posted by smidey

What sort of hunting are you intending to use it for?

Just indentifying animals at dawn/dusk and kids might use it a bit for spotlighting

i've got a pard leopard 256 handheld thermal and it is great for spotting everything from small game close to large animals at distance. It's small enough to go into a chest pocket designed for a phone which is super handy so you don't bash it on things with the neck carry strap when you're climbing a fence, picking up your rifle etc. It's a really awesome bit of kit and at $1300 it's at a great price. For the $3K for the binos you could almost get a NV scope as well depending on what suits your shooting.

Originally Posted by Juicy

Wouldn’t this mean you are then blind in both eyes after looking through them then carrying on stalking up in the pitch black? I at least have one functioning eye when using the monocular at night

Define 'blind'. I've never had any problem with night blindness.
I walk, stop, thermal scan, identify, establish the 'space' in the darkness where the animal is and while maintaining that awareness, bring the IR scoped rife up onto the animal and shoot. If it's moon light enough, I walk on to the next stop and start over. If its pitch black, I use a red headlamp.

When you are hunting for 4-6 hours a night, you will soon appreciate the bino format.