Ask Terry Houin Optic & tripod
- Thread starter ajacobs
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I'm not Uncle T, but what's your budget? I'll say if you're serious about thermal optics, they come at a price... I'm not a fan of anything ATN, although a buddy does have the ATN Thor and it works okay, but it's not a clip on.. about the cheapest clip on thermal that I've had good experiences with is the AGM Rattler CV2.
As for tripod for duty use (and my recreational) I like Hog Saddle products, especially their tripod and their Pig Saddle or Hog Saddle...
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hogsaddle.com
I'm also a fan of Manfrotto tripods topped with an arca swiss receiver head.
Both tripods will and have supported my rifles by themselves on soft and uneven ground.
On our sniper team we each were issued a Hog Saddle Tripod and when we were working as Marksman/Observer pairs we often would use one tripod to support the front of the rifle, and the other tripod to support the buttstock.. both options are incredibly stable.
That being said, Uncle T has a lot of real world experience and experience instructing so he might know of some even better options that I'm not familiar with.
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ajacobs
New member
Truly appreciate all the date and intel! Solid!I'm not Uncle T, but what's your budget? I'll say if you're serious about thermal optics, they come at a price... I'm not a fan of anything ATN, although a buddy does have the ATN Thor and it works okay, but it's not a clip on.. about the cheapest clip on thermal that I've had good experiences with is the AGM Rattler CV2.
As for tripod for duty use (and my recreational) I like Hog Saddle products, especially their tripod and their Pig Saddle or Hog Saddle...
Products - Hog Saddle - The Original Tripod Saddle
PRODUCTS Buy Now " J-Clamp™ VIew Products TH-1.4 Turtle Head VIew Products DOG Leg NV Mount VIew Products PIG Saddle ® VIew Products MOD7 HOG Saddle ® VIew Products PIG Skins Barricade Pad w/ HORN VIew Products PIG Skins Barricade Pad VIew Products Feisol CB-50D Ball Head VIew Products GNN...
I'm also a fan of Manfrotto tripods topped with an arca swiss receiver head.
Both tripods will and have supported my rifles by themselves on soft and uneven ground.
On our sniper team we each were issued a Hog Saddle Tripod and when we were working as Marksman/Observer pairs we often would use one tripod to support the front of the rifle, and the other tripod to support the buttstock.. both options are incredibly stable.
That being said, Uncle T has a lot of real world experience and experience instructing so he might know of some even better options that I'm not familiar with.
Art this will be a longer mulit part responce.
1. Tripods - I'd classify them into hunting or range. Yes 1 can do both but you'll either have a heavy duty range setup that doesn't hunt efficiently or a lighter hunting setup thats not the most stable on the range. So I'll give you thoughts on both.
Not surprisingly a lot of brands are built with the same components with different names on them so look for features you like. The big difference is the head and how they function along with what you like.
Range - I like heavy for stability and being able to put some pressure on when needed, I want large diameter carbon legs for stiffnes. In my class pikle I have Hog Saddle as mentioned by @Al "Shifty" Schultz Seversl Vortex Radian, a SIg and a Really Rightr Stuff.
Hunting I get a little more selective and it starts with where I'm hunting and what kind of setups I expect. For out west chasing Aoudad I like the Tricer's they are light, easy to pack, easy to adjust to the terrain for wierd positions. Most of these shots will be seated or lower to the ground. I do keep a large optics tripod in the SxS as well. I also like the Spartan Precision system and its modular ability to shift leg lengths and quickly roll from spotter to rifle.
Part 2 coming soon
1. Tripods - I'd classify them into hunting or range. Yes 1 can do both but you'll either have a heavy duty range setup that doesn't hunt efficiently or a lighter hunting setup thats not the most stable on the range. So I'll give you thoughts on both.
Not surprisingly a lot of brands are built with the same components with different names on them so look for features you like. The big difference is the head and how they function along with what you like.
Range - I like heavy for stability and being able to put some pressure on when needed, I want large diameter carbon legs for stiffnes. In my class pikle I have Hog Saddle as mentioned by @Al "Shifty" Schultz Seversl Vortex Radian, a SIg and a Really Rightr Stuff.
Hunting I get a little more selective and it starts with where I'm hunting and what kind of setups I expect. For out west chasing Aoudad I like the Tricer's they are light, easy to pack, easy to adjust to the terrain for wierd positions. Most of these shots will be seated or lower to the ground. I do keep a large optics tripod in the SxS as well. I also like the Spartan Precision system and its modular ability to shift leg lengths and quickly roll from spotter to rifle.
Part 2 coming soon
safetekk
Well-known member
EDIT: when I saw this thread pop up on Hot Topics I didn't realize where it was posted..."ask if FE employees anything" . I'm not an employee and I certainly don't want to step on anyone's toes... the topic is simply in my wheelhouse. I'm a certified thermographer and developed and taught a course on infrared that was adopted by a national franchise for use in building inspections so my expertise comes from the technology and science side of things, and performing building Inspections with a thermal camera, twice a day for 15 years. That and I flew heavy recon in the Navy with some pretty high speed IR equipment on board. One of the problems with this technology is that literally no one has used or tried everything out there, so much of the opinions you see (even mine) regarding equipment choices are just that, opinions based on use with a particular piece of equipment. Sooo...
Before dumping money into thermal, find someone nearby that not only has it, but has experience hunting with it and understands it's limitations. Then can effectively explain those limitations to you without trying to sell you on their equipment choice.
Too many people buy that shit thinking they got the mac daddy unit then open the box and test it on a day with really bad environmental conditions then believe that their unit really sucks. Conversely, IR/thermal manufacturers always take those marketing videos on days with stellar conditions in a high delta T environment, leaving you to believe that you can see a mouse playing a banjo from the International Space Station.
In reality, thermal is generally poor for identification but really good at detection, and if you can't 100% identify something you generally cannot shoot it, or at least you shouldn't.
Most people have a tendency to over magnify thermal as well. Thermal field of view is generally much worse than let's say a day optic and as you up the magnification that field of view shrinks further. Clarity and detail are lost as well with magnification, primarily because you're not really magnifying an image... your magnifying pixels.
If I could leave you with one piece of advice regarding thermal... with day optics many will say you should get as much magnification as you can afford, at least within the context of your intended task. It's my personal belief that with thermal it should be the opposite... go with the lowest magnification you can and still accomplish the task.
Before dumping money into thermal, find someone nearby that not only has it, but has experience hunting with it and understands it's limitations. Then can effectively explain those limitations to you without trying to sell you on their equipment choice.
Too many people buy that shit thinking they got the mac daddy unit then open the box and test it on a day with really bad environmental conditions then believe that their unit really sucks. Conversely, IR/thermal manufacturers always take those marketing videos on days with stellar conditions in a high delta T environment, leaving you to believe that you can see a mouse playing a banjo from the International Space Station.
In reality, thermal is generally poor for identification but really good at detection, and if you can't 100% identify something you generally cannot shoot it, or at least you shouldn't.
Most people have a tendency to over magnify thermal as well. Thermal field of view is generally much worse than let's say a day optic and as you up the magnification that field of view shrinks further. Clarity and detail are lost as well with magnification, primarily because you're not really magnifying an image... your magnifying pixels.
If I could leave you with one piece of advice regarding thermal... with day optics many will say you should get as much magnification as you can afford, at least within the context of your intended task. It's my personal belief that with thermal it should be the opposite... go with the lowest magnification you can and still accomplish the task.
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