What I've found to work well is aluminum foil on a foam insulation board. Just using the aluminum foil on it's own isn't nearly as good. The foam insulation board is a very low emissive material and the aluminum foil, I use aluminum tape, is highly reflective. That's the key to its success I think. This is just a variation of what we use at work which is a foam board covered entirely in aluminum foil with a reverse cut out silhouette over that. The highly reflective nature of the aluminum foil, over the foam board, works well. If these are stored in a climate controlled environment away from the heat of summer or the cold of winter they have proven, in my somewhat limited experience, to be good for a few hours before they equalize with the ambient temperature. They aren't bad targets even after that, but they aren't as good. When zeroing, I make a grid with 2 inch wide aluminum tape on a 2 foot square piece of foam insulation board and use the inside 90 degree angle of the squares as the point of aim. This gives me a clearly defined and precise aiming point and each crossing point of the tape provides me with 4 separate aiming points. I have the same thermal and have a few pictures I've taken of the targets and if I can figure out how to download them I will try to post them or send them to you if you'd like.
Thanks for the suggestions, already using the different solutions. Pictures would be nice, can compare to ones we have. Like the aluminum tape solution, very quick and easy. Recently tried commercial thermal targets by IRtools, which are actually impressive. Will have some content on it soon.
Cool video. Honestly makes me wonder how I could ever go about PIDing anything at night. It seems to me that the thermal doesn't really give a detailed enough picture to ID a target at any significant range.
It really depends on the size of the target, your resolution and mechanical zoom of the optic. I've got a 1x 640 sensor and people and deer can be easily identified hundreds of yards away, especially if they are moving. The problem lies in if there's any kind of screening foliage, it gets really hard to figure out what the glowing blob is. No color or details that would otherwise give you a clue. Zooming in digitally might help a bit at 2x but after that it's just enlarging pixels and making things worse, at least for the unit I've got. Things that aren't necessarily going to be hot but may be relevant such as vehicles and buildings may blend into the noise of everything else you're looking at if the image is really busy. Thermal is great but the biggest limitation in my use case is it's great for picking out hot targets but it's really bad for seeing someplace a deer or a person may be hiding. brushpiles and thickets that provide cover become part of the noise, and you assume because you have thermal you're seeing everything you need to see. Not the case.
In the military you know by knowing where people should be and where people shouldn't and if what you are looking at is armed and most importantly if they are about to engage you. In a more unorganized situation which is what is most likely as civilians outside of a hunting situation, you use your IR illuminator to quickly light up the target and ID them that way. In the worst case situation you can use visible light. In a self defense situation they are already shooting at you, but in a situation like intruders on your property you use your night vision to navigate to their flanks or even behind them so you get the advantage in reaction time before you use illumination. Also if your purpose is defending a property, it is important to have property lights you can remotely turn on and off. This way you don't have to highlight your position.
❤❤Brilliant ,just subbed you ,where are you in EU ?? I used to work in Mongolia ,Siberia and Canada ,,Siberia Near the start of the ROAD OF BONES i spent a winter on a closed down gold mine ,the men working for me hunted allot ,,AK's a plenty ,they had a rifle range at the exit of the mine down near the river ,we had a bath house called a Barnya ,spelling wrong ,,,it was run by an old man who fed a big old boiler ,,huge tank with massive steel Rivits all over it and a roaring fire under it ,the bath house was the number one hang out for all the men on the site ,you would eat your meal ,,Borsch with dry bread ,,,same meal every nite for a year and two months ,the cook could only make two dishes ,Borsh and bad Borsh ,the old man at the barnya had run out a length of pipe that constantly had steam water ,it was like a high pressure relief type deal ,two of my drillers scavanged some polly pipe and setup 4 steel targets that had steem directed to the back of them ,they had no thermals ,they did it to make it a harder challenge to hit target ,and it did make it a way more difficult targets to hit but thzt mad it better for the green beer wagers they bet on ,,Vodka also ,so sitting in Barnya ,drinking green beer or vodka shots ,all butt naked ,,hitting yourself with a bunch of branches and leaves off some tree ,,singing Russian folk songs ,running outside and taking your three shots ,,,back inside drinking singing and shooting ,,,best dam job i was ever on ,,,because our drill machine broke down and drill rods frozen in the ground we had to sit and wait out the winter as we had no hope of even getting Korean Modern day RC/Diamond drill rig going when every day it was - 60% C and many times to cold to go outside for you would die because it would get lower than 72/73 deg C ,and that litrally freeze your lungs and kill you if you tried ,,we drank a fukton of beer and vodka and went thru a ten thousand Cartridge wooden case of military AK ammo ,,probably one of the best times of my life ,,CON : My translator was the only one out of the twenty guys out there with us ,,he was like half Chinese/Mongolian with kosak and Russian roots ,the guy could talk with a mouth full of marbles underwater ,,,he friggin drove me to sacking him asking me of my home country Australia ,,sometimes the same question 3 or 4 times in a week ,,i sacked him 3 or 4 times ,,there was no way of getting him back to civilisation so i hired him 4 times ,,guy just would not shut up for 14 straight months ,,he was 5"4 and 300 pounds and could eat a one pound stick of smoked meat and a loaf of bread wile smashing six beers and he got more talkitive,,,the job finished ,i had to travel with him to a city called Acuts and i met his wife ,,i could not believe how such a short fat ugly prick had an absolute 10 wife,he spoke to her really rudely i thought but then i got on a plane never to return . the steam was to stop snow from disappearing the targets aswell and worked great ,not likely something you would do but if was easy you would. sorry for the ramble ,,whiskey is working ,,im now like my translater oh crap.👍😊
Hello Falconclaw Team! Considering investing in the Nerf Modulus Night Vision Sight and would greatly appreciate your insights on its performance and usability. Your expert opinion would be invaluable in helping me make an informed decision. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts! (lmao wtf)
