Night Vision Anyone compare a Wilcox RAPTAR Lite ES vs a LDI DBAL-D2

[Crang]

Other than the visible light on the Wilcox, which I consider a big plus as I would love to have one unit for visible/IR illumination and lasers both, has anyone gotten to compare the two units for performance, durability, ease of use, etc.? About to be in the market for a until and looking for one that has an IR and Visible green laser slaved, plus IR illumination. Looks like the LDI unit is 2.5ozs heavier but height it .15" lower. Not sure if that translates to sitting that much lower to the rail though which could be an issue if i want to mount it 12 o'clock in front of optics rather than at 3 o'clock.

The Wilcox is a few hundred cheaper on sale right now (I believe its a green vis laser) than the LDI with the green laser option.

Any input is welcome.

 

[Delta4-3]

I'll be doing a review on the RAPTAR's in about two weeks and can do a comparison then.

 

[Crang]

Definitely looking forward to the review. The Lite ES is the one I am considering and its on sale at TNVC through the end of the month, so hoping to make a decision before then......

 

[CS95]

I have the regular Raptar right now. I love the LRF portion\capabilities, but the IR laser and flood leaves me wanting. Honestly the flood is about useless. When I first got it I thought ìt was just on the lowest setting,but it wasn't, it was turned all the way up.
It just doesnt have the power of a PEQ

 

[eracer]

I have the regular Raptar right now. I love the LRF portion\capabilities, but the IR laser and flood leaves me wanting. Honestly the flood is about useless. When I first got it I thought ìt was just on the lowest setting,but it wasn't, it was turned all the way up.
It just doesnt have the power of a PEQ

When you say 'regular' RAPTAR, which model are you talking about? The Mil-only version? Or are you comparing the Class 1 RAPTAR with a mil-only PEQ?

The question I have is: "Is the illuminator on the RAPTAR ES Lite good enough for use out to 200 yards?"

No one has answered that definitively as of yet.

 

[Crang]

When you say 'regular' RAPTAR, which model are you talking about? The Mil-only version? Or are you comparing the Class 1 RAPTAR with a mil-only PEQ?

The question I have is: "Is the illuminator on the RAPTAR ES Lite good enough for use out to 200 yards?"

No one has answered that definitively as of yet.

This plus is the visible laser red or green? I see the specs say 532nm (green) but a number of print ads say red. I have yet to see the acual word 'green'.

 

[longshot2000]

Darn. What happened to the review?

 

[wigwamitus]

There are 4 flavors of RAPTAR
01 - ES Lite (ES = Eye Safe) ... this is the lasers and illuminator only, no LRF.
02 - ES ... this one has the lasers, illuinator and the LRF.
03 - S ES ... this one has the blue tooth/ballistics module on top of everything 02 has.
04 - S ... this one has the full power lasers, illuminators and still the same eye safe LRF as well as the blue tooth ballistics module.

I have the 02 ... it has a red vis laser ... I use that in the house to zero the laser to the reticle of my day scope, so it will be "in the ball park" when I go out at night to actually zero the laser to the reticle.

I use mine as a rifle mounted range finder, just like I use the Radius. They both get the job done ... out to 1,000yds which is as far out as I've tried.
The RAPTAR is smaller and lighter than the Radius. The Radius can be zeroed to the reticle without tools.

I zero the RAPTAR an the Radius exactly the same way.

Here is the zeroing package I used one night.

I carried everything outside mounted on the gun, since I wanted to make one trip and I had to carry the tripod also.

Then I dismounted the clipon.

I had already ball park zeroed the vis laser to the day scope reticle in the house.

Then I turned on the pvs-14 mounted on the rear of the day scope via the Night Optics "Day/Night" mount.

Then I turned on the ir-laser in the RAPTAR (if zeroing the Radius I turn on the viz laser of the Radius).

I located the target I am using to zero. Preferably something as far away as possible an small enough to be distinct, but not too small to hit with the laser.

Then I adjust the windage and elevation of the laser and co-witness to the day scope reticle. I am now ready to test.

I turn off the laser and the PVS-14 and flip the PVS-14 to the side, then mount the clipon and power it up. Then I range various known distance objects by aiming the day scope reticle at the object and pressing the range button. If the reticle and LRF are matched up I should get correct readings. If not I repeat the process.

Both the RAPTAR and the Radius seem to be holding zero just fine for me. Here they are on the 6.5G(18) on the left and the 5.56(18) on the right.

Since you can buy several Radiae for the price of one RAPTAR (02 or above) and since I haven't detected any functional difference between them yet, I can't recommend the RAPTAR over the Radius at this point. I have not refreshed the zero on the Radius in > 2 months and I've shot several hundred rounds with it. The RAPTAR should be more rugged and reliable, but the Radius has not failed yet.

==

Any illuminator should get you out 200yds.

 

[ballistic1]

Excellent summary Wig.. you put on a Clinic everytime you answer a post.

 

[YO_Doc]

I also have a RAPTAR ES (02 as listed above) and agree with what Wig said.

On the IR illumination, it is laser based and it will reach out there a long way if you focus it down. Heck mine will focus down to another laser spot, just adjacent to the primary IR laser. The range finder is in the 1550NM class and has worked well for me during the day out to 1400M (dry high mountain conditions) Best part of it is that I don't get the anoying flashing from the range finder through my NV.

 

[MattyG]

Ok, lets start with Civi IR lasers are useless for long range illumination...... Now, lets talk about how bad ALL of the generations of Raptors hold zero. Simply terrible, they shift with soft bumps or riding in a case in a truck anywhere from 2 mils to 6 mils in ANY direction. The SWR Radius is nice because if you lose zero just paint the target with the LRF pulse and bam. The LRF laser is invisible in the Raptor so you have to light it up to range accurately. Daytime is a loss with both once they lose zero....

Next topic. IR illum is best accomplished with a standalone IR laser of 100Mw or more. The Raptar S has the best Illum of them all, it is nice and bright but not always easy to get dialed on target. Grab a Vslim or Izlid and a Raptar ES and go to work. Also the S will heat soak in the sun and your dope will wander, I always just used it just to range and use a dope card unless it was at night. The Raptars regardless of model, the LRF tops out about 1800 yards and realistically is good 98% of the time to 1200 or so.