Looking to purchase first thermal scope or nv of any kind. Narrowed to these two I think. Purpose is primarily hog hunting but also predator if needed. Longest shot is 75-80 yds in cover. Intended host is 450 bushmaster using 395 subsonics with suppressor. Location is Florida, I have heard some thermals have issues with humidity. Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thx
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Night Vision Bering hogster 25 vs AGM rattler 25
- Thread starter Mstalsitz33
- Start date
all thermals have issue with humidity. its the nemesis of thermals period. some worse than others but it effects them all.
The Hogsters do very well in humidity. As Killswitch indicated, all thermals do, but Bering has been the least impacted of any thermal I have used and that includes Pulsar, Flir, Bering, PRG, and Trijicon. The other factors I would want you to consider is warranty, price and customer service. If you have any questions on the Bering Optics line of thermals, PM me and we can chat. I tested the Bering thermals for Night Goggles before we began carrying their thermal line up, and have used the Hogster 35, Super Hogster, and Phenom for hundreds of hours in the field hunting.
450B is a lot of recoil, I'd check waranty restrictions closely.
I have a Hogster-C, live in South Florida and am very happy with it. I have never had an issue with humidity keeping it from doing its job.
I dont have hands on with any AGM products, so cant comment on them.
I have a Hogster-C, live in South Florida and am very happy with it. I have never had an issue with humidity keeping it from doing its job.
I dont have hands on with any AGM products, so cant comment on them.
Hogster-R’s are rated up to a .308 for recoil.
Per the earlier meme, “Hawking” refers to selling. In case people are not aware, as Prostaff for Night Goggles I receive no commissions on sales. I test and use thermals and provide Night Goggles and their customers with recommendations and customer service when needed. I also help answer questions on various forums for them. I talk about Bering thermals a lot due to their tremendous value and how much I use their products. I take it by the meme, apparently too much.
Per the earlier meme, “Hawking” refers to selling. In case people are not aware, as Prostaff for Night Goggles I receive no commissions on sales. I test and use thermals and provide Night Goggles and their customers with recommendations and customer service when needed. I also help answer questions on various forums for them. I talk about Bering thermals a lot due to their tremendous value and how much I use their products. I take it by the meme, apparently too much.
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Can’t speak to AGM but I’ve got a lot of hard use hours on a 25mm Hogster-R. Humidity sucks regardless, but I hunt often in 90-100% and haven’t found it to limit my ability ID or kill hogs in any way.
Dont slow down on my account, I'm a fan boy as well now. You didn't convince me, but you were part of what did.
lol. just busting on ya man. you're all good.
I have to agree, I was pushed in the bering optics direction because of Kirsch — I would have never looked otherwise
— my phenom just came in this morning
Same here, as I am in the market for one also. Everything I have researched, I keep going back to Bering as the choice. Any of you have experience with the thermal clip on for use with the day scope? Second choice i am looking at would be the hogster or similar line of optic.
I have the Clip On and am very happy with it, here is a review I did:
www.snipershide.com
Night Vision - New owner Hogster-c thermal clip on review
As stated, I got my Hogster clip on and am happy with it. I dont have the experience with other units to compare much, but for me I think it was a good choice. My criteria was to maximize field of view, be able to use it as a scanner or with a rifle and take shots out to 200 yards if I wanted...
www.snipershide.com
One tip, if you are going to use it a lot, I highly recomend an external battery. I really prefer cords with 90 degree connections like these. 1 ft, 3ft and 6ft.
The 6ft is great for use as a hand held, it routes from my left pocket, up around my neck and to the Hogster in a chest pouch. I have enough slack to unloop from my head and hand to someone else.
Shorter ones for fixed shooting positions or weapons mounting.
If you start the Thermal on internal batteries and then plug the external battery, it will stay on even if you unplug it. It will not use the internal battery unless it becomes uplugged so it my favorite option.
if you don't start it with the internal batteries first, it will turn off if unplugged and you will need to power up the unit to switch to internal power.
So, I turn on from internals, then use the external. This way if I need to switch from fixed position to move and shoot, I just unplug the medium length cable, let it dangle from my pocket and I am still good to go.
Just remember to turn off the unit after unplugging external battery so you dont waste the internal batteries.
The 6ft is great for use as a hand held, it routes from my left pocket, up around my neck and to the Hogster in a chest pouch. I have enough slack to unloop from my head and hand to someone else.
Shorter ones for fixed shooting positions or weapons mounting.
If you start the Thermal on internal batteries and then plug the external battery, it will stay on even if you unplug it. It will not use the internal battery unless it becomes uplugged so it my favorite option.
if you don't start it with the internal batteries first, it will turn off if unplugged and you will need to power up the unit to switch to internal power.
So, I turn on from internals, then use the external. This way if I need to switch from fixed position to move and shoot, I just unplug the medium length cable, let it dangle from my pocket and I am still good to go.
Just remember to turn off the unit after unplugging external battery so you dont waste the internal batteries.
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They're just playing with you. I have some wooded areas that I am thinking a R35 would be good for.
Enjoy, the Phenom has the best image of a thermal I have ever used under 6K. It has a fantastic image.
The Bering Optics - C clip on is decent but it adds a lot of extra weight as well as cost. Night Goggles sells the stand alone versions 100 to 1 in comparison to the clip on. The Clip On can be used a scanner, but you have to thread on an adapter eye piece and the eye piece modifies the image to 3x. This is probably OK for hogs, but is can be too small of a FOV for others. With the standalone Hogster R 25, 35, and Super Hogster, you can be just as mobile with the QR/QD mounts, less expensive, lighter, and not have to thread on an adapter to be used a scanner.
If you want a clip on, the Bering Hogster - C is nice, and I am currently testing their 640 version clip on and it will be nice as well, but I personally prefer the -R versions. I will PM my cell if you want to chat about thermals.
We might have been typing at the same time. I am testing their 640 12µm clip on currently. As I stated earlier, I am not a clip-on fan to begin with, but it is nice for a clip-on. It retains image quality very well even at fairly high glass scope zooms. I don't have any official release dates as Bering likes to under-promise and over-deliver. However, I would anticipate the clip on to be available in the next few months and a dedicated 640 12µm scope version early summer.
Bering is also working on a lower cost (lower spec) model called the Hogster Stimulus that should be available in the next few months as well. I have not seen a prototype of this model yet.
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I know they are. My kids told me, "You must be famous if people are making a meme of you." They thought it was funny. I will admit at first I didn't as I take my word and what I say on forums very serious as my reputation is very important to me. I am not a casual hunter as I am the main line of defense for a lot of farmers and ranchers for coyotes. I am not a salesperson; I am a HUNTER. I will PM my phone number and we chat and I can learn more about the terrain you want to hunt, and can help provide a recommendation on 25, 35, Super Hogster, etc,.
I'd add a couple observations, you don't have to put on the 3x eyepiece to use it as a scanner, if you hold it a couple inches from your eye you can see the screen. This works ok if you are wanting to quickly mount it.
The 3x magnifier doesn't change the 1x magnification any at all, it just makes the screen fully fill the eyepiece. The scanner is a 1x scanner that has some digital magnification with loss of resolution.
If your plan is to setup a hunting rifle, the standard units make a lot of sense.
I like the clip on because I dont think the thermals are good daytime options. My 1-8x let's me shoot from super close out to about 800 yards. It is easy to keep in focus, fast to change magnification and doesn't eat batteries. If you are turning your rifle into a swiss army knife, it is worth it, if you only need a corkscrew, get the corkscrew.
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I guess I stumbled upon this as its fairly fresh, I'm looking at getting into thermal optics, and have heard nothing but good things about hogsters, and horrible stuff about atn.
As an entry level ~<1500 is there anything else other than atn? Also what's really that bad about them?
If I get one the warranty will expire long before I use it up, I've gone out 3 times total in the last year, just targets lately. Next year my plan is to take hogs and yotes
As an entry level ~<1500 is there anything else other than atn? Also what's really that bad about them?
If I get one the warranty will expire long before I use it up, I've gone out 3 times total in the last year, just targets lately. Next year my plan is to take hogs and yotes
Hate to bust your happy, but 1500 is a waste of money in thermal. For 2200-2500 you can get something you can be happy with.
Check ebay for the stuff people wished thay had never purchased.
I recommended the Hogster to a buddy of mines gf, and she actually bought one for him. Looked through it and watched alot of the videos via the handy dandy app it has. I think it is a hell of a value for a thermal, although when I was behind it I found the controls a little cumbersome and not very intuitive. Nothing that more time behind it wouldn’t fix though.
That's what I'm looking for, it's not that I can't or don't want to spend more, but for me I just don't have the time to go out and use it.
Bering is coming out with a scope called the Hogster - Stimulus. I haven't had a chance to check it out. It will be in this price range, but the image won't be as good as the standard Hogsters or the Super Hogster.
As far as what's wrong with ATN, at this price you are looking at the LT versions. They don't have enough resolution. If there is any kind of humidity, you won't be able to make a positive ID on most animals and it is really, really dangerous. As for why many don't love ATN, they have a very high failure rate. On top of that, their customer service is really poor. It is a very bad combination. Look at all the independent thermal dealers. I can't think of one that carries ATN. There is a reason for that.
Hogs and coyotes are fine, but with lower end thermals it might be deer and cattle. This is the reason you want to have something with a decent image. You don't need to be able to see a tick on a coyote, but you better make sure you can tell it is a coyote. I would recommend get the budget and jump into thermal with a decent quality scanner and scope, or stay out of thermal all together.
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