Non-civilian LRF

[Crews]

Just out of curiosity, are there “better” handheld rangefinders out there that aren’t made available to civilians because there are limits on the “strength” of the laser?

And I’m more so talking about more reliable ranging at rifle shooting distance, not getting out to artillery distances.

Does the eye safe thing apply to rangefinders too? Or is it just laser designators/illuminators for NV?

 

[deepsea]

Eye safe applies to rangefinders but ones that specifically use the 905nm wavelength (think civilian rangefinders and typical ones on the market). 1550nm rangefinders are not power restricted due to the fact that wavelength can not damage your eyes no matter the power output (this wavelength is typically used for more “military” rangefinders due to the higher possible power output and better rangefinding capabilities). 905nm is actually better in the rain assuming same power output however 1550nm tend to be better overall due to the significantly higher power output.

There are full articles and better insight buried here written by those who know much more than I.

 

[Dogtown]

<delete what I just spent 5 minutes writing>

Yeah, what he said.

 

[shoobe01]

Just out of curiosity, are there “better” handheld rangefinders out there that aren’t made available to civilians because there are limits on the “strength” of the laser?

Does the eye safe thing apply to rangefinders too? Or is it just laser designators/illuminators for NV?

It is not like a "military stuff" law, the regulation is from the FDA, it's a literal safety reg. IR has the very lower power restrictions because it's invisible so you don't blink from the bright light, and the first sign of danger is pain meaning damage already done. FDA hates that sort of stuff!

For handheld (ish, it's big) an exemplar mil device is the Northrop Grumman Mk VII, Day/night (NOD onboard) + LRF:

Friday Night Lights: Northrop Grumman MARK VII – 10km Day/Night Vision LRF

We get a chance to take a look at a military grade day/night vision laser range finder that used to cost the ARMY $34k each. The Northrop Grumman MARK VII is a laser range finder on steroids.

www.thefirearmblog.com

Note this is eyesafe, but that's new. Even the new ABRAMS LRF is now eyesafe and that's the first of a Common Eyesafe LRF for mounting to all sorts of vehicles. Previously they were very very dangerous, and the whole concept of issuing laser-resistant glasses and goggles was not because the Russians /necessarily/ would use blinding weapons but because there were high power LRFs all over the place, and who cares about troops' eyeballs during a big fight.

The eyesafe LRFs are lower power (which reduces detection chance also!) and now you don't have to worry about using the LRF near friendlies, or not practicing with it on exercise, etc. The Army (mostly) managed to get a dozen or so guys blind in one eye, mostly from GVS-5s because very high power. There are reports about safety of IR laser systems from the early 2000s, so I suspect this eyesafe thing is a DOD-wide mandate related to those injuries.

There's no reduction in capability. These all range to 10 km, or more. Just restricted as USG owned, new, and expensive in the rare cases you can get one (like in the TFB article above where I guess that guy personally owns a Mk VII!)

 

[Mr.BR]

Got to play with the Safran Jim compact on our last workshop,it comes with 12km eye-safe range finder, stabilized image,NV, cooled thermal, day channels,channel fusion.photo ,video streaming, laser pointer target designator,GPS ,Bluetooth ,Wifi ...............etc. Downsides -weighs 2kg , drains batteries in 4 h, costs 85+k$

I can confirm its good for spotting bullets in flight well over a mile in the thermal channel. free hand courtesy of active stabilization.

 

[tangloppen]

Now that’s sex!