Pulsar thermal monoculars

[Archie]

Hi guys,

I’ve been trying to decide whether I want to sell my kidney / first born child to get a thermal monocular. To be clear, this isn’t for nighttime shooting - which is why I am not looking for a scope - it’s for use in finding game in the daytime on thickly forested hills. The pulsar ones look to be very good but I’m wondering if anyone who has used them have any thoughts? And also, models and zoom level? Cheers.

[Peter988]

We were using thermal monocular last week ( at night though) and gave it up and resorted to the light. The days and nights were so hot the monocular would not distinguish objects clearly enough. Not sure how they would be on hot summer days.

[Blr243]

Bought one many yrs ago but used it very little. The specs on my old model is not up to the standard of the current thermal binos I use to locate game. I still use my stuff to find game in the hottest parts of daytime but I do very little daytime hunting. In summertime I struggle to use it effectively during the daytime because everything is hot ( not just the game ). Perhaps I just need to play with the settings more and practice but because 98 per cent of my hunting is at night I’m usually resting up during the day so I have enough energy for the nights. This gives me very little time for daytime practice ... I found that in twilight or if pigs are amongst shadows they stand out like dogs balls with thermal equipment.... otherwise I would have just walked right by and never seen them. Don’t expect to find animals in heavy brush. The brush blocks the heat and game can’t be seen. Yes you should definitely sell a kidney to get good gear because if you just sell one of your toes you will only be able to buy basic equipment and in the field u will b disappointed and realise that you should have bought better gear that actually works ..... I think a scope is a better first choice instead of a monocular because you can always use a scope as a monocular if need be But u can’t use a monocular as a scope. Just because u don’t want a thermal scope now does not mean u will always think like that ... they are the same price .....extravision is my preferred pulsar dealer , they have the technical knowledge of the product specifications to offer you product advice so u end up getting something that matches your preferred hunting technique s..... they are honest and never try to sell me stuff I don’t need ....... nothing they have sold me has ever had an issue .... I trust them. .......I need the rain to stop so I can go hunting again

[Blr243]

There is a mistake in that last post relating to the use of thermal during the day. It should say that in rocky country ( summer months ) there’s a thousand white hot rocks to have to look at This is annoying. In non rocky country in summer mornings and Arvos are fine and I can def find more game with thermal than useing my own eyes ...... in non rocky country during the hottest part of the day I struggle with thermal because all the grass, mud, dirt trees and logs and pigs are all white hot just like the pigs ( perhaps I need more practice with my daytime scope settings )

[Ferrisweil]

Hey mate. I use a Helion XP28 monocular and i don’t regret losing the kidney at all. I’m the opposite to BLR in that I did buy the monocle first as we use it off the truck at night and didn’t want to hold a rifle up to scan. We use the monocle for years combined with a torch to take the shots but are now using thermal scopes as well.
Does it work in the daytime? Yes, but it’s a lot more difficult to distinguish everything. A termite mound will look like a pig and you’ll mistake tree trunks for a deer over and over.
A mate of mine who is a gillie of sorts in the UK, uses it to find deer on the hills during the daytime and count numbers.
Look it will work in the daytime to a degree but not a patch on what you can achieve at night....
If this rain would go away (I’m loving it), I’ll take a picture during the middle of the day and show you the difference compared to night....

[Die Judicii]

Hi there Archie,
Do you realize that you can virtually have both ?
I have the Pulsar CORE FXQ 50.
It's designed as a clip on (to the front of your normal scope), and can be attached/detached in moments.
I have taken the steps of having identical scopes on most of my rifles so its just a matter of simply fitting to any rifle without even
worrying about the issue of changing the inserts to enable fitting to differing sizes of scopes.

As well,, its a simple twist and pull to remove the scope adaptor, and install the eyepiece whereas you then have a monocular that has
awesome capabilities both day or night.
Apart from brightness and contrast, it also has 3 different modes that take into account daylight,, moonlight,, rocks,, forest,, and open country to suit your needs.

The only dislike I had was the batteries only had a 4 hr life and were expensive,,, but I solved all that by purchasing a power pack from Office Works, and a
one meter cord.
Now on one single charge I can leave it turned on continuously (more than 8 hrs per night) for three consecutive nights before re charging it.

Worth considering,,,,,,,,,,

[Archie]

Thanks for all the thoughts here guys. Where I hunt in eastern NSW is probably not as hot as those of you in Queensland (at least, when we are not on fire) so background heat probably isn’t as big a deal but it’s handy to know. And I will definitely have a think about the FXQ 50. I recently had a chance to try a friends XP50 and it was very nice, just need to decide if I want to suck up the price. But I guess you only live once...

[brinny]

I’m currently running two Pulsar monoculars... The Quantum XQ50 and the Helios XQ50 ... both work better than their scopes do.... I have tried what you are thinking of doing... Does work to a degree but conditions need to be right for use in daytime....rocks will fool you no end, but you will soon wake up they are rocks as they obviously won’t move...... good set of binoculars would suit your purpose better me thinks....