FLIR Scout II 320 - Long-Range Thermal Imaging Monocular for Wildlife Viewing, Hunting & Outdoor

Alright, from pandemic to social unrest. Options, options, money money. You want night vision capability but you don't want/can't shell out the 3-7k? Plus that device can be used by only one person, so unless you have enough cash to buy night vision goggles for everyone in the family, at least those that can be of assistance if needed... If you're in this conundrum, I'll tell you what I did. I got some night vision binoculars (around $300), a night vision scope (around $700) and thermal imaging (this Flir). For a fraction of the price I have 3 devices that can be used separately, either by one person or by 2-3 people working as a team.Now regarding this particular product: works well, day and night, really light and small, plenty of color palette to ensure thermal acquisition in different environments. Overall, this a relatively inexpensive when you consider the technology.IF you're looking at this specifically for the reasons I mentioned at the beginning of the review and of you have enough ammo, food, water...AND you want to be able to have the capacity to identify if something is out there...AND you're not going to break the bank by purchasing it... Yes!, go ahead and have it. If not, focus on the above.

At this price point, you probably don't need me to tell you that this is definitely not a toy. And neither is it a $3500 thermal rifle scope. In fact, it isn't a rifle scope at all - just a great little thermal monocular.My house is surrounded by woods and I have used this several times to determine what kind of creatures are making the sounds I hear out there at night. Even thru the trees, I can usually pick out deer out to nearly 100 yards. Possums and raccoons, probably half that distance.It's also kind of fun to use indoors. On a cold winter night, I can see which windows all of the cold air is coming from. And one of the most interesting things I've discovered is that I can see the dog's or my wife's barefoot footprints on the carpet up to a full minute after they were made.About the only (minor) negative I see is that the temperature range it displays constantly self-adjusts to accommodate what you're pointing at. So if you have a campfire in the viewfinder, you won't see a coyote at the edge of the clearing behind that unless you change position so that the campfire is out of scope long enough for the device to re-calibrate (usually just a few seconds).

This is a good entry level thermal monocular. I have family members that have thermal devices that are upwards of $4000, but for me to get a thermal imager this Flir was in my price range. Price point is THE BIGGEST deciding factor to me in thermal quality, more money available to spend simply relates to better equipment. A friend of mine has the Leupold tracker LPO HD I believe and I was able to use it last night on a hog hunt side by side with my Flir TK Scout. The Leupold had better image quality and picked up heat signatures further out with better detail, BUT the light from the viewer will backlight your face or hunting blind as you must hold it about a foot away from your face and definitely can be seen by people and animals. This is a big draw back for me. The Leupold model I used was also around $850, which is about $350 more than the Flir TK Scout. I do not believe it's worth the additional money.The Flir TK Scout will pick up heat signatures well over 100yds in an open field, yard or road under "good conditions". At 75 yds deer, hogs, dogs or people can easily be differentiated in open/semi open areas. In wooded conditions it of course depends on the thickness of the woods, but in mature forest animals can be picked up at 75yds easily. Brushy undergrowth, grown up fields and thickets will greatly reduce the thermals ability to pick up heat signatures. Rain, high humidity and high surrounding heat will mess with any thermal device to some degree.I like the video and photo capture options. Biggest issue is battery life, battery life will last about 2 hours of intermittent use, keep in mind that this unit is rechargeable. There's pros and cons to that. The battery does seem to lose its charge during storage. Probably my biggest complaint with this unit.When I was trying to decide which thermal device was right for me reviews like this would have been very helpful, so to sum up my review. This a good unit for the money, it does exactly what the manufacture states it will do, very easy and simple operation and is produced by a very reputable company. Would have given 5 stars if not for battery life. I'm overall happy with this product.