Hey!
I do a lot of hunting under night vision. Wanted to get the BLF recommendation on IR flashlights.
I already have a few, just wanted to see if anyone knew of any cheaper units that would be good to leave in a pack/truck without worrying about.
Thanks!
you may just convert some light with a current regulated driver with an Osram IR emitter
Gotta know what’s best for your setup, whether 850nm, 940nm, other. Sensitivity of your goggles might be better/worse for different wavelengths.
From there, it’s pretty easy to mod a light with an IRLED of your choice.
Most of the IR flashlights I have seen are way too powerful for use with Gen 3. And everyone I found
in a cursory search was single mode. I bought a couple of weak IR leds like are used in a TV remote
and mounted them with dropping resistors on a small piece of PC board…which I installed in place of
the bulb in a 2 D cell maglight. Perfect for my older Gen 3 monocular in super heavy canopy while hiking.
Runtime is about 2 weeks! My new pvs-14 has much better gain…so I have not needed it.
It was a cool mod since it could be floody or much more focused.
I gather from what I found that the inexpensive units for sale now are for use with digital cameras etc.
Which is why they are so powerful.
Have you tried a Flir yet? Epic for critter spotting and finding lost people in the woods!!!
I run an omni gen 3. Yes, your correct about close in work, but some situations make a strong ir flashlight a good thing to have. (Punching into dark woods from a distance for one)
I have a perst 3 and a pec 15, but sometimes I’m out with a different rifle and need some supplemental.
The modded mag-light sounds interesting!
I’m not to the level where I’ve modded a host into something different, but I may just make that my first project.
I have a FLIR breach. At this point I use it for scanning and take care of business with IR. I’ve been wanting to get a duel dovetail and helmet mount both of them, but I just got a Wilcox G11 and hate spending more money right after to try out something I may hate.
Cool. I use a LS-XR Flir 640x512. Epic scanner. I have never used a high power IR source for fear of
hurting my tubes! The streamlight and other “tactical” brands might do exactly what you need.
A defocused IR laser would work too.
I am sorry I have no good suggestions. This kind of info is not too easy to come by in my experience
with most suggestions being expensive weapon mounted units that are civilian versions…especially
when it comes to higher power lasers. (DBAL etc)
Try one of the high power cheap flashlights and let us know how it works at range!
My PVS-14 is a white phosphor L3 filmless. It is worlds better than my old ITT anvis style 160 nightquest
gen 3 which was only 35 lp/mm. The new tube is 72 lp/mm with much better gain. I have yet to get a helmet
to use with it!