A couple of careers ago, I flew combat helicopters for Uncle Sam. We could perform any mission at 0200 in the morning that we could execute in broad daylight. Whether that was moving troops, carrying supplies, gathering intel or shooting stuff, we owned the night thanks to our state-of-the-art night vision systems. Well, 1992 was a long time ago. In the intervening decades everything about our world has changed. The Internet and cell phones have revolutionized our lives while simultaneously rotting our brains. Along the way, night imaging technology has also evolved explosively. The Pulsar Thermion 2 LRF XL60 riflescope and the Pulsar Telos LRF XL50 handheld thermal monocular put our old GI night optics to shame. Holy crap, this stuff flirts with unbelievable!
Thermion XL60 Thermal Riflescope Details
The Thermion XL60 riflescope and the Telos LRF XL50 thermal viewer have disparate missions. However, they use some common technology. That tech is indeed mind-boggling.
Only $150 will get you a cheap night- vision imager that will let you wander around the yard after dark without tripping over the wheelbarrow. By contrast, the Thermion XL60 riflescope gives you actionable targeting data out farther than your rifle will accurately shoot. This is the thermal weapon sight that changes absolutely everything about hog hunting and predator control.
The optic offers 2.5-20x magnification to cover everything from up-close engagements to truly long-distance shooting. The sight is wildly customizable for particular conditions and user preferences. It also saves these settings so they are easy to find later. With a maximum effective thermal detection range in excess of 3,000 yards, the Thermion XL60 lets you shoot accurately across broad expanses, even in hard dark.
The key to this sight’s rarefied performance is a 2560x2560 micro-OLED screen. This high-tech piece of kit offers eight different color palettes to both maximize its effectiveness and suit your mood. White hot, black hot, red hot, rainbow and ultramarine are all on the menu. If you cannot figure out a display configuration that makes your heart sing, something might be wrong with you.
The Thermion XL60 is the good stuff—the top of the heap—the state of the art. That means it uses both internal and external rechargeable batteries. Swapping out the power cells can be done easily by feel, even in the dark.
The Thermion XL60 rocks 30mm rings and comes with a rugged throw-lever mount. It is rated for both 12-gauge shotguns and .375 H&H rifles. The unit is IPX7 waterproof, thrives in obscene temperatures, includes a built-in laser rangefinder and weighs 2.5 pounds ready to go.
This thermal gunsight is considerably smarter than am I. It naturally connects to your smartphone via Wi-Fi to record both stills and video, as well as live streaming. The Thermion XL60 also stores 10 different shooting profiles, each containing 10 different zeroing distances. Once configured, the sight performs its own ballistic calculations automatically. If the Thermion XL60 could cook, you’d marry it.
Get Handsy With the Telos LRF XL50 Thermal Monocular
So, maybe you just want to keep an eye on stuff without actually killing it. Then the Telos XL50 thermal monocular is the tool for you. The Telos XL50 takes all of that awesome Thermion secret sauce and packs it into a stowable, hand-sized unit. If you are warm-blooded, there’s just no hiding from this thing.
The Telos XL50 also talks to your smart phone and offers seven hours’ worth of run time on its internal power cell. The rubber-armed housing is forgiving of rough handling, and the optic does not much care what the temperature is. Unlike a lot of thermal systems, both the Telos and the Thermion enjoy a refresh rate that allows you to pan quickly without causing the image to stutter unduly. The Telos XL50 is 9.6 inches long and weighs just 1.5 pounds.
How To Put Both Thermal Optics To Use
The Telos XL50 is perfect for game identification and spy-grade covert surveillance. The Thermion XL60 lets you bring the rain out farther than you might otherwise safely shoot even in broad daylight. These things let you see in the dark like a freaking owl.
The obvious applications are hogs and nuisance critters like coyotes. Such animals are invariably nocturnal. In the past at least, nighttime was when humans were asleep and helpless. Now, these Pulsar optics allow you to ID targets and deliver precision shots even in the complete absence of moonlight.
These sights detect heat gradients. That means anything that is a markedly different temperature from the background shines like a supernova. For practice you can use a chemical hand warmer or a Ziploc bag full of ice. Either option leaps out at you like Jason Vorhees at summer camp.
Practical Tactical
I live way out in the hinterlands of rural Mississippi. There is a huge soybean field down the road. Glassing that space with the Telos XL50 shows this massive space teeming with life after dark. Deer, raccoons, opossums and armadillos all wander about doing their thing while glowing like klieg lights in this thermal imager.
The Thermion XL60 does the same thing but also lets you drop precision rifle rounds out to the maximum effective range of your weapon. Screen-within-a-screen tech offers unparalleled detail. I do this for a living, and I had no idea this technology existed for us normal civilians. The ANVIS-6 NVGs I used to fly Army helicopters seem like Happy Meal toys by comparison.
I trust you’re sitting down. The MSRP for the Thermion XL60 thermal sight is $7,199.97; the Telos XL50 goes for $5,099.97. That’s a buttload of cash even if your last name is Trump, Bezos, Buffett, or Musk. However, if you want a military-grade thermal system that will make you the absolute master of the night, that’s what it’s going to cost. These Pulsar systems are legit amazing.