Decoding Darkness

The first of a two part series, this article covers the scanning portion of thermal night hunting with a review of the IrayUSA Mini MH25 thermal scanner.

Weapon lights are pretty standard these days, right? Pack in a lot of lumens and candela, use a 18650 or a couple of 123s, and call it a day, right? Well, that’s mostly fine, but it’s always nice to see a company do something a little different. Streamlight did just that with the latest in [...]

The Baldr lineup from Olight has received mixed reviews. When they told me they were announcing a new Baldr model, I was hoping they fixed some of the shortcomings of the previous versions. A week later the new light showed up at my door. Opening the package revealed the new Baldr-S laser/light pistol light.

Additionally, this light in particular is the V model, standing for Vampire. Denoting the lights ability to produce infrared light as well. So the X400 Vampire is a pistol mounted light that illuminates in both the visible and IR spectrum and also has a IR laser.

Since it is a fact that most deadly force encounters happen in dim light where it is hard to see, having a light source you can use to illuminate your target is essential.

Flashlights that are powered by a battery go back to the early 1900s and the first weapon-mounted light did not appear until 1912 when George A. Seely of San Francisco invented his Night Sight For Firearms. We have come a long way since then.

There are credible stories around of a laser aiming device being pointed at a felonious aggressor and stopping an attack. For some reason, some bad guys see a dot dancing on their body and decide that they might get shot. Since they want to avoid that, they stop any criminal attack.

If you’re Night Vision-curious, the ATN 4K Pro is a legitimate option at a forgiving price point. It’s loaded with features that will certainly give any Night Hunter an edge but it also works to push Digital Night Vision technology forward and continue to innovate.

If you get the opportunity to shoot in the dark — indoors or outdoors — by all means, do it. I suspect you’ll find what I did: Muzzle flash isn’t all that big of a deal in a self-defense shooting situation.