Trijicon is one of the most respected and recognizable names in the optics industry. In fact, you would be hard pressed to go anywhere in the world and not be able to find someone who recognizes the ACOG optic. Their innovation has continued over the years and in January of 2017, they made a bold move. Trijicon launched a new electro optics (EO) division to lead the industry in “no-light” aiming systems. The new EO division features a complete lineup of thermal imaging monoculars, helmet sights, rifle sights and clip-on sights. In more common terms, Trijicon entered the thermal optic world.
Trijicon offers many different versions of their thermal optics. Photo Courtesy: Trijicon
Advancements
Recently, I had the fortune of spending some time with some folks from Trijicon and more specifically their EO division at an event in Utah. They were not shy about sharing their new offerings, and I was able to run several of the thermal optics over a two-day period. What caught my eye immediately was the relatively small size of the units. Gone are the days of quality thermals being the size of a toaster on your rifle. These were not much larger than a standard optic yet they were packed with advanced technology. I was also impressed with the options the optic offered. Trijicon electro optics feature three modes of white hot and three modes of black hot so you can identify your targets in most any condition. Plus, Trijicon offers EDGE DETECT Mode, an entirely new way to view your target with more precision. It uses a fraction of the brightness of other modes, so your eyes are not as prone to night blindness from the screen. I found this to be a very nice feature.
Testing of the optics took place at a very remote location in Southwest Utah. The rural nature of the location meant that there would be plenty of animals out in the early and late evening for us to spot. And spot we did. The resolution of the optics was spectacular as we could easily identify deer bedding down as well as rabbits and coyotes in the distance. When turned to a human form, the more realistic application became clear. With thermals I have used in the past, all that you could see was a general form. That is child’s play to the Trijicon optics. The image was extremely clear and I could identify what the person was carrying as well as general features. Trijicon uses a Micro IR thermal core that features a 12-micron detector and a clean 640×480 imagery at 60 Hz frame rate. Trijicon thermal sights present best-in-class image quality. In English, this means the image is incredibly clear.
Right now Trijicon is offering four different devices in the EO line. These include:
IR-PATROLSPECS
- Type: Patrol
- Objective Lens: 19mm
- Display Resolution: 640×480 pixels
- Frame Rate: 30 Hz LE100/LE100C; 60 Hz M250/M300
- MSRP: $5,699 – $6,999
The IR-PATROL Thermal Monocular Handheld, helmet-mounted or rifle-mounted systems, this optic can be placed in front of a day optic as a clip-on for 24-hour tactical usage.
SPECS
- Type: Hunter
- Display Resolution: 640×480 pixels
- Frame Rate: 60 Hz with a 30 Hz power save frame rate
- MSRP: $5,999 – $8,999
IR-HUNTER Thermal Riflescope has an 8x digital electronic zoom, 60 Hz frame-rate system and Mil-Spec digital OLED micro display for crisp, precise imagery. Four versions to fit nearly every need.
SNIPE-IRSPECS
- Type: Snipe
- Display Resolution: 640×480 pixels
- Frame Rate: 60 Hz with a 30 Hz power save frame rate
- MSRP: $9,999
SNIPE-IR Thermal Clip-On – Designed to become one with your optical day sight, both on the battlefield and the hunting field. Supreme versatility to work well with a wide range of day optics, but optimized for use in front of the 4×32 ACOG.
REAP-IRSPECS
- Type: Reap
- Objective lens: 35mm
- Optical Mag: 2.5X Digital Mag: 20X
- Display Resolution: 640×480 pixels
- Frame Rate: 60 Hz with a 30 Hz power save frame rate
- MSRP: $7,999
REAP-IR Mini Thermal Riflescope – 12-degree field-of-view, 2.5X optical magnification, 60 Hz frame rate system and 640×480 resolution with a 12-micron thermal core for industry leading image quality. All in a small, rugged package tested to MIL-STD-810G methods and procedures.
Lasting Impressions
With their base model hovering in the $6,000 range, these are obviously not for everyone. They are some of the most competitively priced professional units available however with an unmatched quality. The primary application for these devices sits in the law-enforcement and military realms, yet certain hunting segments would be well served. Yes, I want to hunt hogs with these. The innovation that has taken place over such a short period of time with Trijicon is exciting and I look forward to my next opportunity to see what they come up with next!
To learn more about Trijicon thermals, click https://www.trijiconeo.com/products/.
To purchase a Trijicon optic on GunsAmerica, click https://www.gunsamerica.com.
I would really like a thermal scope, but these are WAY out of my price range. $2,000 a$1,500 would get me started to save for one.
Under $1000 I would have to save for a year, I am disabled but still like to hunt. How many of people you know that would drop $6000. On one? How many of your employee could afford one? You would sell more at a lower price they you would at that price.
All of the decent thermal scopes are too rich for ny blood. I will never be able to afford one unless the get the price below $2000.00 . One thousand to fifteen hundred dollars would open the ball for hundreds or even thousands of us hog and predator hunters.
Trijicon products are well know and respected for their outstanding quality. That being said, and based on their retail price, what percentage of the hunting market do they reasonably expect to appeal to? With over 100M Americans out of work and the economy heading for a cliff how many hunters will be looking to acquire one of these items? Precious few I believe. Desirability must be tempered with practicality and this, I believe, was not taken into consideration when the company decided on a retail price.
I see what you’re saying…but why would you expect a “budget” thermal scope from Trijicon? I think if they sacrificed durability and/or quality, they would be going against what they stand for. Leave that up to the budget brands like Sightmark, weaver….
The cost doesn’t bother me, as much as the fact they don’t give a more indepth review. How does this optic operate with a dog sized target at 50.100,200,300 yards. What about a human sized target at same yardage. Show images at these distances. I’d need to see above before I’d gamble my savings on a subpar thermal.
what do you want to shoot dogs for?
YouTube search the videos of the scopes, if you can’t find sources check the name “IRDefense” since that’s the company that developed all the technology before being bought by trijicon. It’s a really solid product and you can find some really good comparison videos, there are some put up by competitors who intentionally didn’t NUC the scopes prior to comparison so the image quality is degraded, but the majority of the videos were done well and demonstrate the image clarity and other pros as well as the few cons of these systems.
Yes, one still costs more than a decent used car in USA. They recently used to cost more than a new mid range car, with less capability and much more bulk than this product line.
When Trijicon sells enough to recoup development and start up costs (and someone else offers an equivalent competing line of products), the effective price will come down.
In the mean time, some of us who REALLY want or need their capabilities will scrimp and save/sell some of our other toys to get decent passive IR scopes. Just glad these are finally getting small enough to reasonably carry along with adequate performance.
Yeah, their prices won’t come down after they recoup some start-up cost, look at everything they’ve come out with. Just look at burris and the small red dots, $200, trijicon, almost 3× that cost. They would be nice to have, but this cost is way out there
How many of us on here can afford a $5-10k scope? Really?! I agree with Mike. Let me know when it’s affordable.
Those are very nice, indeed. When they get the price down below $1000, let me know.