Nocpix H50R thermal Binoculars
"I don't smoke grass; I light it on fire." Walter expelled his breath, his face pressed against the black plastic stock of his M16 as he peered through his Starlight scope.
"Are you sure, man? We just got this stuff from some Hmong, and well, the boys and I love it," a scruffy-looking kid in his late teens said, extending his hand out towards Walter's position, a joint glowing between his index finger and thumb.
Walter made a tripod in the muddy trench with his legs spread shoulder-width apart and leaning into his M16 braced against sandbags, overlooking the valley and patchwork of rice patties below. The two stood there for a second watching the glowing joint, a handful of stars, a quarter slice of moon, and a green ring on Walter's face from the starlight scope before Walter breathed out,
"God damn it, Tom!" How many times do I have to tell you, I don't burn joints; I burn thatched huts!"
What Walter would have given to have a set of the Nocpix H50R binoculars on that night in the highlands. The 4x base magnification would have let Walter and his supposed spotter, Tom, scan the valley, and with the built-in laser rangefinder, they could have accurately ranged and engaged the column of VC that was about to come out of the jungle on that night, January 29th, 1968.
Recently, Walter picked up a set of these thermal binoculars and has taken them out in search of critters. Few pieces of gear have wowed Walter like these binos. Videos do not do them justice. The ease of use, simple menu system, battery life, and image quality are all truly impressive. Walter took them out looking for critters on a hunting trip and threw the H50R's in his bino harness instead of standard binos. Here's some footage from the trip. For around the price of a nice PVS14, a bowler can now have the Eye of Sauron. Walter easily was able to identify animals out past 1500 yards, literally watched flies on shit at 20 yards, and ranged objects and critters out to 750 yards. It's a superpower and has no shortage of applications and is far more capable than a helmet-mounted unit in Walter's experience. The future is now.
Walter has a tripod clamp on order and will continue testing, but the initial impressions are very impressive. Would a 3x magnification be more useful for scanning? Perhaps and for bowlers in more confined areas, the H35R might be a better option. Walter has more testing to do and a comparison of the state of binoculars in 2025 in the works. If you will it, it is no dream!