Do Thermal and Night Optics Have a Role in Home Defense?

[bearcreek]

You are free to make up any situation you want

Not making anything up. Just pointing out that identifying someone isn't necessarily a prerequisite to being justified in shooting them.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I put my trust in my dogs more than thermal they are on alert if they think they heard something outside.

You set this up like it was a binary sort of situation when it should not be. Ideally, you will have several tools at your disposal to use and not will fit all needs at all times.

Thermal/NV isn't a warning system. Dogs won't improve your vision after dark.

 

[Zerodefect]

I've been in rural situations where this could be handy. (Livestock, stray dogs mostly)

I could see a tactical use there. (Have you ever dropped a feed company and caused everyone else's feed cost to go up?)

But not so much where I'm at. If you're rich, and you're quiver is full, so be it.

 

[Gary H]

Great discussion. It is clear to me that these specialty optics are not appropriate in most home defense scenarios. Also, inexpensive Thermal/Night Optics will likely fall short should you need them for this purpose. I’ll stick with a tactical light. I also have laser on my home defense pistols, but am uncertain as to the role they play. Why did I purchase them? They are integrated with a weapon mounted light. My primary light is a handheld light.

 

[Armored farmer]

I have a rifle set up for night use. It isn't necessarily my "HD" gun, but it could be. It has both NV/illuminator and a mounted Streamlight with offset irons.
Some day I would like to have a handheld thermal for scanning the area for unwelcome visitors.

 

[jmorris]

White light really isn't as much of a blinder as one might think, especially indoors. There's going to be so much splash off the walls, ceiling, and floor that everything, including the person holding the light will be lit up. This is easily testable at home with a flashlight.

If it white lights were a real blinder no one would be able to drive in a city after dark, it would just be a big wad of cars mangled together.

 

[shafter]

If it white lights were a real blinder no one would be able to drive in a city after dark, it would just be a big wad of cars mangled together.

Correct, sir.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

If it white lights were a real blinder no one would be able to drive in a city after dark, it would just be a big wad of cars mangled together.

I can remember back in the days of 60-65 lumen Streamlight Scorpions and Surefires that people (reciting vendor or manufacturer claims?) were calling such amazingly powerful lights "weapons" that would blind and stun potential attackers. Your could get a Surefire 6P for about $40 and it came with an amazingly powerful Xenon bulb and ran on 2 CR123 batteries. And there were naysayers noting it was a flashlight and not a death ray.

Thinking about it, I have to laugh. 60 lumens would be a lower setting on my adjustable lights, today.

Here is a discussion that mentions various lights as weapons (primarily by blinding, (people were still holding onto Maglites at this point, not wanting to transition to the new fangled little lights that you could use very well as a club)...

Flashlights as weapons?

What is a good flashlight to carry? I've bought three different ones and they are all crap. (S&W, Maglight.) Any ideas? Are Surefires worth the money and if so, which model?

www.thehighroad.org

What is even funnier is that about the time of this thread, the more powerful lights were coming out that were double the lumens of the 6P and there were people who were reluctant to use them because they were too powerful and they were afraid of blinding themselves with reflect light.

 

[OS/N]

CCTV for outside w/ thermal is a plus.

Open choke 12ga and switched motion lights for inside. Best if you see them and they can't see you.

An alarm helps to keep you from getting killed while sleeping.

A sign outside saying -
Cameras in use
Owner is armed &
Dogs have teeth

Can go a long way.

 

[starnbar]

You set this up like it was a binary sort of situation when it should not be. Ideally, you will have several tools at your disposal to use and not will fit all needs at all times.

Thermal/NV isn't a warning system. Dogs won't improve your vision after dark.

That maybe but they had no problem finding the two kids in my wooded side lot quicker than I could with a thermal and made sure they did not go anywhere until the S.O. got em.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

That maybe but they had no problem finding the two kids in my wooded side lot quicker than I could with a thermal and made sure they did not go anywhere until the S.O. got em.

Mmkay. Well, I can't comment on your abilities or inabilities to run your thermal properly, but given the issue of photonic barriers (over illumination of the foreground at the expense of seeing things in the background, as would be common in the woods) you should have been able to see better and farther into the woods with thermal than a person with a flashlight.

 

[starnbar]

Mmkay. Well, I can't comment on your abilities or inabilities to run your thermal properly, but given the issue of photonic barriers (over illumination of the foreground at the expense of seeing things in the background, as would be common in the woods) you should have been able to see better and farther into the woods with thermal than a person with a flashlight.

What has being able to contain a situation got to do with a thermal scope? Expand on that for me does using thermal make a suspect freeze in their tracks??

 

[Double Naught Spy]

What has being able to contain a situation got to do with a thermal scope? Expand on that for me does using thermal make a suspect freeze in their tracks??

I never said thermal had anything to do with containing a situation.

I do like how you keep moving the goal posts.

 

[Old Dog]

At this point (since the thread seems to be devolving into some slight degree of weirdness), I gotta harken back to something Jeff White said a few days ago:

So how many of us are going to face an opponent who is equipped with the latest generation thermal imaging in CONUS? If that is the threat you are preparing for you are preparing to fight a government agency.

I keep getting the feeling that if I am gonna need to use my night vision device (yes, I do have one, I'm a gear junkie) or thermal scope (hey, they're getting more affordable), it's a true Red Dawn situation or some government agency's Google Maps got screwed up and selected the wrong compound... Do I really need to say that night vision/thermal optics are not a top priority for my home defense?

 

[Scrapiron45]

Gaining time to access the situation should be a goal in any defensive situation. If some sort of vision aid allows one extra seconds then it should be considered.
I would imagine it could be helpful where you were observing a larger area such as a homestead or possibly a larger suburban setting and of limited usefulness in an apartment or hotel room.
Remember we are talking defense here and not the ability to sneak up on someone. The idea is to avoid the fight.

 

[Kleanbore]

This one has drifted afar. It has run its course.