In this video, I talk about something I get asked about a lot. Thermal (and night vision) on a budget. In most cases, budget thermal offerings can be gimmicky to the point I wouldn’t recommend them. Well this DNT Optics ThermNight is a different story so I’m happy to present this review. Check out the ThermNight here: us.dntoptics.com/texasplinking and use code “texasplinking” to get it for under $1,000 which at that price, it’s easy to forget the night vision & day mode, laser rangefinder, and ballistic calculator features. The thermal alone makes it worth it in my opinion. Is at AS clear as thermal north of $5,000? No, but man it’s significantly better than I would’ve ever thought and most certainly usable. Thanks for watching!
no guitar intros , no politics , no one trying to make a Hollywood debut and no larfing just the product and a great description.....ah this is a nice change from so many other firearm/accessory channels!
@@billsmith1998 i cant stand garand thumb . the larping is beyond annoying. i like forgotten weapons, joe with cyclops optics and a few others. i watched most of the channels at one time but guys treating firearms like toys also got on my nerves. then the politics started to filter in and i started to filter out channels that went that way. if i wanted to be at a political rally i would watch that instead. then you have channels like TFB where dude is making guns into a fashion statement. i could go on but i wont lol.
I've had mine for two weeks. The learning curve from "glass" to digital was very intuitive with the ThermNight layout. I absolutely believe I made the best investment in a multi use scope. It's a great unit for average OR professional level critter gitter. I'm having a ball with it.
Something i learned about ar charging handles,when the latch is no longer keeping your charging handle in perfect place it will eventually cause the aluminum to crack up by the hole the gas key slides through while the bcg slide back and forth during firing. l had a similar situation occur and I kept rocking n rolling anyway, because we all know how the system works it's not unsafe for the user really,Glady they're not a very expensive part.but id imagine if I had kept going like that until the crack turned into a complete break that front of the charging handle could have gotten smashed into by the gas key causing a major malfunction and possibly damage..it's not the biggest of deals,just a thing I learned about the hard way I figured I'd share with the community..
I’ve been hoping that arken would go thermal also and this might be a dream come true. Please bring several videos of this. I just ordered number eight in regular arkens.
I wish I didn't see this, I already bought an Arken EP-5 because I couldn't pass up the price and proven quality and have yet to get a rifle for it (a few of my friends did the same) and that scope has been waiting for a rifle for 6 months. I will wait to see more on this scope, but for the price, the thermal looks amazing compared to the $6500 thermal I've been wanting.
wow, that's amazing quality for the price. a market disruptor for sure. most thermal of that quality is priced between 3k and 6k great find i'm getting one for sure they are still $1,099 .00 what an awesome deal.
I noticed POI shift problems with any thermal scope.... I'm from Europe. I used to have a Pulsar, it was a similarly shaped thermal scope. It had problems if you would be sighting it in the winter let's say the temp would be 0C.... In that case during the summer temps around 25C my rifle shot up about 4 inches... I thought there was a problem in my thermal scope and indeed some people complained about it on some US forums at the time. Now I have an Infiray similar to Rico, but higher resolution than Rico. It works the other way around, when I aimed the rifle in winter 0 C , in that case in summer 25 C the rifle shoots approx. 3 inches lower at 100m....I believe every thermal scope has similar flaw, but people aim their rifles much more often than just twice a year, so the temperature differences are much smaller and many people wouldn't even notice a one inch shift due to the temperature change at 100m. (One inch displacement at 100m can be caused by as little as 8 C ) so if you sight your rifle in every 2 months you might not even notice any problem…. However everyone can test his own thermal scope like this: 1) remove your thermal scope from your rifle. 2) Put it in your refrigerator for 40minutes. 3) Than take it out, put it back on your rifle equiped with a bipod. Put your rifle somewhere on that bipod and try to fix it so you could observe some target without touching it to avoid changing your rifle position. 4) Check the position of your reticule for every 5 minutes while your thermal scope is warming up and observe for reticule shift in relation to your terget and you might be surprised that those things can hardly be used for any reliable long range shoting......... Of course in winter you might prefer to do it the oposite way, keep your thermal scope warm inside your home and than repeate the same procedure outside in your garden while it is cooling down....
they just dropped the 640 hydra series ! i got a email from them . the 640 series will be next to get the dual setup! will more than likely get it i be it lands around 2600$ or so
Order is in! Thanks! Nice review. Question. What's the difference between the 850nm illuminator that comes with it and the 940nm they offer? I didn't order that; just an extra battery.
I was going to buy this, but it came down to buying the thermnight or a complete assembled 6.5 Creedmoor upper from Aero. Had to finish my build.. darn! I am getting this optic soon though
I'm trying real hard not to start acquiring parts for a 7mm-08 upper on an AR-10 platform. My hunting rifles are all 7mm-08 so.....why not an AR-10? LOL. This scope would be great on there to clean up the coyote mess that's happening in my area, and I can use my 7mm-08 loads.
Does the ballistics calculator actually adjust the reticle, or is the app calculator just giving you the drop and you have to manually compensate? I really like the ATN where it moves the reticle to the point of impact automatically. But at 3-6x the cost for their latest Thor 5, I'm thinking it might be overkill.
I think thermals are nice, but unless you live in a good state, and own enough property, they won't let you hunt with them, and most ranges won't let you use them.
Oooook lol…. Sooo was this something made by Arken? Or just Arkens name on some Chinese stuff? Weird that yah can’t find the zulus… but can find these “DNT” all over the place. I didn’t pull the trigger on DNT cuz I thought it was some “knockoff” of Arkens products! And don’t wanna buy one till I know a lot of background on these.
Arken optics created DNT company to be 99% night vision focused stuff. So Arken for glass scope DNT for thermal/NV digital stuff Think Cadillac and GMC. Same same but different also
@@TexasPlinking thanks for the answers…. Like I said wanted one but when I seen they were no longer in stock on Arken but available for DNT I was like wait a second something don’t seem right lol! My Arken rifle scope is bad ass for the price and hoping these will be too and hold up! Thanks again!!
And just seen there coming out with an upgrade version soon. 384 core 35mm objective, the 335 This is the 256 and 25mm objective version in this video. The 225
@@christaylor9895not 100%. Heard they want it to be out BEFORE shot show, so late January 25’ but I haven’t seen a hard set date yet. Did hear price should be around 2k or just under. But who knows fully till it drops for sale right
@TexasPlinking while it's sitting in the truck in a gear bag ,it wont work when you turn it on. i didn't think I would have to explain in detail but common sense ain't so common
In this video, I talk about something I get asked about a lot. Thermal (and night vision) on a budget. In most cases, budget thermal offerings can be gimmicky to the point I wouldn’t recommend them. Well this DNT Optics ThermNight is a different story so I’m happy to present this review. Check out the ThermNight here: us.dntoptics.com/texasplinking and use code “texasplinking” to get it for under $1,000 which at that price, it’s easy to forget the night vision & day mode, laser rangefinder, and ballistic calculator features. The thermal alone makes it worth it in my opinion. Is at AS clear as thermal north of $5,000? No, but man it’s significantly better than I would’ve ever thought and most certainly usable. Thanks for watching!
Awesome, thanks so much!!! I was thinking I was going to have to get the HoloSun red dot thermal for 1500, but this one seems better and cheaper.
Oh by the way, how long is this promotion good for?
@@50megatondiplomat28I don’t believe there’s an end to it declared 👍
DNT is also releasing a 384 and 640 Thermnight at the beginning of 2025. They are currently in testing.
That’s impressive for the price point
no guitar intros , no politics , no one trying to make a Hollywood debut and no larfing just the product and a great description.....ah this is a nice change from so many other firearm/accessory channels!
Thanks for the kind words!
Amen. Thanks for respecting your audience's time.
Garand thumb, PSR, and administrative results are bout the only intros I can handle on youtube. everything else is annoying
@@billsmith1998 i cant stand garand thumb . the larping is beyond annoying. i like forgotten weapons, joe with cyclops optics and a few others. i watched most of the channels at one time but guys treating firearms like toys also got on my nerves. then the politics started to filter in and i started to filter out channels that went that way. if i wanted to be at a political rally i would watch that instead. then you have channels like TFB where dude is making guns into a fashion statement. i could go on but i wont lol.
👍🏻
I've had mine for two weeks. The learning curve from "glass" to digital was very intuitive with the ThermNight layout. I absolutely believe I made the best investment in a multi use scope. It's a great unit for average OR professional level critter gitter. I'm having a ball with it.
Where are these scopes made? TIA
@@1110631 Pangao Photoelectric, yep! China.
Its 256x192 thermal optic for those that were wondering.
Stoked for this video! I was wondering what thermal options were available for under 1000 yesterday. Perfect timing.
Definitely going to keep my eye on this one!
Something i learned about ar charging handles,when the latch is no longer keeping your charging handle in perfect place it will eventually cause the aluminum to crack up by the hole the gas key slides through while the bcg slide back and forth during firing. l had a similar situation occur and I kept rocking n rolling anyway, because we all know how the system works it's not unsafe for the user really,Glady they're not a very expensive part.but id imagine if I had kept going like that until the crack turned into a complete break that front of the charging handle could have gotten smashed into by the gas key causing a major malfunction and possibly damage..it's not the biggest of deals,just a thing I learned about the hard way I figured I'd share with the community..
I’ve been hoping that arken would go thermal also and this might be a dream come true. Please bring several videos of this. I just ordered number eight in regular arkens.
Straight to the point, that's what I like.
Best nv video Ive seen. Thank you!
Crazy to see the heat off the round was crazy
What was the distance?
I wish I didn't see this, I already bought an Arken EP-5 because I couldn't pass up the price and proven quality and have yet to get a rifle for it (a few of my friends did the same) and that scope has been waiting for a rifle for 6 months. I will wait to see more on this scope, but for the price, the thermal looks amazing compared to the $6500 thermal I've been wanting.
Should do a side by side against the AGM rattler
just when i thought i was done buying new toys for awhile...
just curious about how far away were those targets? and at night in thermal mode about how far could you see clearly?
20 yards
wow, that's amazing quality for the price. a market disruptor for sure.
most thermal of that quality is priced between 3k and 6k
great find i'm getting one for sure they are still $1,099 .00 what an awesome deal.
Save that extra dough with the code! Should still be active 🤞
Holy shit. What an awesome scope. Checks all boxes. A bummer, that its illegal in germany. I hate german gun laws 😢
You should have voted for Trump 🤣🤣... JK Sorry, I'm still giddy out recent events at the voting booths
I thought the only people in germany with guns were issued them for work
I have one and LOVE IT!!! I want another!!!
I'm congruent buying it. Do you have experience with other brand like agm? Was wondering how this did at 200yrds.
I noticed POI shift problems with any thermal scope.... I'm from Europe. I used to have a Pulsar, it was a similarly shaped thermal scope. It had problems if you would be sighting it in the winter let's say the temp would be 0C.... In that case during the summer temps around 25C my rifle shot up about 4 inches... I thought there was a problem in my thermal scope and indeed some people complained about it on some US forums at the time. Now I have an Infiray similar to Rico, but higher resolution than Rico. It works the other way around, when I aimed the rifle in winter 0 C , in that case in summer 25 C the rifle shoots approx. 3 inches lower at 100m....I believe every thermal scope has similar flaw, but people aim their rifles much more often than just twice a year, so the temperature differences are much smaller and many people wouldn't even notice a one inch shift due to the temperature change at 100m. (One inch displacement at 100m can be caused by as little as 8 C ) so if you sight your rifle in every 2 months you might not even notice any problem…. However everyone can test his own thermal scope like this: 1) remove your thermal scope from your rifle. 2) Put it in your refrigerator for 40minutes. 3) Than take it out, put it back on your rifle equiped with a bipod. Put your rifle somewhere on that bipod and try to fix it so you could observe some target without touching it to avoid changing your rifle position. 4) Check the position of your reticule for every 5 minutes while your thermal scope is warming up and observe for reticule shift in relation to your terget and you might be surprised that those things can hardly be used for any reliable long range shoting......... Of course in winter you might prefer to do it the oposite way, keep your thermal scope warm inside your home and than repeate the same procedure outside in your garden while it is cooling down....
My first thought was put this on your EBR and build out a COD gun. Great video!
What caliber, are you using, Bob?
Well...I know what I'm going to do with my new "Trump 47" stripped lowers! Time for a night build!
Time to build a new rifle...
What a shame!
Just got a good start on a 22 arc. Match made to be true.
they just dropped the 640 hydra series ! i got a email from them . the 640 series will be next to get the dual setup! will more than likely get it i be it lands around 2600$ or so
I bought a Zulus HD 5-20R several months ago. I wish I'd known about this sooner.
How are you liking the Zulus? I'm looking at it strictly for the night vision as I already have a couple thermals.
@@Gareth96v1 I haven't used it extensively, but so far so good. I believe it to be a good value.
There's 2 bigger models out now
@@rickywoodcock7222 you mean the Hydras? You a woodcock hunter? 2nd year here without much action (SW Ohio)..
@@rickywoodcock7222 Bigger?
Interesting gonna have to check this out. And see what kinda warranty it comes with
Sig has the similar scope for 6k. Good job.
Order is in! Thanks!
Nice review.
Question. What's the difference between the 850nm illuminator that comes with it and the 940nm they offer? I didn't order that; just an extra battery.
I believe the illuminator is just brighter
The 940 is less visible to the human eye and also hogs supposedly
I wish he showed how well the thermal looked at further distances like 100 yards, 200 yards, etc.
My latest random range day episode I was shooting at 140 and showing further distances
I was going to buy this, but it came down to buying the thermnight or a complete assembled 6.5 Creedmoor upper from Aero. Had to finish my build.. darn! I am getting this optic soon though
You made the right choice. Enjoy.
I'm trying real hard not to start acquiring parts for a 7mm-08 upper on an AR-10 platform. My hunting rifles are all 7mm-08 so.....why not an AR-10? LOL. This scope would be great on there to clean up the coyote mess that's happening in my area, and I can use my 7mm-08 loads.
Does it feel shaky when you are standing and shooting?
Blk Friday coming up tho!
Does the ballistics calculator actually adjust the reticle, or is the app calculator just giving you the drop and you have to manually compensate? I really like the ATN where it moves the reticle to the point of impact automatically. But at 3-6x the cost for their latest Thor 5, I'm thinking it might be overkill.
You have multiple choices, it can move the entire reticle, or give you a holdover reticle
@@TexasPlinking Awesome, that's what I was missing, TY. I will order it.
My local coyote population doesn’t stand a chance once I get one of these
Questions here wondering if it functions good in cold weather like Manitoba winters where it drop from -15 to -25
I’m debating on getting one.
So to be clear? When using analog or thermal there would be no reflective IR light easily spotted by other night visions? Correct or false
With thermal, no IR light would be spottedwith night vision. Under night vision, only the IR light would be spotted. That’s with digital or analog.
What range were you shooting the steel at? If it looked like that at 100y, that would be a good thermal. I think it was 50 though?
Pretty sure it's 100 yards.
Yeah that charging handle is junk sample size of 4 all bad no idea if newer version is fixed but gen 1 was complete trash.
Can the reticle be changed?
wait so it does night vision and thermal ?, i wonder how does this compare to the holosun
So between this and the solus..... which is better?
How long is your code good for? Some of us have to save to afford it…
What's battery life like? Does it have external battery capability? Maybe I missed it
Yessir, external power supply through the usbc port. Battery life is 5hrs ea. & comes with 2
Awesome!
Distance it can see??
I think thermals are nice, but unless you live in a good state, and own enough property, they won't let you hunt with them, and most ranges won't let you use them.
Oooook lol…. Sooo was this something made by Arken? Or just Arkens name on some Chinese stuff? Weird that yah can’t find the zulus… but can find these “DNT” all over the place. I didn’t pull the trigger on DNT cuz I thought it was some “knockoff” of Arkens products! And don’t wanna buy one till I know a lot of background on these.
Arken optics created DNT company to be 99% night vision focused stuff.
So Arken for glass scope
DNT for thermal/NV digital stuff
Think Cadillac and GMC. Same same but different also
A lot of the same team from Arken is over at DNT. They’re just more focused on the digital & thermal stuff over there is what I take from it
@@TexasPlinking thanks for the answers…. Like I said wanted one but when I seen they were no longer in stock on Arken but available for DNT I was like wait a second something don’t seem right lol! My Arken rifle scope is bad ass for the price and hoping these will be too and hold up! Thanks again!!
Ty👍
1000 yard challenge?
Awesome
i want one, i really do. Send one here to me in arctic norway and i can do some testing and make some vids for ya
There’s a guy in Europe that has the same optic under the Arken brand which is the parent company I believe. So it’s definitely purchasable in Europe
@vicdiaz5180 this is a different optic, this isn't the Solus that aren't had. U can get the Solus from this company but this is not the same optic
@@vicdiaz5180 Great, will do some research!
And just seen there coming out with an upgrade version soon.
384 core 35mm objective, the 335
This is the 256 and 25mm objective version in this video. The 225
Do you know when? I’d prefer to hold out for the 384 or even 640 if that’s on the horizon.
@@christaylor9895not 100%. Heard they want it to be out BEFORE shot show, so late January 25’ but I haven’t seen a hard set date yet.
Did hear price should be around 2k or just under. But who knows fully till it drops for sale right
Bruh i was just about to buy the new Pard NV-S450CL for like 700$.....And now i see this thing exists at this pricepoint.F*CK
Crap, now another grand this month
please use the bipod😆
Bună dimineața cît costă sistemul se poate monta pe armă wincester sxp pompă calibru 12 și la ce distanță de detecție e?
Violating a rule of safety. Never point at something unless you want to destroy it. Poor truck.
Truck is fine, and some b-roll is when the optic wasn’t mounted
122° ain't gonna work sitting in the truck with the windows up
I don’t think people will be operating a thermal scope in their truck with windows up
@TexasPlinking while it's sitting in the truck in a gear bag ,it wont work when you turn it on. i didn't think I would have to explain in detail but common sense ain't so common
@@TexasPlinking I'll explain so you can understand, if,the,temperature, outside, is,115°, then,your, gear,needs,to,work,at,150°,because in,Texas,the,summer,is,hot,outside, in,the,truck,it,is,140°,so ,your ,gear, sucks,
@TexasPlinking at least you're pretty bless your heart
@@jimdandy3823in the hot summer day you won’t need night vision. Do you ever get out of your basement?
What’s up with that charging handle
It broke