Torrey Pines Logic: Micro Thermal First Impressions

Recently I was browsing online and saw a buddy had posted his Torrey Pines Logic micro thermal imaging device for sale.  I’d heard his impressions of the unit but haven’t had any hands on time myself.  Negotiations were fierce to be sure but at the end of the day I had a model T10-N in the mail.  For those of you in the know, the T10-n is a discontinued model.  I’m testing and reviewing this as similar though improved models are still available from Torrey Pines Logic.  Not only are similar models available, they run about the same price as the T10-N did when it was released.

When I opened the box I probably said the same thing many of you would.  HOLY SHIT I’VE GOT A THERMAL AND HOLY BALLS IT’S TINY!  I’ll get measurements up in the review but I’ve eaten strawberries that were bigger than this thing.  I can close my hand around this.  The box comes with a wrist strap/picatinny mount, a 45 degree angled mount for a rifle and a vertical grip mount for stable viewing.  The base of the unit has a picatinny mount as well.  The PDF manual shows an 8 hour battery life, 25 degree field of view and a 9 hertz frame rate.  I’ll get more geek specs out in the review for those of you with the inclination to know the finer points.

Flipping it on was exciting.  I found a thermally stable wall and tapped the power button to calibrate the unit.  Testing around the house is fun.  Flipping through the 4 view modes is a very Predator feeling.  This unit does have a low frame rate and so it suffers from motion blur.  The 30 hertz unit would likely be much more comfortable for use while moving.  This model does work very well while stationary though.  The other models in the T10 series had a 50 degree field of view.  Much like a shotgun choke the tighter the focus, the further the range.  Despite the slim field of view, I was able to easily spot a warm car at 90 yards.  A person walking at 90 yards was barely visible.  A small plane at 500 feet was clearly defined.

So far, this unit seems very well constructed.  I’m interested to see if the anecdotal reports are true regarding this being used on a firearm.  It does have a small box reticle onboard that is somewhat adjustable.  I’m going to test this for use both with a red dot and as a standalone sight.  It’s very tough to get a good picture or video of the screen but I’ll get in the old ghille suit and get something up.

Stay tuned…