It is worth every penny - Trijicon Electro Optics REAP-IR 35mm Thermal Weapon Sight w/8x E-Zoom

The review format is quite limiting, so I’ll try answer the questions that I had while buying Trijicon thermal optics.

Q: Is the image as clear and as crisp as they show in advertising videos?

Yes, it is. Up to me it is even better than in most demos that I saw before purchase. If it is not, the device may have a problem. Thanks to OpticsPlanet, such problem can be easily resolved. That’s my personal experience.

Q: Is it worth to waste that much money comparing cheaper devices?

Yes, it is. I also have EOTech’s 320x200 thermal monocular and… They simply cannot be compared. EOTech is practically good to distinguish the heat source of a man or deer size at distances up to 100-150 yards or to detect heat insulation problems. Trijicon is a true VISION device. It is sensitive enough to recognize a paper IPSC or IDPA target on the basement drywall (not easy task for a thermal device!). It works a little bit better with 3M aluminum foil tape as a target, but I was able to tune it up to see regular shoot’n’see targets at 50 and 100 yards distance. So, it seems to me, it can be used as full-featured night vision device, not just a “heat detector”.

Q: May it be used in front of day optics?

Yes, but not as it may be expected and it seems not be designed to be used this way.

It is NOT a true clip-on device, the image is shifted comparing the day scope. You will have to zero it separately and then use Reap-IR’s recticle instead of day optics recticle.

The day optics should to have 1x zoom in order to see the whole screen (including menus). I tried it with Elcan Specter 1-4x and Trijicon VCOG 1-6x, in both cases it aligns perfectly.

To my taste, 4x optics zoom better picture than device’ 4x digital zoom. However, I would say that 1-2.5 zoom of day optics and 1-2 digital zoom on device combinations provides the most usable picture.

It is easy to “cold zero” it using day optics if you have a vise, boresight and 15-25 yards to a wall. After such sighting I’ve got just 1” at 50 yards offset between day and night setup during the first life fire session. Less than I have when I attach silencer to the same rifle. :-)

It is quite convenient setup, it does not make rifle way too front-heavy and I was able to run the same 3-gun course using my Sig 516 + Elcan, with and without Trijiсon attached, in the same time. Accuracy with Trijicon attached is just a bit worse (but a bit, e.g. probably 20-30% larger groups) but it may rather just require a little bit more practice.

The only thing I would love to have is to ability to use rechargeable batteries like 18650. Otherwise this device is simply perfect.