Driving with FLIR

[montaillou]

So, I did a search but there wasn't much there.

Has anyone driven with FLIR? How fast or slow is recommended? Articles written by manufacturers are self serving.

Would vehicle mounted be better than wearing a personal device?

I await the first post saying I don't need this.

 

[Mullaney]

So, I did a search but there wasn't much there.

Has anyone driven with FLIR? How fast or slow is recommended? Articles written by manufacturers are self serving.

Would vehicle mounted be better than wearing a personal device?

I await the first post saying I don't need this.

.
Interesting... So, if you had some sort of night vision like it is used today - most times it is in a rifle scope or a set of goggles. We all know about NVG.

I use FLIR for honeybees when I am looking at the side of a house or tree that seems to have a lot of bee activity. Just guessing that FLIR would be something like NVG. Portable. Easy to use.

Only thing is that with FLIR you get a LOT of bright colors that would really work on your night vision... A friend of mine went to the NRA Annual Meeting in Texas back in April. He is one of the luckiest people I know and he won a thermal rifle scope. It is a lot like FLIR but levels of white rather than bright yellows and reds like my hand held FLIR. There might be a version of that mounted in NVGs.

For whatever it is worth, my vote would be for "man portable" (wearable) night vision.

 

[msgjd]

Has anyone driven with FLIR?
I await the first post saying I don't need this.

Well-said about "self-serving" manufacturers that don't get into the nitty-gritty, and I am clearly not qualified to be the first to burst your bubble.. But I might make it jiggle just a little bit.. Firstly I have no experience with vehicle-mounted IR other than the tanks but I was not a driver.. However I do have experience with the early FLIR goggles.. Lack of periferal vision and poor depth of perception were definitely something to get used to and I never got used to them or whether or not I was gonna land flat on my face tripping on a branch or other small obstacles.. I had a very hard time trusting my walking step in forested areas, let-alone trying to drive with them. I certainly did not like the goggles, but as with an M16A1's 1st-gen night scope, newer better stuff has come along I am very unfamiliar with.. Having spent hundreds of hours on now-countless blackout moves, overnight BO convoy moves, and bugouts, the stock BO lighting is comfortable to me and I still work/practice with BO to keep in shape .. I do realize IR gives you a much-better sight range thus on-road/off-road you may be able to drive faster and see more of what is actually around you.. That said, the only close call I ever had with BO lights was almost clipping a loose horse on a back road at 20MPH at 0300hrs after a night out with the guys .. But then again, I know people who have hit horses and cows, with their headlights on

 

[montaillou]

some sort of night vision

The reason I am considering FLIR is because it, supposedly, does well in foliage, dust, fog, snow, etc. I mean, if some other type of IR tech does as well in those conditions, that could work too. Generally, if driving conditions are bad, you don't drive. However, there sometimes comes a time when you need to drive in bad conditions and it'd be nice to see where I'm going. GPS isn't bad, and I've looked into HUD projection tech, but most of it is made for car windshields not a deuce. Also, I thought FLIR might be more effective for showing obstacles (I could be wrong, this is why I'm asking) for driving off road or spotting problems on/with the road (holes, wash outs, debris, obstructions, etc).

I am not looking to go 60 mph, if the recommended speed is 15, I'll do 15, if people say 20 or 25, or 5. Conditions, including wearing or looking at a screen would tend to slow one down if they want to be safe and the whole reason for doing this is for the rare situation when I would NEED to use it. I am stocking up on items that don't cost a lot (this is a relative term) but can be very useful in the right situation and don't take up too much space. For instance, I bought a full face respirator because I could foresee a time when I might need to drive close to a forest fire (ie: smoke). Is it likely? No, but a full face respirator and filters cost less than $100 (at least before Covid) and take up very little storage space. I'm picking up an atmospheric generator, because y'know, water, kinda important. Even a simple, low tech compass is handy to have along. A friend suggested wood gasification, but it takes up too much space, my alternative is to quadruple the number of fuel tanks. I could go on, but I'm sure most have already stopped reading.

There are a few threads, mostly in passing, on SS about FLIR. I didn't see any direct threads, but I didn't look before 2015 because the way tech is, stuff just gets better (though I may not be able to afford that).

There are some videos out there of FLIR on humvees, but I was hoping to get some insight, maybe something you don't see on the videos, like how you had trouble with depth perception. But that might be a limitation to the goggles vs a vehicle mounted unit...maybe? Maybe the tech I'm interested in costs 5 figures or more and is way beyond my reach and the cheaper priced stuff isn't worth it.

 

[Jbulach]

I believe thermal will have to be vehicle mounted unless you can drive with the windshield open. Depth perception will be a real problem unless in an extremely familiar environment.

 

[davidb56]

depth perception and figuring out what you are actually looking at before you hit it. it works better if a passenger was using it.

 

[montaillou]

vehicle mounted

My go to when searching for vehicles is what's used on boats. More tech is designed for boats than off-road, it seems. And boats experience rough conditions, as rough as any off-road with bad weather conditions and salt water thrown in for extra fun.

...if a passenger was using it.

This will be my passenger, most of the time.

 

[Mullaney]

My go to when searching for vehicles is what's used on boats. More tech is designed for boats than off-road, it seems. And boats experience rough conditions, as rough as any off-road with bad weather conditions and salt water thrown in for extra fun.



This will be my passenger, most of the time.

View attachment 896347

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Nice looking passenger!

Funny part is that you can leave your passenger in the boat or truck. Ten or fifteen minutes. Then you come back and it is like you are throwing a party... Tail wagging, happy to see you and all that stuff.

Try that with a woman - and there won't be any tail wagging happening - For Sure!

.

 

[chucky]

https://www.flir.com/products/adk?vertical=automotive&segment=oem

 

[chucky]

https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...o303df-AhVtnWoFHfuSCiEQ9aACKAB6BAgEEBc&adurl=

 

[montaillou]

I can do searches on the web, people pay me to do this. Also, any place that says "inquire within" I probably can't afford. I came here looking for real world experiences.

FLIR M500 Ultra High Performance Multi-Sensor Camera System (oemcameras.com) Just under $200k.

 

[Jeepsinker]

A lot of our HMMWVS and MRAPs have infrared driver's viewing equipment installed now, which is a screen inside meant to be used in lieu of actually looking out the windshield with night vision. I've actually seen some of these systems posted for sale in various Facebook groups recently for quite reasonable prices. So yes it can be done safely and effectively. It is all black/ white of course.

 

[DB556]

Thermals are nice but they are digital and have a refresh rate you have to think about, I can keep my deuce going pretty good at 40 with my PVS-14s Any faster and I'd out range my IR illuminators. Having tried driving with the RH25 and Yoter-C the minor lag takes some getting used to. But that said I can detect a coyote or deer at 300-500 yards that I wouldn't have a chance to detect with my NVG "how many deer are at the edge of that far tree line"? I'd guess two, flip over to the thermal, more like two dozen.

 

[chucky]

You can put (irband pass ) filters over a designated white light or more that you switch on from your dash will greatly increase range and depth perception

 

[G744]

 

[williamh]

Thermals are nice but they are digital and have a refresh rate you have to think about, I can keep my deuce going pretty good at 40 with my PVS-14s Any faster and I'd out range my IR illuminators. Having tried driving with the RH25 and Yoter-C the minor lag takes some getting used to. But that said I can detect a coyote or deer at 300-500 yards that I wouldn't have a chance to detect with my NVG "how many deer are at the edge of that far tree line"? I'd guess two, flip over to the thermal, more like two dozen.

I’ve done a bit of driving with the 14’s and the 7’s. They make a version for flying that have dual tubes the help with depth perception , wouldn’t try with any off the shelf thermal.
Driving an armored vehicle ? Sure. Not gonna care unless I hit another tank. unless your going straight down a road , fixed mount would blow if it wouldn’t track with ur head. At least with a mv you could drop the windshield and side windows to look around if it was head mounted. A heads up display like on a high end Chevy , would be nice to try and adapt.