I don't get the focus that some are making, into night vision equipment. Spending hundreds at a time on toys, then teaming up in a night vision "hunt", into the pitch blackness. Quite romantic and ramboesque. ( new word I made up,,,,I think) Watch the videos of people stumbling around out there in total blackness, tripping over things, walking into trees, stumbling into each other, and basically making a racket that even a 3 toed sloth in a bacon bra, could run away from. Oh yeah, I wanna be out there in the dark, with a vision of a wall of leaves at 10 feet, and nothing but blackness beyond. Now there's an advantage against the big hairy one. OOOOOOOH,,,,,,,,,,,,,,eyeshine ! ! ! Did you get that on tape? Hey, why are they looking at us, we're in the dark and they can't see us,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,can they? Um

What?

ya i'll agree to that, i think therenfore iam or was it iam threrefore i am or was it thinking without iam not? o well

I would think you'd stand a much better chance of sighting a nocturnal creature after dark (deer, for example). I would also imagine that under the cover of darkness, a BF would feel safer in approaching closer to noise making humans than it would during daylight hours. But the only way to really see in the dark would be with some sort of night vision equipment, no?

Well, my point is more, what evidence do you get out of it, for the effort? Eyeshine pictures? Noise recordings? Subjective experiences of "something is out there"? You put yourself at a huge disadvantage out there in the dark. Even with thermal imaging. You'll get a thermal blobquatch, sure. But how much more in danger are you, out there in the dark, with an animal that can rip you to pieces before you even know what it is. It has the advantage in that scenerio. Anyone who goes out there in the dark, imo, has a death wish. Smart hunting is in the daytime, where you can at the very least, get pictures of it. Thermal can be used in the woods in the daytime, if it isn't too hot, where their body temp gets clouded in the brush. A cool, cloudy day with thermal to find it, then cameras to get the evidence. At night, even with thermal, how can you get pictures of it, without huge flood lights to flash at it, making it hide and run before you even get a pic taken. Thermal as a defensive while camping overnight, is good. Going out there into the woods in the dark, imo, is taking a worthless risk. But, I guess some like that adrenaline rush of getting your arms ripped off.

Evidence,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I agree. The woods are definitely more hazardous at night. As to collecting evidence through night vision equipment, I'm sure it's problematic, not to mention expensive. That said, I'm sure to many who are out looking for BF, providing proof to the rest of us is a secondary concern when compared to the actual encounter itself.

I keep reading how everyone thinks that thermal imagers are expensive and out of their range. This is true, if you're looking at brand new ones at their websites. I got mine on Ebay for 1600. It's a used firehouse model, with a video out, and works great. It's a dinosaur by some measures, but it has it's pluses.

Buying a used thermal imager is no sin. The technology hasn't changed much in several years, other than resolution, which is still in the Hi8 tape realm. If you look at all the money you've already spent on other technologies, would having bought a thermal instead, been a better choice? I already had lots of equipment bought over 10 years of infrared experimentation for another reason, and I knew it's limits for BF finding, so I went to Ebay and got one about 2 years ago. I haven't spent anything else since. You can spend thousands on security system technologies and laptops and stuff, but one thermal unit blows them all away.

One like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/AGEMA-Thermovision-210...id=p3286.c0.m14

There are always versions of this kind, on Ebay. Pawn shops, estate sales, firehouse county bulk surplus,,,they end up on Ebay. Just use the search term, "thermal camera". Do the Google research into each unit on Ebay, before bidding. Ressearch the seller. You might get a real deal, at 1/10th the cost of a new one.

I agree. The woods are definitely more hazardous at night. As to collecting evidence through night vision equipment, I'm sure it's problematic, not to mention expensive. That said, I'm sure to many who are out looking for BF, providing proof to the rest of us is a secondary concern when compared to the actual encounter itself.

we were given night vidsion gogles, some years ago, but it no longer works and we need it fixed not realy sure what the problem is. just stoped working. cant find anyone locally that can fix them. any sugestions out there.