[TFB GUNFEST] Going Hot With Burris Thermal Optics -The Firearm Blog

At GunFest last week, Burris brought a plethora of new goodies. Their new Thermal Optics piqued my interest. They are releasing a whole line of thermal optics from handheld viewers to clip-ons and rifle mounted thermal weapon sights.

Burris Thermal Handheld BTH35

Their BTH35 is a handheld thermal monocular good for spotting or tracking game. It features a 2.3-9.2x zoom range. It is IP66 rated for rain and dust. Resolution is 400×300 with 17μm pixel size. Detection distance is 900 yards and recognition is 500 yards. It is powered by an internal battery that can be recharged using a USB-C cable.

There are five color palettes:

White Hot – The objects with higher temperature show in white or light gray
Black Hot – The objects with higher temperature show in black or dark gray
Red Hot – The objects with higher temperature show in red
Adjustable Red Hot – The objects with higher temperature show in red. Users can adjust the intensity of range of red heat from level 1 to 10
Iron – The objects with higher temperature show in iron red
Blue Hot – The objects with the lowest temperature show in blue or dark blue, and the object with higher temperature shows in red

The BTH35 will retail for $1,999. They are also making a BTH50 with a 50mm germanium lens and a zoom range of 3-13.2x for $2,199.

James Reeves in all the color palettes.

There is a PIP window to show magnification rather than display the entire screen.

Workers across the street jackhammering into the sidewalk.

Red Hot mode looking at street musician across the street.

I got to play with the BTH35 for a little bit and you need to use the Burris Thermal app to get the full potential out of the device. You use the app to download the images onto your smartphone. They do not have the app for apple devices yet, it is only available for Android phones. Unfortunately, you cannot manually download the images via the USB-C cable.

Burris Thermal Clip-On

The BTC50 has a similar size to the BTH35. It is powered by two CR123A batteries and runs for 3 hours. The BTH35 internal battery lets the unit run for 5 hours. The clip-on uses couplers that attach to the objective lens of your day scope. You can remove it from the coupler and use it like a handheld. It retails for $3,199. They make a BTC35 that will be similar to the handheld in terms of performance. It will retail for $2,999. All the thermal devices are 400×300 and 17μm. But unlike the handhelds, the clip-on thermals only have four color modes.

White Hot – Objects at relatively high temperatures are displayed as white or light grey.
Black Hot – Objects at relatively high temperatures are displayed as black or dark grey.
Red Hot – Objects at relatively high temperatures are displayed as red.
Green Hot – Displayed as a night vision image