One of the essential parts of a hunter’s toolkit besides his weapon is a good pair of thermal binoculars. Ideally used for stalking rather than stand hunting, where one will be able to spot an animal from a good distance away while remaining well out of its line of sight. 

Now, while the human eye’s detection range is essentially infinite and limited only by terrain and the curvature of the earth, the further an object is, the more difficult it is to see, especially when the hunter is old or if the animal has good camouflage like this snow leopard camouflaged on a cliffside.

Thermal binoculars like the Pulsar Merger help immensely, defeating all manner of camouflage since they see the IR heat signatures emitted by all objects. However, like all tools, one must learn how to use it if one wants to be effective.

Stability and clarity of sight picture are important when glassing with a thermal, just like they are with regular daytime binoculars. Stability is easily achievable by using your binoculars with a sturdy hunting tripod like a Kopfjäger. The Merger LRF, when used with its mounting adapter, is perfectly compatible with the Kopfjäger leveling head, which allows the user to tilt and roll the binoculars without losing stability.

Of course, for hunters without a tripod, stability is still easily achievable from a sitting position by bracing one’s elbows on the knees, or from a standing position by bracing against the side of a tree trunk as one would with a rifle.

Slow, deliberate movements are essential for glassing. Movies and cartoons frequently depict characters rapidly moving from one area to another, but motion blur helps no one on a real hunting trip.

When glassing, it’s a generally bad idea to scan an area at random. For more efficient glassing, experienced hunters divide the landscape into grids. This is done by laying out one’s field of view into an imaginary series of vertical and horizontal lines like a chessboard. Slowly and carefully move the binoculars from left to right across your entire field of view, careful to look for any straight horizontal lines which might be the backs of deer or any movement that doesn’t seem like it’s just the wind. Once you reach the end of your field of view, shift your view either up or down and scan the next imaginary row right to left, as if you’re reading a grid.

While the binocular’s straps are for convenient access, there is a reason why they’re made to be slung around the neck and not stowed in a belt pouch. When a hunter is on the move and spots an object with his naked eye which he thinks might be an animal, he should not look down into his bag to take out his binoculars. He may lose his prey when he looks back up. Instead, hunters should lock their eyes onto their targets and bring up their binoculars from their chests so as to not lose their sight picture. This is similar to the concept of using magnifiers for red dots. The red dot stays on target but the magnifier does not need to adjust to magnify the same area.

Were these tips helpful to you? How do you use your Merger LRF thermal binoculars? Tell us in the comments below.

When Pulsar released the Accolade in January of 2021, it took the world of thermal vision by storm. These compact digital binoculars had eye-friendly adjustable screens with the ability to pierce through damp or misty nights with its finely engineered sensor. It worked well in all conditions and provided an easy to use interface even for users with gloved hands.

Now, with the new Merger LRF XP50, Pulsar builds on the greatness of the Accolade to exceed the expectations of its loyal customers who have come to know and trust Pulsar for its excellence. The Merger was designed with a traditional European finish, one of the cleanest fits and finishes on the market. Similar in look and feel to a traditional pair of binoculars, the Merger has great ergonomics and fits snug in its user’s palms. The Merger’s interface is both simple and unobtrusive. Even with gloved hands, these thermal binocular’s controls are easy to manipulate.

Designed with a new, more robust shell, Pulsar has transitioned away from the plastic/glass nylon composite of previous designs and has built the Merger using high quality magnesium alloy. This rugged, durable construction makes the Merger suitable for harsh outdoor conditions, especially with its IPX7 waterproof rating.

A comparison of the visual fidelity of the Merger to its predecessor, the Accolade, reveals night and day differences between the two thermal binoculars. The Merger features a larger F50/1.0 Germanium objective lens than its predecessor. Combined with its 1024x768 display, a substantial upgrade from the Accolade’s 640x480, the Merger’s image quality provides crisp, high resolution images that were simply not possible to capture in the Accolade. The Merger retains the impressive 1900 yard detection range of the Accolade as well as its 1000 yard laser rangefinder.

The convenience of streaming videos and pictures through the Stream Vision 2 app has carried over to the Merger, and the new thermal binoculars feature integrated 5GHz Wi-Fi, with longer range and faster transfer speeds than the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi on the Accolade.

Along with other improvements, the Merger boasts a longer battery life. With its Dual Li-Ion power system consisting of an external APS3 chargeable battery and a built in battery pack, the Merger can run for 10 hours in the field, more than enough for a long night of wildlife scanning or trekking. To further extend its battery life, the Merger comes equipped with an optional automatic on/off function in the form of a proximity sensor, which puts the unit to sleep whenever the binoculars are away from a user’s face and wakes it up again when in use.

The Merger’s high performance, rugged reliability, long battery life and wide range of features make it a top contender in the world of thermal optics. Aside from hunters and forest rangers, law enforcement and search and rescue personnel will find this solid piece of equipment perfect for conducting reconnaissance or rescues on dark nights. Sold for the same price point as the Accolade, there is no reason for a discerning buyer to accept anything less.

I had long wondered what practical applications thermal imaging might have outside of the hunting world. The most obvious purpose for high quality thermal optics, in my mind is exploration. In my youth, I was fond of hiking in the rainforests of my home country, but as the curtain of night would fall and the once-still greenery of the forest would begin to come alive with all manner of howls and chirps, human hikers would have to leave before darkness could completely overtake them and leave them stranded in the woods. Now, I finally had the opportunity to see what the woods were like when they were truly awake.

Pulsar’s Merger LRF XP50 Thermal Binoculars were perfect for some late-night wildlife observation. I had never used them before, but my expectations were high due to Pulsar’s name alone. Taking the Merger out of the box, I was pleasantly surprised to know I wouldn’t have to waste time charging its batteries for first time use. The Merger’s APS 3 battery boasted ten hours of continuous operation with both batteries, thanks in part to battery saving features like its proximity sensor, which puts the unit to sleep as soon as it senses the user no longer has the device near his face.

Knowing I wouldn’t need to worry about the device dying mid-expedition, I made my way over to Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve in Plano, Texas. With 800 acres of well-preserved forest located in the middle of the city, Oak Point is Plano’s largest park. It was also one of the few parks that closed at 11pm, making it perfect for nighttime animal observation. Oak Point promised rattlesnakes, bobcats, coyotes, owls and other creatures of the night. I was excited to put the Merger to the test.

When I arrived at Oak Point, there was hardly a soul around. The only light sources came from the streetlamps in the parking lot and bungalows. Beyond the cement walkways, the lake and forest trails beyond were completely engulfed in darkness. The last few late night hikers who remained were making their way out of the park, leaving no one to disturb the animals. After giving the manual a brief review, I turned on the Merger and let it lead me through the night. Almost immediately I spotted my first animal.

Visible only through the Merger, a nine banded armadillo foraged for food near the riverbank. It dug away at the soil, searching for insects with its tiny claws, oblivious to the fact I was only a few feet away.

The Merger’s high definition 640x480 sensor displayed the little creature with surprising sharpness. As far as I could tell, there was no lag between the creature’s actions in real time and what the Merger was showing through its display. The device’s automatic Non-uniformity Correction (NUC) calibration also helped reduce any image flaws like vertical bars and unwanted specks from IR radiation.

Continuing down the trail, I tested the Merger’s laser range finder as I went on various trees and structures in the distance. Considering the unit was handheld and not mounted on a tripod for stability, the readings were consistent in both “manual” rangefinding mode and scan mode. In “manual” rangefinding, the unit measures the distance of any object within its crosshairs at the push of a button, while scan mode emits a constant laser, automatically feeding the user data on the distance and angle of whatever the unit is pointing at.

The Merger’s eight different color palettes also came in handy while observing wildlife. A bird’s feathers offer terrific insulation for the animal and are more difficult to detect on thermal vision in black hot or white hot modes. In rainbow mode, however, I managed to capture a great egret as it finished its midnight fishing trip and flew off into the darkness.

The Merger’s high shutter speed manages to capture this photo with minimal blur and distortion. While the egret’s feathers camouflage the bird itself, its IR radiation reflects red heat off the lake’s water. While thermal vision isn’t the best for fishing, it’s better than plain night vision for wildlife observation on land.

The many features of these high-tech thermal binoculars don’t just end with its photo capabilities. Using the Stream Vision 2 App with the device can be a nuanced experience which users may find to be quite convenient when they understand it. First time Pulsar owners might be confused about how to “connect their phones to Wi-Fi” in the middle of the wilderness. However, Wi-Fi in the case of Stream Vision 2 does not mean “Internet.” The Merger functions as its own offline hotspot which a phone can connect. Once the phone is connected to the device’s hotspot, to both act as a viewfinder and ad-hoc trail camera. The device’s proximity sensor will turn off, and if the Merger is mounted on a tripod (through its tripod adapter) or placed on a steady surface, the observer can simply relax out of sight of any animals while viewing the Merger’s output through his phone.

Settings are also easier to manipulate through stream vision. Color palettes, which would normally require a user to go through color mode settings for each color type, can now be switched via a tap of the thumb. The same ease of accessibility applies to the Merger’s brightness, contrast, zoom feature, picture-in-picture setting, calibration modes and options. Finally, downloading footage from the device and storing it into Stream Vision 2’s cloud service was as simple as clearing the device of files. All the file manipulation is done via the app. There’s no need to fiddle with wires or remember obscure folder paths.

The Merger LRF XP50 is truly a high-tech marvel for observing the wilderness at night. Although it’s primarily designed with hunters in mind, the Merger is the perfect tool for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

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