In 2016, Trijicon bought IR Defense and merged them into Trijicon as Trijicon Electro-Optics. A great move for both companies, the same ultra-high quality thermal optics are still available under the Trijicon banner.
IR Defense's product line still includes all of the products that it did before, including the REAP-IR, IR HUNTER and IR PATROL series thermal sights and monoculars, and the SNIPE-IR thermal clip-on sight.
Which Trijicon Electro-Optics Line Am I Looking For?
Well, that depends on what you're trying to accomplish! Here are a few use cases and recommendations.
- Observation/Detection - If you're just looking to find and/or detect living things, especially at night, then you'll value a lightweight package with the ability to mount in different configurations. In this case, take a look at the IR Patrol Thermal Monoculars - these will feature a lower price and weight point than some of the other devices. The REAP-IR would also be a great option here, and would include a rail-mount and more reticles as a standard feature.
- Hunting/Depredation on Dedicated Rifle - In this case, you've got two great options - the IR Hunter series or the REAP-IR. Both will work, both offer a strong rail mount as a standard option and have great onboard reticle selection, but the real decider here comes down to two facets - weight and magnification. In general, the REAP-IR will be lighter. The IR Hunter MkIII offers more magnification (4.5-36x compared to the REAP-IR's 2.5-20x). Other versions of the IR Hunter offer a lower magnification range, but still including the Hunter's turret-based user system, which is very popular.
- Thermal Add-On to Day Rifle - In this case, a Clip-On device is optimal, and the SNIPE-IR is the dedicated device that was designed for this purpose and offers the best compatibility and feature set. The IR Hunter series or the REAP-IR will work in this capacity in a pinch, but will not work with the same level of day optic magnifications as the SNIPE-IR.