ND3 TORCH REVIEW

[Alex Arrigone 24]

hi everyone,

 

i was looking to buy an ND3 laser torch for this winter however at a hefty £300 and the lack of reviews, i was reluctant to risk it and buy one.

 

thankfully after a post i put up a week ago wedge2409 (ste) kindly lent me his to trial.

 

last night i went out lamping for a few hours,before dark i zeroed the torch to the scope and we were off.

 

i was using the larger ND3 sub-zero (if im not mistaken). its about half the size of an average scope.

 

the first thing i noticed was the weight. on its own it is light enough, however mounted to the top of a scope and bipod legs attached, it felt pretty heavy, which made standing or kneeling (unsupported) shots very wobbly.

 

the torch itself is fantastic! the range is unbealievable when you concentrate the beam. everything is so clear to view and eyes of rabbits/ other animals light up so bright that you can spot them over twice the distance of a normal torch.

we spotted a rabbit sitting in long grass at about 30 meters and i could clearly see its eye however with my friends expensive DEBEN we found it very hard to see.

its definately an excellent torch, one of the best i have used.

 

however as good as the torch is in theory, its practicality for lamping isnt so good.

 

the beam is really concentrated and makes a perfect circle (excellent when you already know where the rabbit is) but when the beam is zeroed and sized to your scope it makes scanning fields and bushes near impossible. the beam is too small. scanning cant be done whilst walking and the beam wobble to much and you cant see a thing. i found the only was to scan is to be static.

on my lamp i spotted a rabbit and started walking towards it with the beam of light on it. because i was walking the beam wasn't staying on the rabbit and i found most of them got spooked, however with a conventional torch this wasnt a problem.

 

so i decided for scanning porposes to widen the beam, and only reduce the beam size when i was in a firing position. unfortunately when you widen the beam, i found that it was too dim to reconise anything further than 20 meters away and light reflected of rabbits eyes were massivly reduced.

 

so it didnt really work of a wide beam for lamping.

 

the final problem i noticed was disorentation. we were lamping a farm i know like the back of my hand and i found myself falling, tripping and generally clumsy with the torch.

because its such a perfect circle with no escaping light, when walking and you flash he lamp on for a quick scan, you can only see a green circle on a bush, unlike with a normal torch a quick scan will also unveil the ground in front / around you. (hard to explain but i hope it helped).

 

i feel like im saying everything is bad which isnt true. when looking through the scope everything was like daylight (when the beam was sized to the scope). it is truly an amazing torch, just unpracticle.

 

the only was i can see this torch being good for lamping is if you had a second torch for scanning fileds and one in a firing position, youd use the ND3 for the kill.

or having a NV monicle to scan and line up the shot with the torch.

 

overall i found this to be an amazing torch but for the money it costs it would be better spent on a different torch.

 

hope you all enjoyed this review, sorry its a bit negative.

 

ID LIKE TO THANK WEDGE2409 FOR LENDING ME HIS TORCH. WAS A GREAT HELP

 

atb

 

alex

[wedge2409 98]

Hi alex excellent write up and very honest.sounds to me you would be best using the torch at a static location i.e rabbit warren etc

[19powell90 89]

hey ste,

 

its a fantastic torch but from what alex was telling me on the night its just not that practical unless you knew where the bunnies where. id like to thank you for the opportunity for us to trial the torch and even showing me the a&m silencers.

 

hope you are enjoying your good holiday

 

atb

 

scott

[fireblade_rrw 20]

Bit more info on the ND3x50 Laser here;

 

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/198650-laser-genetics-nd3x50-review/page__fromsearch__1

[Ben 76 2]

Great write up and nice off Wedge to loan you the torch. Bit gutted though with how you found it to be unpracticle as I really thought this was soon going to be my next purchase and a halfway house price wise to going full NV .... oh well sounds like I'll be sticking to the GL2 this winter instead....can't stomach £900 odd pounds for NV!!!

 

thanks for the info folks.

[19powell90 89]

have you seen the newest one on the market http://www.nitesite.co.uk

 

scott