Goodies For Thermal Imagers, Pt2

In our last article, we talked about carrying special items in our kit along with our thermal imagers (TI) when we are in the field. These items are necessary in the field or area of operation especially for extended time periods or if our situation has endured longer than planned. Here is the list in case you missed it:

• Flashlight
• Light sticks or LED lights
• Survival kit
• Food & Water
• Extra ammo for both pistol and rifle
• Knife
• Matches
• Communications gear and extra battery
• Hunter heat pads
• Sniper veil or netting
• Cold packs
• Duct tape
• Extra battery packs for Thermal Imager (alkaline or lithium)
• DVR/transmitter handle
• GPS
• Compass
• Para cord 550 /seven strand

Let's continue where we left off last issue when I spoke of heater packs to mark objects or other important things. You will notice on our list we included cold packs. For our purposes the first aid units that you must shake or pop to activate are the best. These work well to mark things in environments where the weather may be hot. To do this is really simple and fast in the field.

Simply take your duct tape and stick it to one side of the pack. Now activate your pack. Do not activate your pack before putting the duct tape on because the tape may not stick as well because of the perspiration. You may want to use a subdued color of tape such as black, olive, drab, etc. Also, since most of the cold packs are white you can use the tape to camouflage them. Simply stick it to your object that you would like to mark (see picture). Remember, your marker will now be a dark color as opposed to white.

We really have no clock on a bad situation or in an observation post. The bad guys or criminal activity usually have control of that. So remember, you are going to need extra power for your TI and your other tools. This is where I highly recommend using a non-rechargeable battery system for your TI. I use the AA battery packs on my imagers stocked with Lithium batteries. I get a lot more use out of these as opposed to the rechargeable types - sometimes up to 3 times longer. Not to mention AA batteries are easy to find in a pinch.

Sniper veils or netting are great to have with your kit as well. They aid in building a quick hide or cut down on reflections on the lens cover of your TI. Your optics will not be affected by the veil, but they work great to break up your outline as well as the TI's.

So remember to put your kit together for the TI and always keep in mind the needs of your team.

Stay Safe!