All posts by moondog

Tom "Moondog" DelMundo is a former NYC Creative Director.
Gadgets, Shooting Sports

Oneleaf NV100 Night Vision

Night vision (light enhancing) scopes have been used by hunters and soldiers since the Vietnam War but even today these devices can cost thousands of dollars. With progress of technology, these devices have shrunk in both size and price. The Commander NV100 is a digital video camera that is designed to mount directly onto a typical rifle scope and turn it into a night vision scope. Oneleaf technologies sent me an NV100 to test out.

Almost all digital video cameras can see in IR light but most have a built-in optical filter that block out most IR light which can distort and fog an image in normal light. Using the NV100, you are looking at its built in digital display viewfinder much like you would with an old-school video camera. In fact, when using the NV100 in normal light, the image looks slightly blown out with a glow on objects, a side-effect of IR light.

The NV100 can record 1080p videos and photos onto a micro-SD card. It runs of a rechargeable CR18650 battery which can be recharged using a micro-USB cable. The unit can also record sound and output though a 3.5mm headphone jack, though the audio sounds compressed and low fidelity.

In practice the NV100 is equivalent to a Gen 1.5 night vision monocular. To a small degree it can passively enhance low-light images but in reality, it does require IR illumination to function as intended. The unit has a built-in IR illuminator and visible red laser to light up and aim at targets.

The NV100 can be used as a hand-held Night Vision monocular. It has a standard 1/4(20) camera screw mount at its base to allow the unit to be mounted on photo tripods. OneLeaf does not offer any type mounting system or adapter to attach it to a helmet or headband.

Where the NV100 shines is its ease of mounting to a rifle scope. The packing includes a 42mm, 45mm, and a 48mm adapter collar to allow you to mount it to your scope (some spotting eye-pieces may be too large even for the 48mm adapter). The NV100 attaches to the collar via bayonet style locking ring; the package also includes a roll of electrical tape to assist in shimming your eye-piece to provide a more secure fit for the adapter collar.

When mounted to a rifle scope, the image you see in the NV100 appears like a low-resolution videocam viewfiender. The unit’s menu system is accessed through the viewfinder and the buttons on the unit function like a D-pad for navigation through the menu system. Adjustments in focus are made through the NV100 large physical focus knob.

I could get a decent focus of an object 100yrds away but I could not get both my target and the reticle in the same plane of focus, despite adjusting the scope’s paralax focus, ocular focus, and the NV100’s focus. I could get both somewhat in focus at my scopes lowest magnification (4x) but found it impossible at magnifications greater than 6x.

I was easily able to see objects 100yrds in low light and even faintly in pitch-black in its full-color video mode. Switching to B&W mode activates the unit’s built-in IR illuminator, an IR LED flashlight with a lens that allows you to adjust the beam from flood to focused. Oneleaf claims it can illuminate objects up to 300m away.

In B&W IR mode, the issues with depth-of-focus were even more pronounced. The reticle was blurred to the point of invisibility when my scope was at 20x magnification. Given that IR illuminators are far shorter range than visible light flashlights, long range engagements using a scope and the NV100 may be a moot point though some users have posted varmint hunts at ranges out to 200yrds or more.

The NV100 does have two shortcomings, the first one is a potentially a deal-breaker for some hunters. In my testing the NV100 has a short 1.5″-2″ eye-relief from the back of its eyepiece (OneLeaf claims up to 2.75″). This is fine for shooting 22LR or even 5.56mm AR’s. But on a large caliber rifle this short eye-relief could easily cause scope bite. OneLeaf does include some larger eye-cups which could provide more padding but a real solution would be to design a viewfinder eyepiece with a minimum of 3″ of eye-relief.

The second issue is minor but annoying. The image the NV100 displays is distorted, with the vertical proportions appearing shorter than the horizontal giving you a squashed image of your target. This is also evident in the movies and photos you take with the NV100.

Overall the Commander NV100 works as advertised without breaking the bank (though the latter is relative the cost of higher-end NV systems costing hundreds more). On my wish-list of improvements would be a firmware update to allow adjustment of X/Y proportions of the image, a lanyard loop to attach a wrist or neck lanyard for handheld use, and an adapter arm to attach it to a GoPro or PVS-14 mount.

The OneLeaf Commander NV100 is available through this Amazon Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4kMPrO6

Gadgets, Shooting Sports

Athlon Midas 1 Mile Laser Rangefinder

Years ago I bought a cheap $50 golf laser rangefinder. It does the job, measuring distances out to 500-600yrds but I’ve always envied the hunters and shooters who had laser rangefinders that could call out distances to +700 yards. That’s why I was excited when Athlon sent me their Midas 1 Mile Laser Rangefinder to test out. And I’m sure with the start of hunting season in much of the country, others are eager as well.

My first impression of the unit was that it felt lighter than my golf rangefinder, while feeling far more solid though both have plastic bodies. The Athlon has a textured brown body with thicker rubberized panels at your handholds to provide a more secure grip with wet hands or wearing gloves.

The viewfinder has a fixed 6x power magnification. Sadly not to the level of Athlon’s 6x scope optics but par for the course for a range finder (or a dirt-cheap budget binocular). The image is clear-ish and I was able to differentiate car sized objects about a mile away.

The unit comes with a single CR2 lithium battery housed in a battery compartment with a coin slot screw cap. The cap has a rubber o-ring to keep it water tight. The manufacturer claims it is “rain resistant” which means it is not “water proof” or submersible. But remarkably it is covered under Athlon’s No-Fault Lifetime Warranty.

The menu options are visible through the viewfinder in a projected display. You can choose measurements in meters or yards, and it has a golf or hunting mode (the later displaying the distance in a furthest of target in a group). The unit can also be set to display vertical, linear, and horizontal distance to your target.

Available on Amazon through my affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3f9b12D

Gadgets, Product Reviews

V3 Micro EDC Light

The current trend in EDC lights is creating ever smaller flashlights that are ever brighter. I was sent a BORUIT V3 EDC light to test and review. This micro-EDC light is the size of a Car alarm keychain dongle and its packaging promises to output up to 900 lumens.

The device has a smoke colored clear polymer body with two buttons and a covered SUB-C charging port. On one end is a twin-head LED emitters and the other end has a keychain loop and a rare-earth magnet end that allows the light to magnetically mounted and used hands-free.

One button activates the primary twin-lights. The device has high, medium, low, and endurance (candlelight) modes. Double-tap for continuous light, short tap for momentary, and long-press activates the devices Turbo mode which BORUIT claims is 900 lumens. It is very bright but in my testing, I suspect this number is inflated.

The other button double-taps to activate small set of LEDs. There is a high, low, red, blinking-red, and blinking-red/blue modes. This appears to be for specialized low-light work when tail-standing, magnetically mounted, or as an emergency signal.

I drop tested and water-jet tested the unit which passed without issue. The beams from the twin-headed unit cast a wide flood pattern that are still able to illuminate objects from over 100ft away. Unfortunately, in lumen testing the unit fell short.

I fully charged the unit overnight and let left it on high output for over 1-minute to stabilize the battery. The device specs claim the unit is 650 lumens on high mode. I measured 360 lumens. I also tested the unit in low which claims to be 150 lumens but I recorded only 50 lumens (less than half its stated output). Based on these numbers, I doubt it is capable of outputting 900 lumens in turbo.

Despite its over-inflated lumen numbers, the light is perfectly sized as an EDC or emergency light. For those that don’t want to carry in their pocket, it’s form factor makes it easy to clip-on to accessories or keys. And given it’s features is a reasonable purchase for less than $20 (some clones for even less than $15).

Available on Amazon through my Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/3yPHlOL

Gadgets, Shooting Sports

G35 Laser Designator

Raytice sent me their G35 Laser Designator to test and evaluate. In function this is similar to weaponlights with a scope ring style mounting system. Like a EDC weaponlight, the unit comes with a tail clicky button to activate the 5mw green laser

It comes with a Picatinny ring mount, 18650 Li-Ion battery, USB charger, and optional wired activation switch. Switch pad has an off/on button and momentary-on pressure pad and can be mounted via Pacatinny or M-Lok. The manufacturer claims the unit with a fully charged battery, can operate for up to 1000hrs.

Mounting is similar to a weaponlight. The unit has dials/turrets to adjust windage and elevation of the projected beam. The dot is visible in daylight at 50yrds and much further at night.

Shooting free-standing, I was able to shoot a 4″ group at 25yrds using the laser as my aiming device. Functionally it’s similar to aiming with a red-dot but with the added benefit of having your aim point visible to others. While this may be a liability to some, it would be useful to firearms instructors, as it easily reveals where their student was aiming when they took the shot.

Available on Amazon through our Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3y08YUG

Gadgets, Product Reviews

Doogee D11 Smart Watch

A lot of people like Smart Watches. Who doesn’t like knowing how many steps they’ve taken, their heart rate, checking the weather. But the Apple Watch costs almost as much as a phone (an Android phone, not an iPhone) and the cheaper Samsung watches have to be charged daily.

Now for the price of a basic Fitbit, you can get much of the bells and whistles of a full-featured Smart watch, the D11. A sample was sent to me by Doogee to test out. I’ve worn it for almost a month now and its a definite step up from my old Fitbit Inspire.

The package was plain white with no logo or branding. Inside I found the watch, owners manual, a USB charging cable, and a replacement set of black wrist bands. The watch came default with a black and orange silicone rubber wristband that was nice but I found the color a bit too distracting for my YouTube videos so I switched it to the black bands.

The D11 was waterproff, surviving daily showers and hand washing. The manufacturer claims 15-days of standby power. In normal use, I averaged about 6 days before the watch shut down and I had to recharge it which took about 20-30 minutes. The charging cable is magnetic and proprietary.

The D11 requires the download of the Gloryfit app on your Android phone to customize and control many of the phones features. I discovered too late for the video review that the Gloryfit app does allow the download of +200 additional watch faces. This process takes about 2-3 minutes to complete and the phone appears only able to have 1 custom watch face memory slot; downloading additional watch faces on the App deletes the previous design from you watch.

The watch has about two dozen built-in Apps but a fair number of them are just settings such as brightness. The rest range from a stopwatch, weather, phone, music controls. There does not appear to be a means to add new Apps to this phone through the Glorfit App.

You can send and receive phone calls. The watch has a built in speaker and microphone and the audio quality was adequate for voice calls. While you can not watch videos or browse the web, you can use the watch as a bluetooth speaker for your phone, but the audio quality sounded tinny and left much to be desired for music.

The D11 also has a number of health monitors typical of fitness phones such as heart rate, blood oxygen levels, stress/mood, sleep patterns, and blood pressure. Though the accuracy of some of these monitors is suspect (blood pressure is notoriously unreliable using light measurements).

The watch face turns off to conserve power but is slow to wake. It has a look-to-wake feature (that supposedly activates when twist your wrist to look at the face), is unreliable. I almost always have to press the bezel to turn it on and even then there is a 1-1.5 second lag that is just annoyingly laggy. And the screen never seems to stay on long enough. Overall I like core features of the phone but not its functionality and user experience.

Still, I plan to wear this until I wear it out. Be prepared for an update whenever the latter occurs.

The D11 is available on Amazon through my affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3Cf69AD

Shooting Sports

M40 Red Dot Magnifier

Feagle sent me their new M40 3x red dot magnifier to test out. I was a but hesitant because I’m not a big fan of red dot magnifiers. I don’t think they have enough magnification for the weight they add to a firearm and their eye-relief is less than I’d like for anything larger than a 5.56mm or other light-recoil rifle. That said, I was impressed with the build quality and features of this magnifier.

It came in totally plain brown cardboard box. Inside is an owners manual, Picatinny side-flip mount, 1/3 co-witness riser plate, and a bag of screws and an allen wrench. The tube/body design looks like an oversized red dot. Even including turret caps with adjustment tools in the cap, which function like flathead screwheads. This allows adjustment to recenter visual position of the red dot in the magnifier’s field of view.

The 3x magnified image seen through the M40 was good with no noticeable color shift, though the image was not sharp from center to edge. The extreme outer edge of the image was soft with slight distortion. While I would not consider this durable enough for LEO duty or combat use, for action shooting, this should be perfectly usable.

M40 3x magnifier: https://amzn.to/3fkMA1U

RDS-22 red dot: https://amzn.to/3rab296

UTG 1” riser: https://amzn.to/3BOipaR

M40 Specifications

  • Magnification: 3x
  • Objective Lens Diameter: 21mm
  • Field of view (FOV): 7°
  • Exit Pupil: 7 mm
  • Eye Relief: 62mm
  • Diopter Range: +/- 3
  • Weight: 10.5 oz
  • Length: 2.85 in / 72 mm
Product Reviews, Shooting Sports

Sunwayfoto SM-86 Tripod Saddle Mount

The SM-86 is Sunwayfoto’s top-of-the-line ARCA/Swiss compatible saddle mount. This rifle clamp features all metal construction and an eye catching mattalic green finish. An unusual feature is Picatinny accessory rail mounted to the clamp head opposite to the lever/knob. You can mount a simple red dot, flashlight or even a small scope to act as a spotter though I’ve not seen any shooter try this.

Its tri-lever lock knob allows for excellent leverage when clamping down heavy or high recoil rifles. The clamp’s interior sides are lined with rubber pads to provided extra grip while reducing marring on wooden or polymer stocked rifles. The saddle can open up as wide as 3.4″ allowing for clamping of extra-wide chassis or even spotting scope tubes.

I tested the SM-86 on a Sunwayfoto T3240CS tripod. The tripod comes with a replacement 23mm high-rise ARCA/Swiss base which is required to provide clearance for the T3240’s quick-release lever. In testing the setup with my polymer Savage Axis .308 hunting rifle. the SM-86 performed perfectly. After 15 rounds, the clamp kept the rifle firmly attached to the tripod. 

This saddle mount was sent to me by Sunwayfoto for testing. This is available on Sunwayfoto’s website. Use this link and get 5% off using code: MOONDOG https://sunwayfoto-store.com/?ref=pwwCNnfb

Availabe on Amazon through this affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3E5Xcw5

Product Reviews, Travel

Doogee 65W Wall Charger

I was looking for a compact travel USB charger that could not just charge my phone but also charge my kid’s Nintendo Switch and if needed also charge my wife’s Macbook Pro. 65W is plenty for most devices including the every model of iPad and Macbook Air but the challenge is that a 15″ 2019 Macbook Pro uses a 85W charger.

Fortunately Doogee sent me a 65W compact charger to try out. This charger features folding outlet prongs, 2 USB-C ports, and a USB-A port. And it does this in a relatively thin 1.25″ wide footprint to the socket, so it can be placed next to another plug on a typical powerstrip without blocking the neighboring sockets by its girth.

Testing on my devices, the charger easily charged my Samsung S21+ phone and Nintendo Switch. Plugging it into a 15″ Macbook Pro, it drew an 40-47W easily below the 65W max of the charger. While below the recommended Macbook power adapter performance specs, this should do in a pinch if we should run low on battery but need to send out that one last email or upload a needed project file.

This charger is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Rstl4A

Gadgets, Product Reviews, Shooting Sports

Sunwayfoto T3240CS Hunting Tripod

Sunwayfoto is known for making high quality photo and video tripods. Their feather light 1.6lb carbon fiber tripod is now my go-to tripod for vlogging. Recently, Sunwayfoto entering into the hunting/shooting market and sent me a sample of a heavy-duty carbon fiber tripod with a built-in ballhead that together weighs only about 3.5lbs.

The T32340CS’ carbon fiber legs are 32mm with twist-style leg locks that are environmentally sealed; you can hear the air whoosing out of the top of the tripod when you collapse the legs. The legs locked easily with beefy ruberized locking rings and wide rubber feet which can be replaced with spikes.

The ballhead is recessed in the leg base to “lower its center of gravy”, though how that helps a tripod that already has variable angle legs is questionable. This recessed height does limit the tilt angle of a mounted rifle to 35º; still quite usable for high angles of engagement. The ballhead is topped with an excellent quick-release Arca-Swiss compatible mount.

UPDATE: RRS DESIGN
US tripod maker RRS (Really Right Stuff) originated the unique design of the Picatinny/Arca-Swiss clamp. Chinese brands like Sunwayfoto copied it (shocking!). RRS holds the US patent https://rrssoar.com/patents, which is why the T3240CS that are sold in the US have tripod heads replaced by standard Arca-Swiss mounts.
Here are a few legit RRS products that utilize the dual clamp patent:

https://rrssoar.com/tfct-anvil-30-arc

https://rrssoar.com/anvil-30

https://rrssoar.com/bh-scr

https://rrssoar.com/sc-arc

https://rrssoar.com/ta-lbsc/

https://rrssoar.com/ta-2u-sc/

https://rrssoar.com/btc-pro

The box comes with the tripod, padded case, replaceable foot spikes, and Allen keys. The strapped padded case is almost too compact, lacking extra room for add on accessories like Sunwayfoto’s Saddle Clamp head. If this tripod was aiming for the hunting/shooting market, the kit lacks a built-in level, stone hammock, and hook; all of which much be purchased separately.

Firing a heavy DMR style 5.56mm AR style rifle, the tripod provided more than adequate stability for quick follow up shots. I managed a respectable 3.5″ 5-short group at 100yrds in rapid fire. But testing it with a .308 bolt-action hunting rifle, the tripod left a lot to be desired.

The tripod’s light weight of 3.6lbs is ideal if you’re trekking to an upland hunting site but it is also a weakness. Without added weight, its difficult to be repeatable with a .308 or harder recoiling calibers. Furthermore, the ball head also shifted necessitating readjustment after each shot.

To add weight and stability its almost mandatory to purchase an after-market stone hammock for this tripod. It’s inexplicable that Sunwayfoto did not include this inexpensive cloth accessory in their kit or even a simple metal weight hook. I believe they include a hammock with their Explorer series of hunting tripods.

If light weight is a paramount concern with your hunting tripod, this may be the best choice on the market. Just be prepared to purchase a few more upgrades and accessories.

ONLINE RETAILERS

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Amazon https://amzn.to/3QMMsZj

This is available on Sunwayfoto’s website. Use this link and get 5% off using code: MOONDOG https://sunwayfoto-store.com/?ref=pwwCNnfb


SPECS

Number of Leg Sections4
Max Tube Diameter 1.25″ (32mm)
Folded Height 21.7″ (55cm)
Max Height: 56.7″ (12-144cm)
Tilting Angle: 35º
Load Capacity: 55 lbs (25kg)
Leg angles: 23º, 55º, 85ª
Weight: 3.6 lbs (1.65kg)

Product Reviews, Shooting Sports

EZshot Scope Level

There are many reasons that your shots can go amiss. When you’ve zoned in, concentrating on your target, your horizon isn’t often visible in your scope. Or your paper target isn’t posted up perfectly square in the first place and you are subconsciously aligning your reticle to your target. It’s all too easy to “cant”, slightly turning your rifle so your scope above it is leaning slightly left or right to the center line of your bore: this is Scope Cant.

This is why almost all competitive long range shooters mount bubble levels on their scopes. This allows them to quickly and easily visually check when they’ve accidentally canted their rifles and correct for it. EZshot sent me a sample of their 30mm bubble level to test and evaluate. EZshot makes these levels in common 25mm (1″) and 30mm tube sizes, as well as larger 34mm, and 35mm.

Upon first inspection, I was bit surprised at how much larger this level was compared to the Arken levels on my EP5 and SH4. Despite its beefy size, the entire rig weighed 1.63oz (46.3g). The bubble tube is twice as large as typical bubble levels, which should make its measurements more physically accuracy, as well as making it easier to visibly read.

It mounts very much like a scope ring with two hex screws on opposite sides of the mounting ring. The kit comes with an Allen wrench. I chose to mount mine forward my turrets to allow me clear views of my scope controls and turret markings.

EZshot Scope Levels are available on Amazon through my Affiliate LInk: https://amzn.to/3xInW1s