> FLIR Ocean Scout TK

Introduced earlier this year, the Ocean Scout TK is FLIR’s entry-level thermal monocular. The Scout TK model packs the power of thermal imaging into a small enough device that you can easily fit in your pocket, or around your neck, with the included carrying strap. The Scout TK allows users to snap thermal-imaging photos and video for a wide variety of marine and other applications. With a range up to 100 yards, the monocular will aid in spotting wildlife, aids to navigation, vessels, obstacles, or a man overboard. In our hands-on test, we were impressed with the ease of menu navigation that allows toggling quickly between four different color palettes. In gray scale mode, anything with a thermal signature will show up bright red, which will help you pick up and quickly identify objects. Photos and videos are easy to record using an ergonomically friendly button on top of the monocular: just a quick click takes a photo, and a click-and-hold records video. There is a waterresistant, sealed micro USB port that allows you to charge the internal battery and download content straight to your computer.

Other features include a quick image focus on the side, which was easy enough to get a sharp image. Our only gripe was getting the menu to be tack-sharp. The quality of the thermal image itself was great and turned a dark shoreline into a discernible image. The FLIR Scout TK is a great way to introduce yourself to thermal imaging, and a superb addition to boats of all sizes, particularly larger vessels that don’t have a fixed/mounted thermal imaging camera. –BL

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