EVOLVA FUTURE TECHNOLOGY T38 IR 38mm Lens Infrared Flashlight Light Night Vision Torch

I purchased this unit primarily to supplement the IR illuminator on my Firefield Gen 1 night vision scope I recently purchased. At best the on-board illuminator on the scope was good out to 40-50 yards but beyond that it was unable to reveal any detail. I mounted the T38 unit to the bottom of my key-mod hand guard just forward of the forward handgrip on my PSA AR-15 carbine. I did not purchase the rat tail switch because I can easily access the push button switch with my forefinger from the forward handgrip. I mounted it with a quick-release 1" UTG scope mount which cheaply serves the purpose well.Once installed I took the rifle to a gymnasium and made sure I could see the beam in the scope. The T38 has an adjustable beam and three different intensity settings. The wide beam setting may be useful in a close quarters situation, but since I will primarily be using it to hunt varmints I found the narrow beam setting to be best for my needs. At the lowest intensity setting the T38 easily out performed the on-board Firefield illuminator, and at the highest intensity it was like someone had turned on the lights in the gym. The unit also "remembers" the last intensity setting and turns on at that intensity when the power button is clicked on again. Unfortunately it was almost a month before I was able to take the unit in the field and observe just how far I could see with it.In the field I kept the T38 on the highest intensity setting with the beam on narrow focus. At fifty yards the detail was as good as if the target was illuminated by a powerful flashlight. At 100 yards the detail was such that I could see the distance rings on a black 12" target that was pasted on a white background. Later in the evening I was able to spot a deer by eye shine and followed her progress through a field which was at least 150 yards away. Once she stepped out into the open the T38 illuminated the deer revealing detail in the scope that was as if she had been illuminated with a hand-held spotlight. Of course the deer was completely unaware of my presence, but I was well pleased with the performance of the T38 illuminator.If you are considering a Gen 1 night vision device for hunting varmints, this is the unit you'll need to supplement whatever illuminator that comes with your scope. Of course if you require illumination beyond about 150 yards then you'll need something a little more powerful, but if most of your time will be spent in fairly thick brush and cover I highly recommend this unit. I have not used the unit continuously until the battery died, but I have used it intermittently for at least a couple of hours. The illuminator emits a faint red glow when the unit is on but you'll have to look in the front of the adjustable lens to see it. Checking for this red glow before putting everything away will insure the unit is not left on.I am very pleased with this purchase and can recommend it to other varmint hunters who are looking for something that will actually work without breaking the bank.

Update: I originally ordered three Evolva IR Illuminators (T-20, T-38 and T-50 in April 2016) It's now March 2019 and out of all the aftermarket illuminators I've purchased other than a High End Armasight These have been the best! If you're thinking about purchasing I wouldn't hesitate as they went missing from Amazon for a Long time and just recently re-appeared, for how long who knows?... And I'm ordering another T-38 right now.After using these sporadically for three years now I'd like to add a few things to my original review (which still stands):- I've added the T50 in this review, but that is the illuminator I've used the least. It is brighter and batteries do last longer, but it's just too big for my liking being almost 9" long and about 2 1/4" in diameter at the front. It also requires two 18650 batteries to operate.- The Batteries that come with the Evolva's (at least from my 2016 order and they appear to be exactly the same with what is included currently) are the real deal! I've ordered these style batteries from half a dozen vendors with different brands and many have half of the capacity they claim. I've been using these and keeping them at the ready and they have good capacity, hold their charge for a long time and have held up with light use and many recharges over three years.- In my original review I liked the T-38 the best and still do. It's great for handheld use and with the knurled ring on the lens it's easy to focus the beam even with gloved hands and worth the extra money over the T-20.- A Tip about the visible light these emit- While I covered this in my original review, I'd like to add more information that may be helpful (read the original review below first) - The Evolva's are 850nm illuminators and will work with all Generations of Night vision including Digital Night Vision. That being said you can also find 940nm illuminators that for practical purposes emit no visible light. The Catch here is that Gen 1's (and likely Digitals) I've seen can't see very well that far into the IR spectrum so the 940's are ineffective. They work Pretty good for Gen 2 and work Great for Gen 3 though. The reason I'm bringing this up is because there is somewhat of a work-around for reducing the visible light output of while keeping the IR light output for 850nm illuminators- If they have a removable front cap/lens (like all of the Evolva's except the T-20) you can purchase Wratten 87c Infrared Pass filter (make sure it has the "c" at the end) which is a nylon paper thin plastic sheet. and cut it out to fit and place it behind the lens on these illuminators which will keep the usable light but greatly reduce the visible light that the 850's produce. This may not be important to you but many animals (and people) can readily see an 850 illuminator especially if it is zoomed in for longer distance and using the 87c filter behind the lens helps this alot.- TIP: Get spare batteries and get a better charger that can at least tell you voltage and how much charge a battery takes (I been using an Xtar VC4 which holds 4 batteries is relatively inexpensive and USB powered for a couple of years and they work great), It will let you know how your batteries are holding up and generally they will last longer.- Lastly it's likely that a lot of people looking at these are looking for an illuminator for a Firefield NVRS or other Gen 1 Night Vision Scope. All of these devices use 850nm illuminators and these Evolva's work Great with them (I have an NVRS and a T20 or T38 will literally double or triple the usable range of these scopes to the point that I won't mount the NVRS without one of these accompanying it.------------------ ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW ---------------------I have both the Evolva T20 and T38 and recommend them highly and you won't go wrong with either. Compared to an Armasight XLR 850 which costs 2-3 times as much these are not as polished or of the same build quality as the Armasight but these units are just as bright and illuminate almost as well. Excellent Bang for the Buck.The T20 and T38 are basically the same size and both appear to have the same 38mm front lens, Same IR LED Chip, and function the same (Cycle the power button Once to turn on, twice rapidly to switch from Low, Medium and High settings, with the Illuminator Flashing when the battery is Low). Both can also be rail mounted using a standard 1" scope ring.Comments are for Both T20 and T38 unless otherwise notedPRO's:- Extremely Bright Illumination- This light will make a Gen I NV Device look impressive!- Long Range- When focused it can throw a beam 200+ yards (it made my Gen 1 1x Monocular very usable at 75+ yards)- Wide Angle Suitable for 40 degree FOV monoculars.- Tactical Look & Grip (T38 Only)- Works very well even when using / focusing with one hand Much better for hand held use than the T20.CON's:- Can be Too Bright*- When used with Gen II or especially Gen III it can be almost too bright even on the Lowest Setting (wish it had a 4th Lower setting like the Armasight)- Lens assembly is loose* - This is Not a big issue but if Mounted with a Scope and focused for distance between the fully in and fully extended positions the lens barrel has a significant amount of play in it which will allow the beam to shift, with the fully extended position being slightly beyond the tightest focus of the beam (which may or may not be an issue depending on your use)- Does not appear to be Water Tight - Should be water resistant, but with the lens wiggle when extended I suspect this could be an issue.- Uses rechargeable 18650 Battery - To get best use of the unit you will need to order spare batteries and charger (I'm listing this as a negative but the truth is that I've not seen any illuminator of this type that doesn't use the 18650's).Other Notes:- *Although these are very comparable to the Higher end ($$$) illuminators the Armasight 850 has no wiggle in the lens (ie rock solid beam), and has a 4th lower power setting and a rotary tail switch making it more flexible (especially for Gen III) and user friendly. I'm not selling the Armasight, just pointing out what the extra $80-$100 gets you.- Beam Differences between the T20 and T38 - The T20 does have a more uniform beam due to the reflector in the lens assembly, however the same reflector also makes the light more readily visible from the side (light scatter).- Rat Tail Caps / Switches - End caps are not interchangeable between the units, so if you need rat tails they will not interchange between the two. Additionally the Rat Tails have two switches built into them. One that mimics the function of the standard tail cap switch, and a second momentary type switch so you be passive and use the light momentarily.- Hard Mounting - Both the T20 and T38 can be rail mounted using a standard 1" scope ring with the maximum diameter of the lens assembly being approx 42-44mm.- Visible Light - For those who are new to Night Vision or Not Familiar with InfraRed light. "IR" is light between approx. 800nm and 1mm wavelength. What this means for Non Science geeks is that most IR illuminators, which operate at approx. 850nm will be visible to the naked eye as a very deep red light which is Normal. This is largely due to the fact that LED's give off light over a range of frequencies with an 850nm LED producing light from approx. 700nm to 950nm with most of the light centered at 850nm, which is an Optimal frequency for most Night Vision image tubes. Incidentally Thermal Imaging devices also see in the IR spectrum but at the opposite end as standard night vision which includes thermal / heat radiation.

Heavy duty, very bright to a Gen III night vision scope. Thank goodness for three power settings. These lower settings are not very noticeable to earlier generation night vision. They are noticeable to Gen III in side by side comparisons way out there. A stout lithium rechargeable 18650 lasts all night with intermittent use. Fits 1" mounting rings intended for flashlights. This size, T38, focusing head is big enough to get the job done and small enough to be out of the way for a scope when on a 45 degree mount. Focuses from a very wide flood to a beam that is a projection of the LED itself. I can see that square projected on trees out to about 1,000 yards. The head only wobbles when the focus ring is nearly to either end of the adjustment. If I twist the focus ring all the way to either end and twist it hard, it tightens up and cures the wobble. Just be careful not to also twist off the end cap holding the lens and pill as you twist the focus ring. A Butler Creek flip-open cover 20 OBJ, 1.7", (43.2mm) fits very nicely over the lens and protects it from accumulating dirt while not in use. Make sure not to turn it on with the cover on it. I wish it had a little LED on it to let you know if it is off or on. It is worrisome to have to click the switch and look through the scope to decide if it is off or on, over and over, especially while in a vehicle. Remove the battery when not using the IR light. It is not waterproof. This is a great IR light. The Dimples Excel customer service is excellent. I am very happy with this light.