Kirsch
Active member
There have been some threads or posts indicting that there are other look-alike scopes to the Bering Optics Hogster being sold by other companies. Some have been so bold as to call it a Chinese Built Scope. The Hogster is assembled in the US from internationally sourced parts and components and is tested, optimized, and serviced in the US.
What Type OF Core Is In The Hogster: The core is actually built by a company called IRAY. Bering Optics teamed up with IRAY where they built the core, and Bering Optics worked on the firmware, software, and base to make a reliable and affordable thermal scope platform. Other companies have access to the IRAY core as well, but not the Bering Optics unique pieces.
Bering Optics uses VOX (Vanadium Oxide) cores from IRAY for the Hogster and from Flir for the Beast-R. For instance, the Ulis (French) core used by Pulsar is silicon based. Boris indicated his preference towards the reliability of VOX based thermal cores especially for hunting.
Why Are There Other Scopes That Look Like The Hogster: It costs a lot of money to produce molds for a thermal scope. Bering Optics worked with an external vendor to produce these molds. They can be used by other companies as well. These companies will not have the proprietary Bering Optics software or any of the optimizations they have done to integrate to the core.
Why Are The Hogsters Just Being released In The US, When Other Companies Have Similar Looking Thermals On The Market. Bering Optics spent the last 1.5 years, testing and optimizing this US assembled scope to verify the product is reliable, affordable and simple to use.
What Is Unique About The Hogster. The things that are unique are under-the-covers from these other look-alikes. This is from Boris, the owner of Bering Optics. The Hogster undergoes its final assembly in the US from the internationally sourced parts and components originating from Estonia, China, Ukraine, however every part was vetted. The Bering Optics scopes assembled with the US origin metal hardware which includes a QR mount that allows taking the scope down and using it as a scanner and then putting it back without losing a zero. There is also the Bering Optics firmware as well as a number of procedures we perform for each scope including the "black body" test and adjustment, which allows to increase the core productivity up to 15-20% as well as a test on the optical bench precisely aligning the optical axis with the mount before shipping the product out.
Warranty: This is very exciting. Boris informed me Bering Optics will be moving from a 2 year warranty on the Hogster to a 4 year warranty. This is being announced at Shot Show. This will not only apply to new customers, but extend to any existing Hogster customers.
Business Future: I had heard from a few people they were worried about the future as they don't know a lot about Bering Optics. Boris said, his company is not going away any time soon. He mentioned they actually service some night vision brands that have gone out of business. He said be confident Bering Optics will still be here for more than another decade.
The bottom line is do you want to buy a thermal which will have one of the best warranties in the business (4 years), from a company that tests their products for more than 1 year to make sure it is of the highest quality, releases products for affordable prices, and assembles, optimizes, supports and services their products in the US? If you do, it sounds like a Bering Optics thermal is in your future.
What Type OF Core Is In The Hogster: The core is actually built by a company called IRAY. Bering Optics teamed up with IRAY where they built the core, and Bering Optics worked on the firmware, software, and base to make a reliable and affordable thermal scope platform. Other companies have access to the IRAY core as well, but not the Bering Optics unique pieces.
Bering Optics uses VOX (Vanadium Oxide) cores from IRAY for the Hogster and from Flir for the Beast-R. For instance, the Ulis (French) core used by Pulsar is silicon based. Boris indicated his preference towards the reliability of VOX based thermal cores especially for hunting.
Why Are There Other Scopes That Look Like The Hogster: It costs a lot of money to produce molds for a thermal scope. Bering Optics worked with an external vendor to produce these molds. They can be used by other companies as well. These companies will not have the proprietary Bering Optics software or any of the optimizations they have done to integrate to the core.
Why Are The Hogsters Just Being released In The US, When Other Companies Have Similar Looking Thermals On The Market. Bering Optics spent the last 1.5 years, testing and optimizing this US assembled scope to verify the product is reliable, affordable and simple to use.
What Is Unique About The Hogster. The things that are unique are under-the-covers from these other look-alikes. This is from Boris, the owner of Bering Optics. The Hogster undergoes its final assembly in the US from the internationally sourced parts and components originating from Estonia, China, Ukraine, however every part was vetted. The Bering Optics scopes assembled with the US origin metal hardware which includes a QR mount that allows taking the scope down and using it as a scanner and then putting it back without losing a zero. There is also the Bering Optics firmware as well as a number of procedures we perform for each scope including the "black body" test and adjustment, which allows to increase the core productivity up to 15-20% as well as a test on the optical bench precisely aligning the optical axis with the mount before shipping the product out.
Warranty: This is very exciting. Boris informed me Bering Optics will be moving from a 2 year warranty on the Hogster to a 4 year warranty. This is being announced at Shot Show. This will not only apply to new customers, but extend to any existing Hogster customers.
Business Future: I had heard from a few people they were worried about the future as they don't know a lot about Bering Optics. Boris said, his company is not going away any time soon. He mentioned they actually service some night vision brands that have gone out of business. He said be confident Bering Optics will still be here for more than another decade.
The bottom line is do you want to buy a thermal which will have one of the best warranties in the business (4 years), from a company that tests their products for more than 1 year to make sure it is of the highest quality, releases products for affordable prices, and assembles, optimizes, supports and services their products in the US? If you do, it sounds like a Bering Optics thermal is in your future.