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Posted: 7/2/2008 5:43:42 PM EDT
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what exactly is the use for a sunshade and how does that compare to a flash kill? i have a 4-12x40 bushless scope.... what would i use these for? note: i have the same scope on my 10/22 for squirrel, and my sks for plinking. |
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A sunshade does 2 things for you. 1- It keeps out the extraneous light from the front lens giving you a better definition of the target during the day and 2- It protects your front lens from getting hit by something. Flashkill or ARDs have been properly discussed above. |
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A sun shade is a long tube that attaches to the front of your scope to keep the sun light from hitting the front lens and causing problems with glare. If you whack the tube it can act like a leaver and damage your scope. www.swfa.com/c-635-burris-sun-shades.aspx A flash kill is a much shorter honey-comb grid that fits either inside the front recess of your scope, or extends out very slightly. www.swfa.com/c-534-tenebraex-accessories.aspx The sunshade is long and can get waked easily if you are crawling through rubble. The kill flash should not be visible in you view on scopes higher then 1x, but some people have reported that they can darken the scopes image, and they can be very visible on Aimpoint / Eotec style sights. If you bump the front of the grid, it can bend, and unless your are very handy with a hex wrench (they mach the shape of the grid) or you "Uncle" is buying them for you, they can get expensive. Tubs are cheap, if you want to see if it works for you, get a piece of black construction paper, and wrap / tape it to the front of your scope. Grids are not so cheap, and the only way to see the effect is to buy one, or find some one that has one you can look through (try a post in the In HTF). Hopes this helps. ETA links |
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Just to add to all the other great replies, the main purpose of the sunshade is to eliminate extraneous light as sig685 wrote. Reflections off the lens isn't the reason for the sunshade. There are three types of reflection. "Glare" is one type that has more to do with ambient light and light bouncing off a surface. As the ambient light changes, the "glare will increase, decrease or be eliminated. Spectral reflection is where angle of reflection equals angle of incidence. That happens of flat surfaces. On a curved piece of glass such as all objective lenses are made, the angle of reflection will be very much different than the angle of incidence. Mostly though you don't have to worry about reflection unless your weapon handling skills are very poor and you're really swinging the muzzle around. In any case, you'd have to be extremely unlucky even with all the movement you might be doing to have something in your line of fire to see the reflection. If you ever go to an Open class match, you'll see sunshades as long as the barrel. If you're thinking that that would cut down on the amount of light, you are correct. So why do they do that. During a typical match, you're out there for a long time. During that time, the Sun is "changing" its position in the sky. That's enough to throw off your zero. That's the reasoning why you get sighter shots. Plus by reducing the amount of light during the day, you get more of an even amount of light throughout the time you're out there. As for the ARD units, they were made specifically as a counter-measure to the use of blinding lasers on the battlefield. For going after squirrels, you're fine without either. More than likely you're under some sort of concealment, therefore there shouldn't be any sunlight on you. |
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