The Perfect Reticle

Choosing the right thermal reticle for your weapon sight can be the difference between a hit or a miss

You take every step of the hunt seriously, hashing out key decisions before the truck ever leaves the driveway: wearing an appropriate pattern, mounting and sighting your favorite optics, and finding the perfect set-up spot. You chose everything up to this point based on merit for its role in getting a shot on-target. Does your reticle selection get the same consideration?

PROPERLY SELECTING RETICLE PATTERN AND COLOR

Reticle preference is too often overlooked. The attention to detail that leads up to a shot should not end with a hastily selected reticle. It is important to make an informed decision on your reticle pattern and color beyond a shoulder shrug and defaulting to the factory settings.

PATTERN

Reticle patterns are often designed for specific circumstances. While pattern selection largely comes down to personal preference, several variables can influence the effectiveness of one reticle over another.

Grouping: Is the target isolated or among a group? (Isolated/Group)

Movement: Is the target stationary or in motion? (Stationary/Moving)

Scene: Does the environment provide a uniform or cluttered background? (Uniform/Cluttered)

Pace: Are quick adjustments needed for shots on multiple targets? (Single/Rapid Target Acquisition)

Left image: Nuisance animals and predators can take a toll on both agriculture and livestock
Right images: Thermal weapon sights help detect and target nuisance animals at night

TYPES OF RETICLES

FLIR thermal imaging weapon sights combat these challenges by offering six reticle patterns set to deliver precise shot placement in the trickiest conditions.

The DOT 4 MOA is best-suited for high-contrast, uniform environments. Its simplicity allows rapid target acquisition on solitary targets, but a lack of horizontal or vertical guides hinders the reticle in cluttered scenes.
Grouping: Isolated
Movement: Stationary
Scene: Uniform
Pace: Rapid Target Acquisition

The LINE Dot pattern's horizontal guides allow level tracking of a moving target and is often used in tandem with a tripod. The Line Dot is most effective with single targets in a uniform environment.
Grouping: Isolated
Movement: Moving
Scene: Uniform
Pace: Rapid Target Acquisition

The Cross Center Dot's horizontal and vertical lines keep the user focused on shot location and provide contrast against cluttered backgrounds. Gaps between the guides and dot make the Cross Center Dot best-suited for isolated targets.
Grouping: Isolated
Movement: Moving
Scene: Cluttered
Pace: Rapid Target Acquisition

The Cross merges vertical and horizontal lines to pinpoint shot location on grouped targets in cluttered environments. The pattern's small size allows rapid target acquisition, but maintaining contrast between the reticle, target, and background can be difficult.
Grouping: Group
Movement: Moving
Scene: Cluttered
Pace: Rapid Target Acquisition

The Crosshair pattern's large, bold guides and thin cross allow precise shot placement on grouped targets in cluttered environments. While the reticle's size improves its visibility, it is not ideal for rapid target acquisition.
Grouping: Group
Movement: Stationary
Scene: Cluttered
Pace: Single

FLIR's exclusive, patent pending Crossdash reticle uses Highly Visible Technology (HVT) to clearly display a cross pattern on any scene – regardless of palette. While other reticles depend on large pattern sizes and contrasting color to remain visible, HVT's alternating black and white line dashes take advantage of how the human eye detects edges. The Crossdash's unique ability to remain visible in any scene – despite having a small footprint — makes it ideal for rapid acquisition of multiple targets in any background.
Grouping: Group
Scene: Cluttered
Movement: Moving
Pace: Rapid Target Acquisition

 In general, the complexity of a reticle pattern should match that of its scene (Figure 1). Simple options – such as the DOT 4 MOA – pair well with single targets on a uniform scene, while more complex patterns – such as the Crossdash – will hold up against the challenge of grouped targets within a cluttered scene.

Figure 1: Each available reticle pattern shown in order of preferred scene and target complexity

COLOR

Aside from choosing a standout pattern, adjusting reticle color is a crucial part of maintaining contrast. FLIR units offer four distinct color options that can be applied to each reticle pattern: black, white, red, and cyan. Leveraging these options with appropriate palette combinations can significantly improve a reticle’s visibility. Users should make color decisions based on two major factors:

On-Target Contrast: Maintaining reticle visibility on-target for precise shot placement. 

Scene Contrast: Maintaining reticle visibility within a scene for rapid target acquisition.

Achieving both on-target and scene contrast means that a user will be able to see the entire reticle while moving across any object or background.

Color selection is particularly important for thin pattern options, such as the DOT 4 MOA, Line Dot, Cross Center Dot, and Cross. Pairing incompatible palette and reticle colors can cause inaccurate and potentially unsafe shot placement. Different environments will span varying degrees of a color palette.

ON-TARGET AND SCENE CONTRAST EXAMPLES

RETICLE COLOR/PALETTE COMBINATION

The best way to ensure proper on-target and scene contrast is to select a reticle color/palette combination that maintains visibility across the entire color gradient. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate how reticle colors interact with each available FLIR palette. Strong pairings can span the entire palette without losing contrast, while poor pairings can result in the reticle getting lost on-target or in the background.

Figure 2: Each available thermal palette shown with all reticle color options to identify best pairings

Figure 3:Reference table to quickly identify effective and ineffective reticle color/palette combinations

THE DIFFERENCE MAKER

Selecting an appropriate reticle pattern and color will ultimately lead to users who are confident in their ability to place a shot on-target. What may have initially been an afterthought could be the difference-maker for a clean shot. Understanding how to establish strong contrast between your preferred reticle, a target, and the background will be key in getting the most out of your thermal weapon sight.