I have been walking a lot this winter. Lots of hours in the dark, early morning. It is a mix of suburban streets and lakeside trails and rugged rocky scrubby terrain. This is city, but the “parks” are totally abandoned and very dark on an early winter’s morn.
For the most part I have made friends with the dark and have stopped being so spooked about our resident mountain lions. Hiking by ambient light or especially moonlight is extremely doable. Otherwise I use a headlight on low.
At this point I am concerned about stumbling unexpectedly into a hobo camp which has happened to me at least twice when I thought I was all alone.
I would like a way of scouting ahead in the dark without blasting the world with a giant light. I have a giant light but don’t necessarily use it much except to light up “problem” areas or narrow corridors I need to traverse.
I don’t mind spending a bit, but wanted some guidance on whether FLIR would be useful in this role and what sort of unit I would need. I don’t think I am interested in Night vision set up unless it was some sort of monocular I can use to simply scout ahead of my path a bit.
Any advice on gear or tactics appreciated because I don’t know jack about this. I just know I prefer to travel in a way that keeps a pretty low profile. Seeing in the dark without a light seems oh so nice for that.
As I have walked more, I find it is pretty much me, the homeless/insane (and @Tom Jones) out there on foot. And I don’t care to interact with them if possible. Tom maybe.