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Trail Cameras

Aeds151 said:
I ordered a nitcore headlamp and a 2 pack of 18650 batteries that came in separate package from amazon $70. I got them and as soon as I opened the batteries, it started to get hot. I burned my hand before I knew what was happening and almost burned my house down. I got the lamp for free from amazon after a call haha. A coworker of mine uses them in his vapor thing and one day, another employee said hey man, you’re on fire. His pocket was smokin. He was able to pull it out with a few hand burns and we burried it. Fast forward a few months. As I was walking in to hunt with my nitecore head lamp, I felt my forehead get hot. Had to chuck the lamp and it got scorched inside. Thankfully it was morning so I waited until sunup to keep hikin in. There is a reason you cant put them under a plane as well. Soon, I cant imagine you can even have them on a plane. Very high lumen output though for a headlamp.


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I have 30-40 18650’s and have run THOUSANDS of charging cycles and haven’t had a single problem.

If simply taking them out of the package causes them to get into thermal runaway... they are most likely cheap Chinese knockoffs. Unbranded, budget batteries of any kind are a bad idea, and unfortunately lots of light and vape sellers cheap out as far as they can on the batteries. Vape manufacturers are notorious for skipping easy, inexpensive design changes that could totally alleviate the risk of thermal runaway. As an example, instead of charging a capacitor to achieve the needed voltage for the vape device, they typically draw extremely high amperage on the batteries. (Far exceeding manufacturers limits) this is why their products are well known for catching fire.

The restriction on batteries on planes is for anything lithium ion... it doesn’t matter if it is 18650’s, lifepo’s, lithium AA’s, lithium CR123 (think hearing aids size).

With properly manufactured cells, and devices responsibly engineered to use them, there is absolutely zero problem with running an 18650 as a cam battery source. This is especially true because trail cams are designed specifically to run with as low power draw as possible, meaning they will never come close to over drawing a battery cell.


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I still run a 18650 battery powered head lamp since it just takes one phone call and amazon usually tells ya to keep the product or they will replace no questions asked. Can you recommend a good battery brand? My headlamp is like a freakin prison spot light and thats why I chose it. The only other issue I have had with them is the positive side “button” is not always the same and some dont work on nitecore lamps. I think the batteries are all the same being made in china with just a different wrap on them but what do I know. PS. Browning cameras are cool


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Allegheny Tom said:
I never heard of 18650...what are they?
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On the 18650s
If you are really concerned with runaway cells, I would go with a PCB, which has a essentially a fuse built into it. One of the most popular PCB style 18650’s is the Panasonic NCR. It has a large storage capacity (3400mAh), but is limited by Amperage draw (4.9amp)

https://www.18650batterystore.com/Protected-p/panasonic-18650-protected.htm


The Sony 20S is another really good option. They are only 2000mAh, so there are definitely higher capacity batteries out there. But, they are safe to 30amp draw, which is the highest rating in the industry. You won’t come close to drawing that much!

https://www.18650batterystore.com/18650-p/samsung-20s.htm

My go to is the Sony 25R
It is only rated to 20 amps, but none of my devices come close to that.

https://www.18650batterystore.com/18650-p/samsung-25r-18650.htm

Your charger choice can also have a huge impact on your battery life and/or safety. I use this one. It has a soft start rather than slamming the cell cold with the full amperage charge, it runs off a USB, so you need a walk plug that converts to USB at 2.1 amps (think Ipad charger). The thing figures out what kind of battery you inserted into it, and charges it accordingly. It even backs off the amperage as the lithium batteries get close to full, which is the proper way.

https://www.18650batterystore.com/Charger-p/xtar-vc4.htm



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Back to the trail cameras... since I went down a rabbit hole.

My recommendation is definitely browning.
I run the Browning Dark Ops. I have a collection of 2016 and 2017 models. I hope to pick up some of the 2018 models, because they are supposed to be a big step up, and honestly I can’t imagine a big step up from the ones I have. Trail Cam Pro has some extremely high praise for all the dark ops line.

Here is a pic showing how crisp pics typically are with good light
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Here is a video of a buck I call Jr from a month after the 2016/17 season closed.

Here is the same buck a year later in daytime. This was the morning after I sat this stand... only reason I missed hunting him this morning was a funeral. We played cat and mouse all season.


And here is a video from this year with a mix of daytime and nighttime videos over a December scrape. To be honest, I removed a particular buck from the video... haha.


As you can tell, they are GREAT cameras. Most of my camera fleet are 3 years old. A couple are 2, and a single was bought this past summer. I have yet to have an issue with them. I had one issue with a card, but it happened on the same card on 3 different cameras with no other issues. I blame the cheap card for that.


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Browning Dark Ops for pics, Browning Spec Ops for video. All you need and to me they out perform everything else.
 
I have been running the Moultrie M-888 for a few years with great results. They take good pics day and night. Thanks to black bears I’m down to seven cameras now and began looking for some more of this M-888 cameras. Moultrie has discontinued them so the only place I can find them is on EBayz
 
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