this video is a buyer's guide in review
of the vortex strikefire 2 now if
you're trying to make a decision on this
optic this video will help you out
because the research is already been
done and what follows is in effect like
a sum of all the reviews all the good
and bad alike that was identified in the
research is what's coming up next on
spadezilla
vortex strikefire II buyer's guide
in researching this optic the common
message is that it is outstanding optic
for the money and in addition to this
vortex includes in the box a set of
flip up scope caps and a cantilever
mount so all in all a very good value
proposition
if you're a fan of green dots then this
is another reason to consider buying the
strikefire 2 this optic gives you
the option of running it either with the
traditional red dot or changing it to a
green dot depending on your preference
vortexs VIP warranty and great
reputation for customer service is a key
buying consideration for many users
the strikefire 2 includes the features
of being waterproof fogproof shockproof
and has anti-reflective coatings
the vast majority of reviewers describe
the glass as being clear and the red dot
itself has been plenty bright enough
a handy feature is the toolless
adjustment caps in regards to the
windage and elevation turrets you don't
need a screwdriver or a coin you can
just simply flip over the caps and use
the ridge on the back of the cap to make
your adjustments
this optic is compatible with aimpoint
style mounts of the comp M1, comp M2
etc giving you a lot of mounting options
unlike the original strikefire that had
a power button on the side of the
optic causing problems of inadvertent
activation and battery drain you'll be
pleased to know that the strikefire 2
has resolved this issue and all control
buttons are facing directly backwards
towards the user
users like that the optic automatically
returns to its last brightness setting
when you turn it back on
the good to know category is where we
talk about things that are not
definitively a positive or a negative
but are things that are good to know
about and to think about before you go
ahead and make a decision now first up
on this list is the fact that the strikefire 2
has a 4 MOA dot now when we
say this it simply means that at 100
yards you would expect the dot to be
covering approximately four inches of
the target now there are smaller dot
size of out there and what you need to
think about before you make your
decision is what your intended usage is
for the optic now a larger dot size such
as this 4 MOA dot is very good for
snap shooting type applications
especially at short ranges whereas if
you're wanting to push out to longer
ranges on do more precision type
shooting then a smaller dot size would
suit you better
battery type and battery life first up
the strikefire 2 uses the cr2
battery type and so this is just one
thing you want to check off in your
mental checklist is that commonly
available where you live secondly in
regards to battery life the
manufacturer's specifications say up to
300 hours on the highest brightness
setting or 6,000 hours at the lowest
brightness setting now to give you a
practical realistic number to make a
decision on I can say that in doing the
research the consensus seems to be that
for the average user using the medium
sort of range of brightness settings
that you can expect somewhere in the
region of 1500 to 2000 hours now this is
pretty decent especially when the strikefire
first came to market but I do need
to mention that as time has moved
forward technology has advanced and
there are competing products on the
market that go out to 50,000 hours this
may or may not be significant for you
but I mention it so that you can make an
informed decision one last point in
regards to battery life the Strikefire 2
does have a handy feature and
that it has a 12-hour shut off so if you
forget to turn the optic off you're only
going to lose a maximum of 12 hours
battery life and you're not going to you
know drain the battery entirely so
that's quite a nice feature to conserve
the battery life
maintaining zero and reliability now
I'll put this under the good to know
category because there is a bit of
debate about this in the reviews what I
can say to you to kind of give you the
big picture is that the majority of
reviewers report that it does maintain
its zero and is very reliable and in fact
this is one of the selling points for a
lot of people in that for the money they
paid they are very impressed with its
reliability and performance at the same
time to be thorough I need to advise you
that there is a minority of reviewers
who report exactly the opposite
experience now whether this is just you
know it goes with the territory with this
optic or whether some people got some
faulty units it's really hard to tell I
don't think this should be a
showstopper for you for pretty much all
optics that I've reviewed those people
who have criticized the particular
optics for not holding it zero it's
really just something to keep in mind
and is yet another reason to always buy
an optic from a retailer who's got a
good returns policy when you receive the
optic you always want to make sure you
check it over thoroughly make sure you
don't have any of these issues that the
minority has mentioned but at least if
you do like out you know you have the
option to return the optic
the starburst and astigmatism debates now
to be fair that's relates to pretty much
all red dot and not just the strikefire 2
now what I'm talking about here
is that when researching pretty much any
red dot you will find critical reviews
that say it is not a clear dot that
looks like a starburst it's fuzzy around
the edges it looks like a blob or you
know many other descriptions all
basically saying that it is not a clear
and crisp dot now the reason this is a
debate is the manufacturers will often
say this is due to you having a
astigmatism it's not a fault of the
product whereas a lot of the critical
reviewers will be adamant that they
don't have astigmatism and will even
report that that just had their eyes
checked now at the end of the day it's hard
to tell who's right who's wrong maybe
it's a little bit of both to take away
points really to take from us first up
is if you know that you have astigmatism
then you pretty much should stay away
from red dots and general unless you're
happy to roll the dice if you don't have
astigmatism then just keep this point in
mind that some people experience this
issue and as noted in the last point we
were talking about always buy from a
retailer with a good returns policy just
in case
last up for the good to know category is
there we're a couple of critical reviews
talking about their refresh rates for
the red dot now in saying that's what
we're talking about is how fast the red
dot flashes ideally you want it flashing
fast enough that you don't even notice
the flashing and it just appears to be a
solid red dot now as mentioned there's a
couple of critical reviews who said that
they felt the refresh rate was a little
bit on the slow side and that they
noticed a bit of a trail effect when
doing fast transitions from one target
to another now I pass this on to you so
that once again you can make an informed
decision to keep it in context there's
only a couple of critical reviews
talking about this so it's certainly not
something that the vast majority of
people have noticed
StrikeFire 2 like many red dots at
this price point is made in China
in regards to the windage and elevation
dials there is quite a lot of critical
reviews expressing frustration at the
white writing on the shiny silver
background which they report is very
difficult to read at times now the key
point here is it is a frustration it's
not a showstopper by any means that I
wouldn't encourage you to not buy the
optic solely because of this issue but
it is something to keep in mind when
making your decision
I'm going to suggest you that this optic
is suitable for your consideration for
applications 1 through to 6
I hope those videos of value to you in
making an informed decision now for
those of you who like the strikefire
2 if you like to check out the current
pricing I will include an amazon link in
the description below we've now reached
the end I thank you for watching spadezilla
and this buyer's guide in review
of the vortex strikefire 2
