The guys from thepackingrat.net and cstactical.com stopped by our booth and interviewed our very own Kestrel Chick (Monica Devlin) about the brand new Kestrel with Horus Atrag Ballistics, the Blue Ocean Megaphone, and MOLLE case for Kestrel. Check it out!
The Packing Rat & CS Tactical cover Kestrel
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011It’s SHOT Time
Friday, January 14th, 2011Better have your camo, ammo and laser range finder fired up because SHOT show 2011 is here! The Kestrel Team is headed to Vegas to exhibit at the biggest Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show industry event of the year. We’re set to debut the all new Kestrel Pocket Weather Tracker with Horus ATrag Ballistics. If you’re attending the show, stop by booth #4266 to see us and check out the new Kestrel. For those of you staying home, check back on the blog for pics, stories and more on all the latest shooting industry news.
While we’re at SHOT, we’ll also have some of our team across town at the World Of Concrete Show. Our Kestrel 4300 Concrete Construction Weather Tracker automatically calculates evaporation rate right at the pour- giving concrete contractors the environmental info they need to prevent plastic shrinkage cracking. Come check us out at booth S12711 for a chance to win a prize!
As if two shows in one week weren’t enough…the Kestrel girls will then be heading straight to the American Meteorology Show in Seattle to see what’s happening with the world of weather bugs. It’s Kestrel Girls around the world all for the love of weather. If you’ve been to any cool events lately or have any pictures with your Kestrel in action, post them here!
Your Kestrel Weather Girl & Blogger,
Monica
twitter.com/KestrelChick
www.facebook.com/KestrelMeters
Kestrel with Horus Ballistics: Firing Off FAQs
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010The upcoming release of the all new Kestrel Pocket Weather Tracker with Horus Ballistics (yep, I can say that all in one breath) has triggered a decent amount of questions, comments and cyber high-fives from you. I wanted to share the latest information on the arrival of this highly anticipated Kestrel meter and answer some of your most common questions. If I missed any, please post them below and I’ll get back to you.
Check out this video of the Kestrel crew on the shooting range with the new Kestrel with Horus Ballistics.
So, when can I get it?
The official release date is scheduled for this fall.
We make all of our own products right here at the Kestrel headquarters so we’re on top of the entire production process. We’re also perfectionists. We refuse to let you have products that aren’t up to extremely high standards. We put our Kestrel meters up against stringent NIST standards, rigid military drop-test specs, and IP-67 & MIL-STD-810 protection from dust and water damage. If you don’t know what those codes stand for, it’s basically a fancy, super official way of saying a product is darn TOUGH. Let’s just say the Kestrel is the Clint Eastwood of hand-held weather meters, or Chuck Norris even. What that means for you, is that we conduct robust rounds of beta testing and updates to ensure the product that reaches your hand is top notch. Check back for schedule updates or changes.
Which Kestrel meters will be available with Horus Ballistics software?
The Kestrel 4500 NV series will be available with Horus Vision ballistics. The Kestrel 4500 is the only model to give wind direction, which is important for long-range shooting and a perfect complement to an integrated targeting solutions system. The Night Vision (NV) series is the preferred model for the military because of its dim red back light that does not obscure or bleach out your natural vision in low light situations. Nocturnal or early AM hunters like this one too for the same reason.
You will also have the option to choose a model with Bluetooth data transfer or without the wireless technology. With the Bluetooth technology, you would be able to wirelessly transmit all of the Kestrel weather data to a laptop for analysis or long-term documentation. For example, tracking and comparing shooting competition performance against range conditions or for training purposes.
The available colors will be in Olive Drab and Desert Tan. 
How much do they cost?
We will have more info on this going forward so be sure to check back at our site and this blog. You could also follow me on Twitter @KestrelChick. Fan us on Facebook and of course shoot me an e-mail: mdevlin@nkhome.com.
The Kestrel with Horus Ballistics will certainly cost less than the price of a ruggedized PDA and Kestrel meter combo. This new Kestrel meter eliminates the need for a PDA- all the critical data you need is right in the unit!
Can I upgrade my current unit to include Horus Vision software?
No. The Kestrel with Horus Vision software was specially designed and built to support the integrated ballistics solutions along with the Kestrel platform you’re used to- environmental data, storage and wireless data transfer capabilities. Sometimes we’re able to offer an upgrade option if it only involves a code change but in this case that is not possible. We do have a Customer Care Discount program where you may trade in your current Kestrel for credit towards the new Kestrel Weather Tracker with Horus Vision.
Here is a link to more info on Customer Care Discount program.
For more info on the new Kestrel with Horus Vision ballistics, please click here.
Your Kestrel Weather Girl & Blogger,
Monica Devlin
Know Your conditions.
Kestrel in a car
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010Written by Kestrel intern Joe Moore, senior meteorology student at Millersville University.
This summer has proven to be one of the hottest on record, and we’re only now in mid-July! Even when the weather is mild, temperatures in cars can soar to dangerous levels within minutes.
We decided to do an experiment with the Kestrel 4500 Bluetooth unit to see just how hot the inside of a car could get during one of the hottest day of the summer. Check out the latest episode of KestrelTV where Kestrel Weather girl Monica Devlin shows you how your car becomes an oven under the hot sun.
It should be noted that we did place the Kestrel in direct sunlight. In meteorology, temperature sensors are always placed in the shade with good airflow. We did this because we were measuring the temperature on the dashboard. Temperature measurements in other parts of the vehicle were likely less than measured on the dashboard, but still significant. The dashboard surface is said to be similar to the hard parts of a child’s car seat in terms of how it much it can heat up.
Graph of Temp (F) and Relative Humidity (%) of our Kestrel in a Car experiment. The data before the temperature begins to rise is from using the Kestrel on a tripod and vane mount to monitor conditions during the early afternoon.
Notice how there is hardly any humidity in the vehicle. Since the low humidity would encourage efficient sweating, any person or animal placed in the car would be dehydrated very fast. Also notice not just how hot it gets but how fast the temperate rises just within the first ten minutes.
Jan Null, Adjunct Professor of Meteorology at SFSU has done extensive research on this topic and provides an up-to-date page on the current statistics and research. His experiments covered a large range of temperatures and he says that “‘cracking the windows had little effect.”
You can download the data from our experiment below. The file is split into four sheets: an introduction, the raw data, the raw data with explanations and finally, a graph. You can investigate the data yourself and make graphs of different things. (Note, we took out data like wind speed that didn’t make any sense to include.) Download the data here (.xls file)
You can find more details for Jan Null’s website here: http://ggweather.com/heat/
Have questions or comments? Share them below, on Facebook or tweet at us!
Un Fuego! Kestrel Weather at Interschutz Firefighting Tradeshow
Monday, July 5th, 2010NK Sales & Marketing Manager, Katie Godfrey, and Kestrel Business Development Manager, Christy Munding, took on Germany for the Interschutz Tradeshow. Interschutz is the international exhibition for Rescue, Fire Prevention, Disable Relief, Safety & Security. For short, us industry folks call it Interschutz.
Kestrel Pocket Weather Meters are used by wildland firefighters all over the globe. Knowing relative humidity, wet bulb temperature and various other conditions is critical when battling wind-whipped blazes. Imagine being responsible for containing one of the most unpredictable, volatile forces of nature — fire. Talk about pressure. Particularly, in dense brush areas where the environment and ambient conditions fuse to create a potentially deadly crucible that knows no boundaries.
Firefighters are able to use their Kestrel Pocket Weather Meter to quickly get accurate weather conditions right where they are. Monitoring the on-site blaze conditions gives firefighters the information they need about fire behavior and making decisions for safety and strategy.
We understand what a dangerous job firefighters have and are proud to make products that are as tough as the demanding environments they face. When you’re facing a field with quickly-spreading orange stripes of destruction, you don’t have time to guess. You need reliability, accuracy and something that can take the heat.
Before the Kestrel Meter became the standard tool for firefighters more than a decade ago, they used an apparatus called a sling psychrometer, which is basically two thermometers mounted together with a handle attached to a chain. One thermometer has a wet cloth over it for determining wet bulb temperature. They’d twirl the sling psychrometer around and this would tell them the measurement based on temperature and evaporation rate of the wet cloth. A lot more work than just turning on your Kestrel Meter!
Here’s a pic of a Kestrel 3000 one of our wildland firefighters sent me after it survived a 500 degree blaze. Definitely one for the trophy case. It still turns on and the impeller still works. Though, the screen is a bit smoked out. Kestrel S’More anyone? Kestrel meters are regarded as the toughest hand-held weather meters available for a reason. So we feel confident offering an atypical five-year warranty on all our meters.
If you’d like to learn more about wildland firefighting, check out this cool (or hot) resource center the National Geographic site has posted.
Sales Manager Katie doesn’t just sell Kestrel Meters to firefighters, she’s so dedicated she even went and got certified as a Wildland firefighter herself!
That’s pretty smoking hot, huh?
See Katie and Christy talk Kestrels and fire in an interview from the tradeshow.