Kestrel 2500 Pocket weather meter

Rangefinders are common these days but no product will solve the wind speed/direction problem in quite the same definitive way that range can be addressed.

It’s all about learning and using your instincts and estimation in field conditions and here we have an ideal tool to help. As well as top end kit like the 4500 NV with inbuilt Horus ballistic calculation software, Kestrel offer some great entry level anemometers that not only measure wind speed, but other atmospheric variables alongside it.

The Kestrel 2500NV pocket weather meter is just such an instrument that allows the serious shooter to spend spare time learning how to assess and judge those all all-important variables so that when a humane first shot is required, a smarter brain is calculating those variables. This small robust unit will easily slip into a pocket and when used, measures current, average and maximum wind speed, temperature, wind chill, barometric pressure and altitude. Its long life lithium battery powers a neat display with just three buttons to simplify control. The lightweight, replaceable impellor with low-friction Zytel bearings certainly responds quickly to even the lightest of winds. Both waterproof and buoyant, if dropped it will float undamaged and comes with a 5 year warranty. The display is backlit in low light and metric as well as imperial units are on offer.

As Handy As It Looks

At 96 grams, 120mm long and 45mm wide the unit comfortably lives in my `radio` pocket and was light enough to be easily forgotten. The device itself slips in and out of a hard plastic cover so there are no worries about breaking it when crawling along, and a lanyard is supplied along with an instruction booklet to get the most from the unit.

In this day and age you can tally the figures output with a smart phone ballistic “app” but one wind reading at the length of your arm will not give all the answers and on longer shots, what the wind is doing between you and the target is not measurable. What I find the Kestrel best at doing if you have the time available is to watch your local (arm’s length) wind speed’s effect on close vegetation and compare that with what can be observed through scope or binos, direction as well as intensity is a factor in devising a firing solution.

Good judgment, wind speed and direction is a far greater challenge to good long range shooting than accurate guns alone and here is a tool to take that first step. The responsive impeller detects the smallest changes of wind speed that even at 200 yards can have a devastating effects on shot placement and the first fact a tool like this should teach is to know your ethical limits, as it may highlight why certain shots taken in the past have gone wrong.

The 2500 gave results that tallied as closely as can be expected with previously proven downrange ballistics, in terms of drop figures, all the atmospheric variables take effect, not just wind speed but these are more easily seen at very long ranges.

The Kestrel 2500NV pocket weather meter is priced at £177.60. For more information visit Richard Paul Russell Ltd. website at www.r-p-r.co.uk GM