FOG HORN July 2019

Twobirds Flying Publications

Vortex Razor HD 4000 Laser Range Finder

Copyright 2019, Towbirds Flying Publications. All Rights Reserved.

 Vortex Razor HD 4000 Laser Range Finder
VORTEX RAZOR HD 4000 Laser Range
Finder
By: Sal Palma
Earlier in 2019, Vortex Optics, one of the most
highly regarded magnified optics manufacturer
in the United States, announced an addition to
its existing LRF line, the Razor HD 4000 laser
range finder, and it has to be one of the most
notable product announcements of the year. If
Vortex Optics doesn’t ring a bell, you need to
experience the company’s Razor line of rifle
scopes, some of the best glass you can buy at
any price.
I’ve wanted to review one of their laser range
finders for quite some time but never got
around to doing that, so when they introduced
the Razor HD 4000, I thought to myself, that’s
the one.
Along the way, I’ve reviewed a number of laser
range finders, including the military grade
equipment from Safran Vectronix and Newcon
Optik. I also learned that consumers don’t
understand laser ranging, so before I get to the
Copyright 2019, Twobirds Flying Publications, All Rights Reserved
2019
Vortex Razor HD 4000, I want to touch on the
many nuances of laser ranging.
A laser range finder fires a pulse and measures
the time it takes for the return. It operates in
the infrared spectrum and can be detected
using night vision equipment when looking
straight at it. Military models are available that
operate outside of the i.r. spectrum in order to
avoid detection.
The laser pulse also has a beam width that’s
generally expressed in mils, 1 mil is equal to
0.05625° so a .1 mil beam width translates to
0.005625°. The laser pulse beam starts to
diverge as soon as it leaves the rangefinder, so a
narrow beam is highly desirable and common in
high performance laser rangefinders like the
Razor HD 4000.
Although the LRF operates outside the visible
light spectrum it’s also susceptible to
atmospheric interference; for example,
moisture in the air has a diffractive and
attenuating effect. Atmospheric moisture is a
disruptive phenomenon and functions like a
bunch of little lenses floating in the air. Last but
not least, range-finding over water is also a
challenge.
Ambient lighting will also influence a laser range
finder’s performance. The ideal environment is
a slightly overcast sky while the worst possible
scenario is ranging directly into a bright sun.
Next, there’s target reflectivity. A highly
reflective target will return the laser pulse
better than a target of low reflectivity; target
materials will also impact laser ranging.
 Vortex Razor HD 4000 Laser Range Finder
The ideal target is a highly reflective flat surface
perpendicular to your line of sight.
The angle at which the laser pulse strikes a
target is called the incident angle and physics
tells us that the angle of incidence is equal to
the angle of reflection. The following illustration
will clarify that concept.
Note that at the illustrated angle of incident,
the reflected laser pulse is not returning to its
originating point, the LRF. In this case, you may
not get a range. Therefore, the closer our line of
sight is perpendicular to the target surface the
better the reflection and the faster and more
accurate the range will be.
Circular targets, like this oil storage tank, are
challenging because there’s only one line of
sight that will be perpendicular to its surface.
The tank’s curvature ensures that some amount
of your laser pulse will be reflected in a
direction other than back to your rangefinder.
Copyright 2019, Twobirds Flying Publications, All Rights Reserved
2019
Those are a few idiosyncrasies of laser range
finding and the reason why I chose “LRF Hell” to
test drive the Razor HD 4000.
If you want to put a laser range finder through
the wringer, there’s nothing like a shipyard.
Lazing Bambi pales in comparison to what you
encounter in this environment and a shipyard is
also much closer to what you would encounter
in a theater of operation.
Figure 1 LRF Hell
The Vortex Razor HD 4000 features 7X
magnification with the best optical clarity of any
rangefinder commercially available; surface
textures, even rivets were easily resolved. Edge
to edge sharpness and light transmission are
superb. I was amazed and kept switching back
and forth between a
Leica LRF I brought along
for comparison. To my
eyes, the Vortex was
handedly better.
The HD 4000 has two
modes of operation. The
factory default, which Vortex calls HCD
(Horizontal Component Distance), provides an
angle compensated range.
 Vortex Razor HD 4000 Laser Range Finder 2019
When shooting angles, meaning inclination or four, press the Measure button once then
declination, the shooter needs to determine the toggle through NORMAL FIRST, LAST and ELR by
angle; then, calculate its cosine. He then pressing the MENU button.
multiplies the line of sight range by the cosine
of the angle to determine the angle corrected
distance. The HD 4000 makes that calculation
for you in its default HCD mode.

The second is the LOS or

line of sight mode. In LOS,
the range finder displays
the inclination or
declination angle and the
line of sight range. The
shooter does the math
work. The HD 4000 can also be set to range in The targeting mode selected is shown in the
yards or meters, the factory default is yards. upper left-hand side of the display. I’ll apologize
right now for the image quality but the head on
my digiscoping apparatus did not fit the
eyepiece, so I had to jury-rig things.
Nevertheless, you can easily see that I had LAST
selected. All targeting methods are available in
both HCD and LOS modes.

You’ll want to use LAST when your desired

target is obstructed by trees or brush. To scan
the target area, select LAST using the MENU
button then press and hold MEASURE while
scanning. The HD 4000 will detect and lock in
Operating the Razor HD 4000 is achieved using the furthest distance. It works extremely well;
the MENU and MEASURE buttons. Vortex did providing consistent results. I tested LAST in LRF
more than just label them, they wanted a tactile Hell with impressive results.
indicator so the MENU button is smooth while
the MEASURE button has four raised Braille like
dots. I remember sitting there wondering why
one would do that, but it was pretty cool and
after all they are rifle scope guys.

The HD 4000 has four target modes NORMAL,

FIRST, LAST and ELR. To move through these

Copyright 2019, Twobirds Flying Publications, All Rights Reserved

 Vortex Razor HD 4000 Laser Range Finder 2019
Take a look at ship was docked, is designated P0024 2.7km
the shoreline (2700 meters) from my point of observation.
cover and the
structure that’s FIRST is exactly opposite from LAST. You use
barely visible this mode when your target is in front of a
behind it. The group of objects that are larger or more
HD 4000 had no reflective than your target. To measure, after
trouble ranging selecting FIRST targeting, depress the MEASURE
the structure, button and hold while scanning the area of
interest. The HD 4000 will lock in the closest
which is also
not reflective, range and display that.
and as you can see from the photo, it did so The LED display is adjustable for brightness
with acceptable accuracy. The satellite image from 1 to 5, one being the dimmest, an
confirms the structure at 322 meters from my extremely nice feature especially when working
point of observation - impressive performance in low light conditions. In bright and direct
by the HD 4000. sunlight I was setting the display at 4 or 5.
I then tested the ELR (Extended Laser Range)
mode.

In this trial, I wanted to get the range to the

cruise ship. This was clearly a reflective target
but take a look at the angle the target presents
to the line of sight. The HD 4000 had no
problem dealing with that. Again, I used a
satellite image to confirm the range The HD 4000 is a light weight compact package.
measurement. Vortex even provided a reversible belt clip and a
very nice carrying case. I’m not a huge fan of
My point of observation is designated by the
rubber coatings, because they breakdown in
blue dot. The passenger terminal, where the

Copyright 2019, Twobirds Flying Publications, All Rights Reserved

 Vortex Razor HD 4000 Laser Range Finder
heat and humidity, so I liked Vortex’s
implementation of a using a subdued texturing.
Vortex’s Razor HD 4000 is a high quality, high
performance ranging instrument. During my
testing and evaluation, I ranged very difficult
targets at a variety of ranges from 50 meters to
2,800 meters and all measurements were well
within acceptable accuracy. Ranging was
extremely fast except for my ELR test that took
somewhat longer to display. All ranging was
done over water and under very humid
conditions in bright sunlight. As succinctly as I
can say it, the Vortex Razor HD 4000 is an
excellent offering from a small company who
seems to continuously redefine excellence and
performance.
Whether by design or oversight, Vortex Optics
left the long range shooting customer wanting.
The long range precision shooter of 2019
integrates his or her platform with a weather
meter and ballistic app. These apps run on
smart devices and collect wind direction and
speed, barometric pressure, relative humidity
and other environmental data from a paired
weather meter via Bluetooth, or Bluetooth LE
(low energy). In order to compute a firing
solution, the application also needs input from
a rangefinder providing shooting angle, range
and azimuth to the target.
2019
In the meantime, if you do not require
Bluetooth integration, the Vortex Razor HD
4000 has my highest recommendation if for no
other reason than its exceptional optical clarity.
-SP
Manufacturer Specifications
 Range Reflective (yards) 4000
 Range Tree (yards) 2500
 Range Deer (yards) 2200
 Accuracy (≤ 199.9 yds.) .5 yds.
 Accuracy (200 - 1000 yds.) 1 yd.
 Accuracy (> 1000 yds.) 2 yds.
 Max Angle Reading + / - 70 degrees
 Magnification 7x
 Objective Lens Diameter 25 mm
 Linear Field of View 341.25 ft. @ 1,000
yds.
 Angular Field of View 6.5 degrees
 Eye Relief 16-19 mm
 Length 4.49 inches
 Width 1.34 inches
 Weight 9.9 oz.
 Product Manual (PDF) Download
 MSRP $729.99

In its present form, the Vortex Razor HD 4000

does not support Bluetooth connectivity to a
weather meter or smart device. It also does not
provide azimuth to a target. However, it
wouldn’t surprise me to see a Shot Show
announcement of a Vortex Razor HD 4000 B (for
Bluetooth), mere speculation on my part at this
point.

Copyright 2019, Twobirds Flying Publications, All Rights Reserved