Is a Kestrel 2500 enough?

[Technologist]

I don't own a weather meter other than the thermometers nailed to the walls of my house.

Is a Kestrel 2500 enough of a tool to keep me going for a good while or are the more sophisticated versions worth it?

i am not really interested in entering my ballistics into the weather meter, I'd rather the Kestrel just produce data that I plug into a separate ballistic calculator to provide a solution.

 

[338 dude]

I don't own a weather meter other than the thermometers nailed to the walls of my house.

Is a Kestrel 2500 enough of a tool to keep me going for a good while or are the more sophisticated versions worth it?

i am not really interested in entering my ballistics into the weather meter, I'd rather the Kestrel just produce data that I plug into a separate ballistic calculator to provide a solution.

Not familiar with that exact model, but I'm still running a 4000 series Kestrel myself ,if all you want is environmental data it should do what you want.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

I don't own a weather meter other than the thermometers nailed to the walls of my house.

Is a Kestrel 2500 enough of a tool to keep me going for a good while or are the more sophisticated versions worth it?

i am not really interested in entering my ballistics into the weather meter, I'd rather the Kestrel just produce data that I plug into a separate ballistic calculator to provide a solution.

Good morning!
Getting a Kestrel for shooting depends on what kind of shooting you are doing for distance. Are you shooting long distance 1,000 yards +.
You just want for hunting under 1K yds.
We started using a Kestral with the Horus Ballistic program. That was many years ago.
You can look at the Kestrel website for information and also speak with technicians there to help you make a decision on which model to use.
Personally, if shooting long distance and having several rifles get the 5700 Elite with Applied Ballistic Link. You can LINK to your RF Binos if you have a compatible model. I can't shoot without the 5700 Elite.
Now another this is that you need a good Chronograph and Range Finder along with bullet data to get the shooting ballistics. It is a lot of $$$$s combined. We started doing the BUT Buy Once - Cry Once. a while ago after we learned our lesson on spending a small fortune and kept doing upgrades. We should have just got the Best from the beginning, but equipment changes and gets better every few years so it is ongoing $$$$s.
I probably didn't answer your question completely. Here are the comparison on Kestrel models.

Hunting with Kestrel Ballistics Ensures a Hit on the First Shot

When hunting, make sure to pack your Kestrel Ballistics meter to so that you can know your environment and always hit your target!

kestrelballistics.com

 

[Technologist]

I'm doing hunting well within 1000 yards. I'm a numbers guy and I'd love to be able to put a number on the wind, instead of just looking at the leaves and brush.

 

[ShtrRdy]

The 2500 looks like it will give you the information you need. Temperature, Pressure, Humidity, wind speed.

 

[Bravo 4]

As stated the 2500 will give you the environmentals to put in a ballistic app. If you just want wind numbers there are other (cheaper) units for that.
Many years back before Kestrel added ballistic programs to their units, I used a Speedtech Skymaster-SM28 (still got it) for all enviro data. You can find those on ebay for about $50-$60.

 

[Grizzman47]

If all you want is the wind speed, then the 2500 should be adequate. If you use a ballistic calculator on your phone, then being able to sync them via Bluetooth is quite handy. It looks like the least expensive Link enabled unit is the 5000.

I don't recall seeing it before, but the 2700 seems to have the Applied Ballistics calculator, and an MSRP of only $199. It doesn't include LiNK, but that's not needed, since the firing solution comes from the Kestrel. Its screen/button interface seems quite basic, but it might work well enough.

I've been using a 5700 Elite for about a year, and don't have any complaints.