I have the trail XP50 and the IR Patrol. I often go from my XP50 to my Trail for better identificiation. If you were soley using it for a "spotter" and you have the extra money to spend I would go with the IR patrol no question. The nice thing is the IR patrol is helmet mountable and if you wanted to you can also weapons mount it. I love all the features built in to the Pulsar lines and that is why I own both. However, if you have the money spend it on the IR Patrol. If you don't, the XP50 is still an awesome scope!