When researching the best trail cameras, several brand names pop up frequently – Bushnell, Moultrie and GardePro, to highlight a few. However, an often overlooked brand is Cuddeback, who produce affordable and reliable trail cameras.
In this article, I’ll look at several Cuddeback products, the system that operates them all while attempting to answer the most common trail camera-related question: which Cuddeback trail camera should I buy?
Cuddeback game cameras do not come with fancy extras, but accomplish the basics exceptionally. They are solidly built and trigger consistently. (The above photo appears in the gallery at Cuddeback.com).
The Cuddeback Trail Camera Range
| Cuddeback X-Change Game Hunting Camera | | 20MP daytime and nighttime color photos | 0.25-second trigger speed |
| Cuddeback CuddeLink Cell (Verizon) |   | Two cell modes – CuddeLink Cell Home or Solo Mode | Incorporate up to twenty four cameras, forming a network on a single cell plan |
| Cuddeback H-1453 |   | 20MP images, More than 100 feet of flash range | Easy to understand arrangement and organization |
| Cuddeback CuddeLink Long Range |   | Link up to twenty four trail cameras that daisy chain automatically for expansive range extension | Built-in CuddeLink trail camera-to-trail camera network, no additional gear required. |
| Cuddeback CuddeLink Trail Cameras |   | Quarter second trigger speed, one to two second recovery speed | Zone control, premium sensor |
What Sets Cuddeback Wildlife Cameras Apart?
1. Durability and Battery Power
Depending on the model, Cuddeback scouting cameras can mounted and left to record for between six months to one year. For those that want or need it, there are battery boosting add-ons such as the Cuddeback CuddePower Battery Booster.
This compact battery booster can give you 4 times the power that is provided by eight AA batteries. For those that mount trail cameras in sub-freezing and freezing temperatures, the battery booster pack can be a huge asset, as batteries are spent faster in colder temperatures than in hotter conditions.
Cuddeback equipment is manufactured to endure in any weather, resulting in all their hunting cameras being waterproof. However, some users contend with very harsh cold and scorching heat. For those customers, we advise complimenting your setup with a Cuddeback Camera Case. Not only does it protect your camera trap from heat, rain and snow, it is a very good anti-theft solution as well.
2. Mesh Networking
A huge Cuddeback selling point is their wireless mesh network connecting their hunting cameras. Known as CuddeLink, this system allows you to monitor up to fifteen Cuddeback trail cameras from a single hub. This hub can either be your email or a ‘home’ camera.
This means individual cameras do not have to be checked, adding up to long distances covered, and also, scents left behind that may spook the game.
3. Transmission Distance
When hung in a solidly forested region, the typical transmission range between two trail cameras is a quarter-mile to half-a-mile. In more open spaces, the trail camera-to-trail camera distance can cover slightly more than a mile.
When multiple devices are in use, the signal can be transmitted much further as the cameras form a daisy-chain, covering more than four miles of distance.
Please remember that these numbers represent average ranges, which can vary based on factors such as extreme weather or terrain elevation.
4. Connectivity
CuddeLink is ideal for those that reside close to the area being monitored, and users on another geographic location. Depending on the context, two options are available to you: Cell and On-Side.
CuddeLink On-Site – This option is aimed at landowners or hunters who live on or close to their property. For example, if fifteen cameras are mounted throughout a large tract of land, the system will send, automatically, all captured images to a single designated Cuddeback wireless ‘Home’ image receiver. This saves you from visiting every camera individually.
Once received, images are stored on an onboard SD memory card.
CuddeLink Cell – This option works in much the same way as the CuddeLink On-Site system, main difference being the images are sent to your email rather than saved on an SD card.
This ups the convenience, as SD card retrieval is taken off the table by checking your phone for alerts or your computer for notifications. This convenience is however not free, as it comes with a monthly charge.
Data usage is the basis for billing, which is itself based on a Cuddeback proprietary cellular network system, which allows for communication via an LTE Home Unit.
5. User Friendliness
Cuddeback trail camera systems are very simple to use. Trail camera interfaces are intuitive without needless bells and whistles.
Check today’s prices of Cuddeback trail cameras at Amazon
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