Bushnell Equinox NV

I mentioned in a couple other threads that I was going to buy a Bushnell "Equinox Z" digital night monocular to play with, and somebody asked me to review it, so rather than highjack those other threads, here goes:


I bought a used 3x30 model off eBay for $120 or so. I wanted the 3x30 model because it's smaller and lighter (duh) than the 4.5x40 or 6x50 models.

https://www.bushnell.com/products/ni...ocular-3x30mm/


I also paid $45 extra for Bushnell's goofy 90° rail mount.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...cal_mount.html

(Bushnell will ship you one.)


My goals were to have some basic see-in-the-dark ability, and ideally, to put this thing on a rifle behind a red dot to shoot varmints in my backyard.

(No, I would NOT go into harm's way with a $120 NV set-up!)


Good:
It's pretty cool, especially for what I paid. I went out in the yard, and it was pitch dark, and I could see.

The imagining with the on-board illuminator is plenty good to ID varmints at across-the-yard ranges (<50yds). It would be easy to ID people and even see whether
they're armed or whatever at similar distances.


Bad:
It's longer than spec'ed (almost 8" rather than 6.5").

The eye relief is ridiculously short, like 1/2" to my eyeglasses.


Ugly:
Given the length of this thing, the forward position of the rail, I can't see any practical way to mount this to a rifle.

I guess I could use longer rail that would overhang the rear of the charging handle, but that would be ridiculous: non-starter.



So, on the balance, I'm happy enough with this and would recommend it, given limited expectations.

I'm going to keep the monocular to play with as a handheld, and now I'm looking at a Sightmark Wraith to actually mount on a rifle...