What's some good starting NV gear? Looking for optics/goggles, laser and illuminator?

**1911-A1** · 07-25-15, 17:34

I've been wanting to get into NV as I've gone further with carbine classes. In the near future I'd like to take a low-light/NV course.

I don't have $10k to spend, but I'd like to get some entry level gear that's quality, but obviously not top shelf.

Where should I start looking?

**TXBK** · 07-25-15, 17:47

There is a lot of good info on TNVC. You can get a high quality setup for less than $10K, depending upon your needs and wants.

**scooter22** · 07-25-15, 18:57

FWIW, I've been looking at the PVS-14.

It also appears that the ATPIAL @ TNVC is what's up these days...

**infidelcrusader** · 07-26-15, 19:28

Look around and you can find gen 2 used units for 6/700$.

**the_1iviper** · 07-27-15, 04:30

i just spent the last few months getting into the night vision game. it's tits , you won't be disappointed

tnvc has also started a sister company with more affordable gen 2+ tubes which are pretty high spec.

nightgoggles.com

there are a handful of good night vision companies out there. give them each a call and see what they have to offer. i went with nightlong industries , Ryan is a great guy to deal with.

first thing is to decide if you want a mono or bino setup , everything else is an easy decision. i was all set to buy a single pvs14 and ended up with an ab nightvision mod3 setup. i'm glad i went with the bino's , a singular monocular just doesn't work well for me. there are those that prefer a mono setup to bino's though. you get the same 40 degree fov with bino's but the added depth perception is worth the price of admission. there are plenty of good ir lights out there and as was mentioned above the atpial-c and the dbal a3 are the top civilian "full featured" lasers out at the moment. i went with the a3 but both are quality units. there are also cheaper options out there depending on what you want in the unit.

also if you like to tinker and your not worried about a warranty you can buy the parts and assemble it yourself and save a little money.

**diving dave** · 07-27-15, 12:10

I've received my goodies from TNVC in the last few months.. Running PVS14 on a base jump helmet and an ATPIAL-C on my SCAR..Save up your dough and get a Gen 3 unit, its worth the performance.

**henschman** · 07-27-15, 18:23

The Crimson Trace Railmaster IR is an awesome IR laser. It is made for a pistol so it is very small and unobtrusive, but it has all the range you would want. Several hundred yards easy. It is also a lot cheaper than ATIPALs and whatnot... I got mine for under $180 from Optics For You. Plus it works on pistols too.

For an illuminator, I have the Streamlight Tac Pro IR. It works... it has a very focused beam for lighting things up over some distance, and it has a good tailcap momentary switch. The tube is a little less than 1" though, so you have to wrap some electrician's tape or vet wrap around it to get it to fit in most weapon mounts. I think Battery Junction had the best price on it, at a little over $80.

For the actual NV unit, I only own a Gen 1 unit for the time being. I have the Yukon NVRS head mount monocular, which is about $275 on Amazon. It has a really narrow field of view and doesn't do much better than well-adjusted eyes without an illuminator, but with an illuminator it works pretty well. It has an integral one that works very well at lighting up your immediate area, and the weapon mount IR Streamlight works well for seeing farther out. You have to focus the ocular at whatever distance you're looking at, but that is really fast and easy to do one-handed.

I have also used gen 2 and 3 units. The price actually reflects the difference in capability pretty well. Gen 1 sucks way worse than the others, but would definitely give you the jump on somebody with no NV in a night engagement. Gen 2 is much nicer and lets you see much farther away, much clearer, and with a much wider FOV, and doesn't require an illuminator if there is any ambient light at all, or unless you want to look beyond 150 yards or so. The gen 3 is clearer and longer ranged still.

I recommend at least a Gen 2 for any serious use. I think I will be upgrading very soon myself.

**danieljmaunder** · 08-08-15, 20:32

The ATPIAL-C is the way to go for Laser/Illuminator, and you can get used PVS-14's for around $2500, new for around $3300 depending on where you buy em from.