Originally Posted by
GTF425
I get it man, it's a significant investment and you're trying to make a well informed decision before committing.
Easy way to adjust a PVS-14 is to step outside and see something like a fenceline. Adjust the diopter to start at 0, and turn the brightness down until it just barely amplifies light. Adjust the ocular lens until it's in focus with the fenceline, then slowly adjust the diopter until the image "merges" with your unaided eye-kinda like adjusting an LPVO focus down at 1x. Then, look off to an object in the distance and adjust the ocular lens focus to "infinity".
A lot of guys run inappropriate diopter settings without really knowing it. This is a common cause of eye strain and headaches, as well as negates the benefit of having an unaided eye. With an overly adjusted diopter, the two images will never truly "blend" once your unaided eye adjusts to its environmental lighting because you have the tube competing with your natural visual acuity- imagine trying to look out with one eye wearing a corrective lens and having that single eye "too strong".
A lot of guys also run their -14s way too bright. In doing so, the image quality of the tube turns to shit (you induce a lot of static-"snow storm" when looking through NODs), and you lose most of the night adaptation due to the unaided eye being excessively constricted (optic nerves work together, we know this- pupils dilate to increase light reception in low light, and given they adjust simultaneously, your unaided eye will be constricted due to the tube providing a substantial amount of supplemental light to the other eye).
What I would run with NODs is irrelevant from the prepared civilian perspective, honestly. I work with a group of 23 dudes that all have NODs, lasers, and we train together weekly. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm also working in an environment where I use NODs strictly to assist with navigation and looking for hazards to assist the PIC as needed. I benefit from the pseudo-depth perception of binos in the helicopter because that is a navigational role.
Yes- for all intents and purposes, binos > mono. You have some unique idiosyncrasies to work around with binos, namely that you will need to wear them higher in your FOV so you can peak under them to go white light, as well as losing a lot of awareness of ambient lighting by drawing both eyes in to those 40-degree toilet paper tubes. I also hate that the binos I'm equipped with automatically adjust their gain, so I have no manual brightness control.
I firmly believe that, in your position, you will be best served with a quality -14, helmet, mount, and laser, buying a case of FMJ, and enrolling in a course taught by someone that has SOF experience in the GWOT. There are a ton of former Unit dudes teaching, and you will be hard pressed to find a better resource to learn night vision shooting than with someone who cut their teeth doing it at the Varsity level.
Once you gain experience under NODs, then you can weigh the pros-cons of binos yourself and make the decision to either go to binos or stay with the -14. Most guys buy NODs, play with them for a few hours, then sell them months later with minimal use. That's an expensive game to play.
Bookmarks