Night vision goggles

[okie]

Thank you very much - this is relevant to my interests. I was just able to snag a BE Meyers MAWL-C1+ for my go-to carbine, and was researching BNVD's on the ride home today.

Gonna need a bucket, too.

Don't underestimate the Nightcap if you're not looking for ballistic protection. Most people erroneously assume they can't handle themselves as well as helmets, but they're deceptively capable, and the mesh ventilation is most welcome in the summer. They also allow you to wear your hood up in the winter, which is even nicer. I've tried various options with helmets to keep my head and ears warm, but for a hat thick enough to do any good you have to undersize your pads. I tried a Hot Chillys face warmer that's basically a balaclava with the top cut off, and it worked to an extent, but it keeps trying to fall down, it interferes with the chin strap, and the snot situation gets totally out of control. What I don't understand about helmets is how something that makes so hot in the summer can make you so cold in the winter. Just once I would like to see a paradox that didn't suck.

[Lowdown3]

+1 Okie If you don't need ballistic protection then a nightcap is great or a bump helmet with the cuts in the top does allow more air flow also.

We have night caps in all our family's BOBs as well in case of helmet lose.

[Alex V]

I decided to save $3500 and jumped on the deal TNVC had a year ago for NGI assembles DTNVGs with WP Elbit tubes. This is my first step into the NVG world and I’m super happy. Walking around the back of my property in the night with no moon and no real artificial light I can see anything I need.

If I want to upgrade tubes in the future I’m sure I can, and I really like the DTNVG housing.

[chamber143]

I like you didn't like binos very much either. Only time they were nice was in a completely dark environment with no ambient light and since most of the time I'm out in the woods there is enough moon or star light or street light or something, that I like having my other eye night adjusted. Another good thing I don't hear much is that with that eye adjusted I can quickly pull my rifle up and see my red dot with it and don't have to expose myself with an ir beam. And where we are going in this country that may not be too far fetched in the coming years. I know you can see your dot through the nvg but that is a mofo trying to do it quickly and not hit the rifle on the nvg. I know that is a training thing but it is something.

I'm going to be the contrarian and suggest that you don't have to necessarily spend 10k on filmless. Or even get binos.

Here's my current setup that I'm super happy with:




Wasted a lot of time and money getting to that place. Luckily I didn't lose any money because the panic let me sell my unused stuff without taking big losses, so at least that's good. Tried binos, was NOT impressed. The weight savings and especially preserving your dominant eye's night vision are massive advantages no one talks about.

[Lowdown3]

I like you didn't like binos very much either. Only time they were nice was in a completely dark environment with no ambient light and since most of the time I'm out in the woods there is enough moon or star light or street light or something, that I like having my other eye night adjusted. Another good thing I don't hear much is that with that eye adjusted I can quickly pull my rifle up and see my red dot with it and don't have to expose myself with an ir beam. And where we are going in this country that may not be too far fetched in the coming years. I know you can see your dot through the nvg but that is a mofo trying to do it quickly and not hit the rifle on the nvg. I know that is a training thing but it is something.

Passive aiming takes a little more work with a monocular but is relatively easy with a dual tube set IME.

[okie]

I like you didn't like binos very much either. Only time they were nice was in a completely dark environment with no ambient light and since most of the time I'm out in the woods there is enough moon or star light or street light or something, that I like having my other eye night adjusted. Another good thing I don't hear much is that with that eye adjusted I can quickly pull my rifle up and see my red dot with it and don't have to expose myself with an ir beam. And where we are going in this country that may not be too far fetched in the coming years. I know you can see your dot through the nvg but that is a mofo trying to do it quickly and not hit the rifle on the nvg. I know that is a training thing but it is something.

Yea when I tried binos I was sorely disappointed. I was expecting to have full depth perception, and it didn't feel one iota better than the monocular. I certainly can't speak for everyone, but I strongly suspect the overwhelming preference for binos is because the brain protests less. Whereas when you're trying to learn how to compensate with a monocular it's like shooting irons with both eyes open, in the sense that your brain is going to throw a giant hissy fit. But man, when you overcome that the world is yours.

I am intrigued by the new pano bridge though. Basically poor man's GPNVG. The one thing you really never get over is the limited field of view, and of course traditional binos don't help any. Also starting to covet the new ECOTI. It looks and sounds like that's a real game changer. If I were going to have 5-10k in night vision again, I think I would be going in one of those directions.

[ToeheadAR]

I ended up with a new PVS-14 housing and OMNI VIII intensifier tube. Got both parts for an amazing value and with the NOROTOS Rhino II mount, shroud, and Crye nightcap I have a very capable and affordable system that cost me less then $2k. This was about 2 years ago so it will likely be a little harder to replicate my build for that price but I feel it is the best entry level setup put there.

[hotrodder636]

I ended up with a Photonis tube from Robert at JRH- the specs on my tube match some of the high dollar gen 3 tube specs. I honestly don’t know that I would spend more money based on what I see out of mine—not sure what I would see/get better for the increased cost.
I am not an operator by trade and had never used NODs before. To my inexperienced eyes these will work for me just fine.

Thank you very much - this is relevant to my interests. I was just able to snag a BE Meyers MAWL-C1+ for my go-to carbine, and was researching BNVD's on the ride home today.

Gonna need a bucket, too.

[Lowdown3]

I ended up with a Photonis tube from Robert at JRH- the specs on my tube match some of the high dollar gen 3 tube specs. I honestly don’t know that I would spend more money based on what I see out of mine—not sure what I would see/get better for the increased cost.
I am not an operator by trade and had never used NODs before. To my inexperienced eyes these will work for me just fine.

Appreciate your business, thanks again!

[okie]

I ended up with a Photonis tube from Robert at JRH- the specs on my tube match some of the high dollar gen 3 tube specs. I honestly don’t know that I would spend more money based on what I see out of mine—not sure what I would see/get better for the increased cost.
I am not an operator by trade and had never used NODs before. To my inexperienced eyes these will work for me just fine.

Not much under most conditions. When you're under heavy tree cover on a cloudy night and it gets really noisy, that's where the super high end filmless tubes come into play. For what we're doing, not really important. You did well.