Night Vision For Beginners: An Introduction (PT 3 Added)

[bug_eyedmonster]

My own answers in bold.

Thanks for the input. I'm going to start shopping for them sooner than later, buying piece by piece. I showed my wife L3 GPNVG, and almost got slapped.

Jerry

[CouchOperator]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to start shopping for them sooner than later, buying piece by piece. I showed my wife L3 GPNVG, and almost got slapped.

Jerry

What are you going for?

[Scottn]

Where does one go night shooting ? Blm land ?

[naeco81]

It's too bad you can only vote a thread 5 stars once.
Awesome guide, thx!

[CouchOperator]

Where does one go night shooting ? Blm land ?

Yep. Theres a spot 14 minutes away from me which i frequent. Or, private land way out in the middle of nowhere where legal

[CouchOperator]

As a total noob to NVG, NV in general, I have a few questions that seem to be overlooked. Please do not take these the wrong way, I really have no idea what to say here, and aside from tinkering with a few older models of monocles, I have zero experience.

1. OP, I read in your earlier post about once getting them, to spend an hour with them on to adjust. When I played with my friend's, I was told not to use in light. How can this be done when, say, walking down the street, with my dog and NOG on a casual stroll? Will I be blinded by the street lights and on-coming cars like in the movies? Will bright light damage the NV devices?

Good gen 3, even nonautogated, no, bright lights will not damage it as long as you dont longingly stare into them. Generally, your head naturally keeps moving. Its a janky comparison, but think of an NVG screen like an etchesketch in some ways. Sometimes youll have a ghosted image but itll fade momentarily. No, you wont get blinded either. Movies mess up NVG stuff just as much as they do gun stuff

2. I have always wanted NV, but have not been able to justify the cost since I cannot hunt with them or mount them on my rifle in CA. Other than patrolling my neighborhood like a weirdo, what else can I do to justify to my wife why I need a set up?

I cant help you with the wife, but i guarantee you she will dig a set, so get ready to budget for two setups

3. With a helmet-mounted NV device, how is shooting? Can I use NVG with a pistol or long gun, or will the angles and such get in the way?

You dont move the same way you do at night under NVG as you do during the day. Period. You need to use all your senses to build a world map of whats around you. Sound is a big player.
Generally scan the next 10-20 feet you plan to move to before moving. Regarding shooting, you wont have a cheekweld. You look over the gun. I often shoot my rifle with the stock directly on my sternum. You could even hipfire if you want, and may be more fun for persons that dont have the upper body strength to shoot a rifle in the day fully shouldered etc.

4. Can I make my own wide angle goggles instead of buying them for the price of my truck? The 40 degree field of view is tripping me out.

No, and you will get used to the narrow FOV through use and time. I did hear rumors of a fisheye type lens at shot show this year, but im not a fan of that idea. I prefer the world as i normally see it
OP, thanks for the information here, along with everyone else. Long time luster for NV, but have always thought out of my realm. I guess if bought in chunks, it would be more doable. Hopefully technology will help lower the cost of entry too.
Everyone says it will get cheaper, but i can guarantee you it wont. If anything, with the recent explosion of white phos, its getting more expensive for the "higher end" tubes. I paid around $3500 for a couple matched green phos tubes. New white phos hotness would have been $4k PER tube, so $8,000. The government has been paying $3000+ for PVS14's, therefore we, as the consumer, wont be buying cheaper than that anytime soon. ITT and L3 cant just sell stuff cheaper just because. NVG is a niche market unlike the AR market where anyone and their brother can afford a garbage dump rifle. Intensifier tube technology is complicated stuff.
Jerry

Answers in above.

[bug_eyedmonster]

Answers in above.

Thanks again for the insight. It seems like the more research I do, the more complicated this is getting, but the info here in this thread is a big help. To answer your previous question, as to what I want NV for. I plan to just tinker with them, honestly. Be that creepy guy in the neighborhood, do some night shooting, take out when I go camping/hunting, scare my wife and kids at home... pretty much the standard.

Jerry

[HooYah]

A PVS-14 is the jack of all trades NVD. It's versatile and is a fine choice for someone just getting into the NV game. I would even go so far as to say that in certain situations, running a monocular has some advantages over a dual tube NVG's. Urban environments for example, where you are likely to encounter sudden bright light sources and having that unaided eye helps you work thru problems faster.

If I run duals, I prefer systems that allow the tubes to swivel up and out of the way. I found that it's more low profile to just swivel them up when not in use rather than flipping them up over your helmet. With PVS-15's, BNVD's, etc you can do that. I got to finger **** a new set of BNVD's from L3 that resemble the PVS-31 but had features from the PVS-15 such as the on board IR illuminator and adjustable diopter eyepieces. It was a slick little unit.

[Nguyen]

Skip gen 2 and go straight gen 3.

Don't even bother with gen 1... You can build a Gen 3 for the same price as a gen 2 (1.5 to 2k)... if you're seriously on a budget.

[CouchOperator]

Bump for the newbies :}

[CouchOperator]

What are the response times to the current image intensifiers? I tried a 1st Gen when I worked at Aberdeen Proving Ground and you had to be stationary for 1-2 seconds to see anything.

I mean, do you have to move slowly to keep focus?

Thanks for the write-up, I just saw it now.

Its real-time for gen 3

[Sputnik]

Has anyone had look at the Infiray J31? I’m wondering if it’s worth it to go for dual tube “gen 2+” rather than a mono gen 3.
No matter how you slice it $4k is a big spend and nobody wants to make the wrong choice. I have no real world NV experience but on paper I can see there are benefits to both.

[CouchOperator]

Gen 3 is highly recommended. Gen 2+ is useable but doesnt have the same level of defintion with details such as reading words or other fine tasks. Gen 2+ is like a porsche carerra s while gen 3 is like a GT3RS.

[Sputnik]

So the bino setup doesn?t really outweigh the lower image quality? Interesting, I would have thought there was more benefit to using both eyes but I gladly accept the wisdom offered.
As cool as BNVD looks I guess I?ll keep saving for a pvs14.

[CouchOperator]

So the bino setup doesn?t really outweigh the lower image quality? Interesting, I would have thought there was more benefit to using both eyes but I gladly accept the wisdom offered.
As cool as BNVD looks I guess I?ll keep saving for a pvs14.

Both have advantages and disadvantages. With duals, you can see with both eyes and its a bit more comofrtable qnd adjust them to be angled up, so when you tilt your head up sloghtly you are looking under the nods if you need white light. A monocular you dony have to do that, as you have an eye that is always adjusted to darkness. Its hard to explain without practical application explanation with a unit but you cant go wrong with either.