Night Vision

[wintersborn]

I think this is the right place to ask this, if not please move.

I am looking for some advice on a Night Vision device.

I would like to find find a 30-40mm Non magnified and non illuminated monocular that can at least see out to 20-40 yards.

The idea is to have something that can be put on quickly for home/property protection. Hopefully something that can be used with both eyes open and is not too bulky. Most of them seem to be able to mount and flip up on a strap style head set so hopefully it has the standard tripod? mount.

Any advice ?

Thanks.

[maddoggie13]

ATI...

[brando]

I hope you don't mean ATN...friends don't let friends use ATN.

[Tacit Blue]

http://www.opticsplanet.net/nightvision.html

ATI makes computer graphics cards :P Check out optics planet great bunch of folks.. Never had a issue with them.


We'll basically you have differen't grades of NVG's. You got professional grade/Military style AN-PVS style. Generation 3-4

Then you got commercial versions like ATN, Bushnell etc.

[wintersborn]

I have looked at the ones from O.P. but they all seem to use a IR light. From what I have read NV with artificial light and guns are a no no in California. Plus the IR light can be seen by other NV devices.

I am not sure if its a rumor or not but I was told that ATN is like NC star in quality ?

[Tacit Blue]

I had a set of generation 3 mono's that a switch to disable IR light. Plus most home invasion's or trespassers don't use NVG's themselves, why are you worried about a assailant seeing IR light?

It depends ATN NVG's your looking to get. The quality depends on the image intensifiers and the generation and resolution,battery life are all things to consider.

[wintersborn]

Mainly I just did not want to violate Komifornia's laws with the artificial light turned off or not in combination with a fire arm.

[Tacit Blue]

http://www.californiapredatorsclub.com/index.php?showtopic=6916

Bill Wiese from calguns wrote a post on this. (towards the bottom of the post) I would contact him on our forum. towards the bottom of the post.

[wintersborn]

Thanks for the link.

I would rather be safe than sorry and for my needs 20-40 yards I should not need IR light due to ambient light in my case.

I am starting to look into the digital NV items but I am not sure on those yet.

[D.M.C.]

Not to be a bubble-burster, but you should really look into the tactical Pros and Cons of using NVG/NODS in the scenario you described. In any urban to suburban environment the light environment is practically never zero-light conditions, but rather simply low-light conditions. Unless you are literally in a rural area with no street lighting, perimeter lighting, or interior lighting, you will need to weigh the drawbacks of funnel-vision and light-wash against the possibilities of being in a zero-light environment. To my understanding, training doctrine for most SWAT and Army units tends to be limiting the use of night vision optics for scouting and moving to area of contact. Once an area is expected to go hot, they switch to tac-lights augmented by red-dots, holosights, and other optics that are better suited for a low-light environment.

[StraightShooter]

Not to be a bubble-burster, but you should really look into the tactical Pros and Cons of using NVG/NODS in the scenario you described. In any urban to suburban environment the light environment is practically never zero-light conditions, but rather simply low-light conditions. Unless you are literally in a rural area with no street lighting, perimeter lighting, or interior lighting, you will need to weigh the drawbacks of funnel-vision and light-wash against the possibilities of being in a zero-light environment. To my understanding, training doctrine for most SWAT and Army units tends to be limiting the use of night vision optics for scouting and moving to area of contact. Once an area is expected to go hot, they switch to tac-lights augmented by red-dots, holosights, and other optics that are better suited for a low-light environment.

This I totally agree with. NV really screws with your depth perception and running around with it on if you havent trained with it substantially, you will be tripping over everything. I think a good tac light is a much better answer for your particular situation. Also, if the bad-guy shines a flashlight at you or turns on a light then you're screwed if you're wearing NV.

[dwa]

If you haven't used them before you will probably be less effective than before.

[maddoggie13]

Yes, ATN...

[markslyon]

US night vision makes excellent units. I would recomend the PVS 14 unit due to its versatility. You MUST train with it or you will be useless with it. It's very awkward to use the NVG compatilble holo sights and tough to shoot. If you have access I would suggest getting a hold of PEQ-15 type unit. Using NVG equipment indoors is very rough due to the lack of depth perception. Outdoors is good but again unless you wander around and shoot with the thing on you won't be able to use it in a stressful situation. Prolonged use causes headaches and sometimes the mounts themselves are very painful.

ATN=bad Russian vokda specials. Buy American.

[Tacit Blue]

US night vision makes excellent units. I would recomend the PVS 14 unit due to its versatility. You MUST train with it or you will be useless with it. It's very awkward to use the NVG compatilble holo sights and tough to shoot. If you have access I would suggest getting a hold of PEQ-15 type unit. Using NVG equipment indoors is very rough due to the lack of depth perception. Outdoors is good but again unless you wander around and shoot with the thing on you won't be able to use it in a stressful situation. Prolonged use causes headaches and sometimes the mounts themselves are very painful.

ATN=bad Russian vokda specials. Buy American.

ATN claims to be a partner with L3 communications ( Eotech's ). And they are based out of San Francisco F.Y.I And yes the PVS-14 is a good mono ( GEN-3) but for the price of that i figure get goggles.

http://www.nightoptics.com/pc/NO-NM-...ose+Scope.html ( I've owned these before, great mono's)

http://www.usnightvision.com/usnvpvs-7generation2.aspx This would be a good start.


The USNV- PVS-7 also incorporates an infrared illuminator with a momentary and continuous on switching function. Infrared operation and low battery indicators are displayed within the user‘s field of view.

You can turn off the IR light it says.







Keep in mind these are taken through a camera.(alot better resolution looking through) This will give you an idea of how the AN-PVS 7 looks. i Would recommend getting a auto-gated system. The current Generation-3 is higher resolution and better at intensifying light in low level conditions; also alot more expensive. Gen-2 is still used in the military and law enforcement, its mostly been phased out by Gen-3. Its up to you to decide what your needs and afford-ability are.