Bought a second NVG monocular....(Got it)

[MarikinaMan]

Ive been looking to build a second set of NVG gear to bring my son along for a night shoot. I was trying to buy binos for myself, but most deals had fallen through, or I just got beat by people willing to spend more money.

On one of my searches, I came up with an ad for an AGM made PVS-14, with very little detail. So I wrote the seller and asked for details. He said he didnt know much but could send pics. I accepted the offer.



I did some research and found the maker to instead be Night Vision Devices. I called the company and gave the model number. They advised me that it is a Gen 3, Pinnacle IIT, auto-gated, hand selected, high performance tube, their highest grade for signal to noise, 2200+ pcathode response, and bunch of other stuff I dont understand. This is denoted by the "HP+"

Simply put, its the best they make. I am stoked! I got it for less than half the price. The seller said it's new too. I dont really care about that at this point. Its a win all around

Now I need to build a second night rifle with IR stuff Just sayin.

[mnichols]

Please enlighten us as to where you find these deals. We want to play in the dark too.

[MarikinaMan]

Please enlighten us as to where you find these deals. We want to play in the dark too.

I got the first one off Craigslist. This one is from eBay.

Im a junker. I hunt for undervalued assets and have been doing it for decades. I have techniques in finding these in the most obvious places.

I normally use Saved Searches that are intentionally configured to include common spelling errors for what I am looking for. Correctly identified items get picked up fast so I don’t bother with those much. The saved search sends a notification when something turns up. Seeing today’s results, I then honed in on bad pictures and very little product information. Bad auction info and pics makes the item uninteresting for other buyers.

For this, the auction title had not agree with part of the product label I saw in the listing.


Note - "AN/PVS-14" will not turn up all the time in searches for PVS-14. PVS14 will also have a slightly different set of results. You follow? Wrong spelling or product info as a big red flag that the seller doesnt know what he has.

Then in the auction pics, I saw this partial part number.


If you can see it, I used a photo tool to enhance the pic, I caught NV, them PVS-14, and the H. This got me interested.

I spent about 30 minutes communicating with the seller and asking for a full view of the product label. He kept telling me it was a PVS-14 HB. This is not a real part number. Given a better pic, it turned out to be an NVD-PVS-14-HP+. I then called the manufacturer as indicated by NVD (www.nvdevices.com) to figure out what was actually being sold. I didnt have tube Generation info at this point.

I got excited when I got this bit of info - "All NVD PVS-14s are built with Exelis GEN III Pinnacle Auto Gated image intensifier tubes. OURS COMES WITH THE HP+ TUBE, THE HIGHEST RATED TUBE AVAILABLE"

Knowing its a Gen III and auto-gated, I needed 2nd confirmation of the tube quality as there are a lot of crappy tubes out there. Bingo!



Once confirmed, I gave an offer that was 5x more than the low starting price but still enough to protect me if the item turned out to be something else. This motivated the seller to end the auction and sell to me directly via a private buy it now. The starting price with no reserve is also another clue. The seller doesnt know what he has. My offer of 5X is still a good deal, but also is a service to the seller who could have been taken for a lot less. I believe the original auction started at 350, and I offered 1850. He was stoked and agreed to cancel auction and list it with "Buy It Now".

You have to be motivated and have some knowledge of what you’re looking for to pick up on clues. Ive lost deals lowballing too much too. Just last week, I had an opportunity to buy a Gen 3 ANVIS-9 bino set for 2550 nobody was paying any mind. It was on Buy It Now. I stupidly offered 2000 via Make An Offer. I should have just bought it. Someone else did

The easy finds don’t last very long and go fast. This one wasnt so hard but still took a little bit of detective work.

I’ve found and bought some pretty amazing finds through the years, a lot of them ignored by most people, left unsold, just because it had not been described and photographed well.

[mnichols]

Good info. Thanks for the tips.

[MarikinaMan]

Good info. Thanks for the tips.

Hunting for hidden deals, I view as hunting for treasure. If I wanted to flip this, I can easily make 500 off of it and still offer another guy a good deal. Today was a good day. Thanks for asking.

[MarikinaMan]

the unit arrived today. initial inspection shows me its brand spanking new as claimed. model number does show it is an HP+ unit, which is the best of the best tubes. the autogating is new to me, it sings manual gain is pretty awesome.

And I think the big surprise is I was sent a complete kit with skull cap, j-arm, manual, multiple eye cups, lanyard, batteries, carrying bag, protective lens front and back.

JACKPOT!

Already I can see that Gen 3 with a pin hole lens cap on, is as bright as the Gen 2 under moonlight. Stoked.

[BEE]

Good info. I'm wanting to get into nods which is a whole different ballgame and money pit in itself.

[DDRH]

Great find OP!

[1911RONIN]

Awesome score


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[1911RONIN]

the unit arrived today. initial inspection shows me its brand spanking new as claimed. model number does show it is an HP+ unit, which is the best of the best tubes. the autogating is new to me, it sings manual gain is pretty awesome.

And I think the big surprise is I was sent a complete kit with skull cap, j-arm, manual, multiple eye cups, lanyard, batteries, carrying bag, protective lens front and back.

JACKPOT!

Already I can see that Gen 3 with a pin hole lens cap on, is as bright as the Gen 2 under moonlight. Stoked.

[MarikinaMan]

I have a Zenitco 2IKS + IR Klesh that just got released by US Customs making its way to me.

Its a compact IR laser/illuminator. The same insides as a Perst 4, but without the visible light and laser.

[1911RONIN]

I have a Zenitco 2IKS + IR Klesh that just got released by US Customs making its way to me.

Its a compact IR laser/illuminator. The same insides as a Perst 4, but without the visible light and laser.

How long ago did you order them?


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[MarikinaMan]

How long ago did you order them?


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Sept 2 from Ivan Tactical. I dont have it yet. Its still making its way to me.

If you are trying to order one, Ivan Tactical shipped in 3 working days. 1.5 week from their post office till it left Russia. It arrived in the US, 2+ weeks to get out of all the government hands in the airport. It just started moving stateside, outside of the airport today.

I like the fact that Ivan Tactical's shipping information tracks in Russia, inside the airport and on USPS.com. The stuff moves slowly, but at least you know what's going on.

[1911RONIN]

Sept 2 from Ivan Tactical. I dont have it yet. Its still making its way to me.

If you are trying to order one, Ivan Tactical shipped in 3 working days. 1.5 week from their post office till it left Russia. It arrived in the US, 2+ weeks to get out of all the government hands in the airport. It just started moving stateside, outside of the airport today.

I like the fact that Ivan Tactical's shipping information tracks in Russia, inside the airport and on USPS.com. The stuff moves slowly, but at least you know what's going on.

Good to know. I ordered from him last week.


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[MarikinaMan]

Good to know. I ordered from him last week.


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Ive seen a Perst 3 in action. It is more powerful than LE/Military only DBALs. Way more powerful. The laser beam below is shining on a mountainside about 1/3 mile away. It is still blooming.



Just be aware, they are not eye safe. Even the IR illuminator can burn into a retina. I guess the Russians think if you are pointing a target designator with the possibility of taking a shot, who cares anyway lol