Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association
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  1. #1
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    Question Eotech night vision

    Can someone explain to me the benefits of getting an eotech that is night vision capable? I don't understand the setup with night vision and the eotech. Can a normal eotech not be seen while wearing night vision?

    Thanks in advance. I want to get all the facts before purchasing.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Eotech night vision

    The non NV optics are too bright and can "burn in" the NV tube.

    So, the benefit of NV capable optics is they work with NV.

    I have been told by some that even the non NV Aimpiont / Eotech set on the lowest brightness setting did no harm to the NV tube and had no i'll effect on viewing through the tube. However, with decent NV starting at $2k I’d prefer not to risk damage to it.

    So, do you plan on using NV? If not, I would not pay extra for the NV version of the optic.
    Last edited by Guns4Fun; August 1st, 2010 at 07:42 AM.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Eotech night vision

    Very good answer. Thank you. I may plan on using NV in the future and I want to have the best setup for my rifle.

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    Default Re: Eotech night vision

    I am by no means a NV expert.

    If you want to read more, there is some pretty good info here:

    http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=6&f=18

    If I had it to do all over again, i would probably not get a NV tube strictly with a weapon mount.

    What i would probably do is buy a headset and put an IR laser in my rifle. Having a headset gives you the ability to see everything without looking / pointing your rifle at what you want to see.

    The down side to an IR laser is that, one - anyone else with NV can see your laser and see where it is coming from. The other potential problem is finding a place to shoot at night to make sure your laser is on target.

    With a weapon mount, as long as your optic is "on target" you will hit what you are aiming at looking thru the weapon mounted NV. You can still use your headset and look thru your optic but sometimes the headset gets in the way of a good site picture.

    It is worth it to me to pay a little more for a NV optic and not need it than it is to not have it. It's only $50 - $100 more for the NV feature on most optics.

    Anyhow, that's my .02.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Eotech night vision

    I bought my own EOtech 557 for my deployment to Iraq and it
    is NV capable. I used it with my NV quite a few times and it works well. The others are right about the brightness burning your NV. Kind of like letting an old LCD screen on the same page for a long time, it burns into the screen. Once you get an EOtech you will see how bright they can get.

    Another note on that, is if you get a higher generation NV the brightness of your EOtech even on a low setting will be WAY too bright and will need to hit the NV setting.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Eotech night vision

    Quote Originally Posted by Guns4Fun View Post
    I am by no means a NV expert.

    If you want to read more, there is some pretty good info here:

    http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=6&f=18

    If I had it to do all over again, i would probably not get a NV tube strictly with a weapon mount.

    What i would probably do is buy a headset and put an IR laser in my rifle. Having a headset gives you the ability to see everything without looking / pointing your rifle at what you want to see.

    The down side to an IR laser is that, one - anyone else with NV can see your laser and see where it is coming from. The other potential problem is finding a place to shoot at night to make sure your laser is on target.

    With a weapon mount, as long as your optic is "on target" you will hit what you are aiming at looking thru the weapon mounted NV. You can still use your headset and look thru your optic but sometimes the headset gets in the way of a good site picture.

    It is worth it to me to pay a little more for a NV optic and not need it than it is to not have it. It's only $50 - $100 more for the NV feature on most optics.

    Anyhow, that's my .02.

    IR lasers are illegal except for LE/Military. IR Illuminators are legal to the rest of us. The real advantage to a IR lasers is engaging a human opponent in a passive scenario when it is known that they do not have NV.

    Personally when I had to make this decision I opted for a rig that could be mounted to a helmet and then easily mounted to a rail. Thus providing a quick transition. I considered 2 other things, that the built in IR illuminator could be turned off if I needed a truly hidden location and if running in this passive mode the quality of the unit was good enough to still provide a decent image.

    NV stuff is tough to buy, it took me almost a year to settle into a product that I felt good about. The Eotech was part of the mix and I DID go with a NV compatible unit. When I stacked all of this up, the decision on a laser was pretty easy. I of course want cool gadgets like everyone else.. however I do not see a huge advantage to the IR laser. In function, it is only another dot that would actually be hidden behind the 1moa dot on the Eotech regardless. The only significant advantage I could see would be that it is a backup source of aiming. Of course the standard laser also works in this scenario as well so it is like a double backup. For the record, I despise the fact that these are regulated.

    Another thing worth mentioning on the pre-scope mounted NV units is that typically they are only setup for 5.56 or similar. Anything with a bit more kick is going to hurt many of the tubes. I found in my search that the average cost to have a custom "weapons grade" tube installed in any of the higher end kits was not much money at all though. $300-$500.

    Final thought on NV is that I personally struggled with stepping up to the plate and paying the money for these higher end units. The more research I did though the more I personally saw the advantages and accepted the fact that it was worth it.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Eotech night vision

    AN/PVS-14s usually come with a bunch of different mounts. One for Picatinny rails, on for your helmet, and the worst of all, the head harness known as the "Skull Crusher". The Skull Crusher is not pleasant to wear because of how it presses in on your head, it can become very painful. The picatinny rail mount works alright if you pair it up with the right optic, usually an aimpoint.

    I never practically used the NV setting while the nightvision is on my helmet and the optic is on the rifle because of how the night vision actually focuses, you can see about 5 feet out and beyond while everything closer is blurry, or 5 feet in while everything past is blurry. Common sense dictates that you would use the night vision to see 5+ feet instead of 5 feet and less. IR sights are the best thing going outside of PVS-22s and the like. I have engaged targets past 200 meters with one.

    You can't buy PVS-15s(as far as I know), but they are very heavy especially with the auxiliary power pack (extra battery) which is on the back of my helmet to balance it a little better. It still hurts after a while.

    As far as making sure you laser is zeroed, you can do that in the day with the cover over the lense. The cover should have a hole slightly larger then something a pin would poke in it, allowing enough light in. You zero it at 25 meters on a specific type of zeroing target for the type of laser you have if it's an older models, the new PEQ-15s and LA-5s have a visible laser that can be switched to an IR laser.

    If you have any questions, just PM me, I've been using the things for years.
    Quote Originally Posted by dkf View Post
    Official Gun Bully and corn flakes pisser inner since March 2007.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Eotech night vision

    so, night vision behind the eotec will burn the lenses.

    But , co-mr armasight front mounted NV should not have any issues?
    I talk jibberoush. pay attention.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Eotech night vision

    Quote Originally Posted by M&P Chris View Post
    Can someone explain to me the benefits of getting an eotech that is night vision capable? I don't understand the setup with night vision and the eotech. Can a normal eotech not be seen while wearing night vision?

    Thanks in advance. I want to get all the facts before purchasing.
    EOTech's are great additions to your rifles but the night vision depends on what you actually intend on using for.

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