Night Vision

**tlnzz1** · April 27th, 2020, 10:56 AM

Gunsnwater
"If you want something on a gun, then you can get something lower in price than a PVS14 but then you are stuck with a limited used device."

Not true. I have a PVS14 with TNVC rifle mount on a AR15 behind an EOTech nv "red dot". So the PVS14 can be mounted on the rifle.

**NathanB** · April 27th, 2020, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by tlnzz1

Gunsnwater
"If you want something on a gun, then you can get something lower in price than a PVS14 but then you are stuck with a limited used device."

Not true. I have a PVS14 with TNVC rifle mount on a AR15 behind an EOTech nv "red dot". So the PVS14 can be mounted on the rifle.

That’s not what he said.

**tlnzz1** · April 27th, 2020, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by NathanB

That’s not what he said.

My bad. I'll work my reading comprehension.

**ItchyTick** · April 27th, 2020, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by NathanB

Ive really considered this many times. the cost keeps me away. Mainly because I feel the best models are gen3 white phosphorus models and I really dont think I’d use it much. after helmet and dbal etc its an expensive setup

And that is the rub. I did astrophotography for many years with a Meade Deep Sky Imager. The chip technologies have come a long way since then and so has the software. I know people who have spent 10K on their astroimaging setups.

Can't see spending that kind of $$$$ on something that will see the woods a few times per year.

**JoshIronshaft** · April 27th, 2020, 09:51 PM

If you feel like driving to SWPA, we have monthly night vision shoots during the winter months when it gets darker earlier. There are also night vision shoots in eastern Ohio, but I haven’t gone to any of those. About once a year I go on a night vision hike with friends who have similar equipment. I would say I use them once a month, even if it just for a quick look around my property or to check out the stars. I have a surprising number of friends with NVGs or saving for them currently, but that happens over time with any hobby, no matter how niche.

I am sure that once you have night vision, you will find more uses for it.

Most buy their gear over time. I used my first PVS14 monocular for years before upgrading to a binocular housing, and I used the tubes I had in the new housing to save money. I aimed with a visible laser or through a red dot for quite some time before buying an IR laser, and I still only have an OTAL, which is not that pricey, but is very effective. I had a cheap airsoft bump helmet before I bought an opscore.

White phosphor is definitely a beautiful thing, but I don’t have a desire to upgrade from my green tubes at this time. Maybe down the road I will, but green is good for me. The key is having a tube with a quality image regardless.

A word of caution: there is a trend towards searching for the highest quality and most blemish free tubes possible. It seems to be mostly for bragging rights. There are diminishing returns that the costs don’t justify when looking for an absurdly high FOM (quality level). Small blems at the edge of the image should be considered as possibly acceptable as they are only seen when looking at your toilet/something white.

**wanneroo** · April 27th, 2020, 09:59 PM

I use night optics for work and I'd say this is an area where you get what you pay for. All depends what you want out of it in the end. Do you really want something useful or is it just going to be a gimmicky thing to use on the back porch?