Night Vision Chat Thread - Ask Us Anything

[Cold Harbour Supply]

I'm looking to get an NV setup in the near future. I've been looking at the Holosun LE321G. Is there any major disadvantage to going with this all in one unit instead of a vampire alongside something like a LE117IR?

Laser-based illuminators top out at 0.7mW per FDA regs so while it will "work", in higher light situations (eg: partial or full moon, urban situations) you will find the illuminator quite weak. There are some use cases for the low power illuminator such as indoor with low ambient light, but you will get a decent amount of light from your laser alone, so the overlap where the laser-based IR illum is useful, but not overlapped by the IR laser, is small. It ultimately depends on your use-case. In terms of a cost justification, we just find it hard to recommend the 321G for those very specific use cases where the low power illum is useful, for double the cost of the 117IR.

LED-based illuminators don't have the power limitation, so the Vampire has 120mW of power so it's quite a bit more powerful, with extended throw also. You will find this useful for PID of anything past 50 yards.

Ultimately the best setup would be a full power IR laser with a Vampire so you have all of your bases covered (low IR laser, low IR illum to prevent wash-out, 45mW illum for those mid-range distances, then the Vampire for those really long distances), but this obviously isn't accessible for everyone, so the 117IR with Vampire is what we recommend for now. If there was a "good" combination unit like a DBAL-D2, that is ITAR-free, we would recommend that.

[DavenK]

Laser-based illuminators top out at 0.7mW per FDA regs so while it will "work", in higher light situations (eg: partial or full moon, urban situations) you will find the illuminator quite weak. There are some use cases for the low power illuminator such as indoor with low ambient light, but you will get a decent amount of light from your laser alone, so the overlap where the laser-based IR illum is useful, but not overlapped by the IR laser, is small. It ultimately depends on your use-case. In terms of a cost justification, we just find it hard to recommend the 321G for those very specific use cases where the low power illum is useful, for double the cost of the 117IR.

LED-based illuminators don't have the power limitation, so the Vampire has 120mW of power so it's quite a bit more powerful, with extended throw also. You will find this useful for PID of anything past 50 yards.

Ultimately the best setup would be a full power IR laser with a Vampire so you have all of your bases covered (low IR laser, low IR illum to prevent wash-out, 45mW illum for those mid-range distances, then the Vampire for those really long distances), but this obviously isn't accessible for everyone, so the 117IR with Vampire is what we recommend for now. If there was a "good" combination unit like a DBAL-D2, that is ITAR-free, we would recommend that.

What about Zenitco Perst series ?

[pipeliner]

What set up would you suggest for a farmer doing some predator control? Would it be a thermal optic or head mounted set up? I see a lot of guys running thermal sights for hog hunting, but want what ever is going to have the furthest/clear coverage.

[GreenBob]

We're in the middle of testing some options out. Problem is cheap clip-ons aren't good (Armasight - huge POI shifts), and good clip-ons aren't cheap. While we'd love to get our hands on an L3 CNVD-LR, most of the options you've listed are unfortunately definitely ITAR-restricted..

I understand, the price is going to be steep.

Thank you & keep us posted

[NorthernMusket]

Thanks for starting this thread, much appreciated.

I recently came across a thermal clip on that caught my attention. Do you have any experience with the Guide TA435 or TA450? I believe Guide is a Chinese company. I see them posted online for $3300 and $3700 CAD respectively which seems decent for a thermal clip on. The night vision world is new to me but apparently we can hunt at night in the NWT though so I'm doing some research. Do you know how much recoil clip on units can handle?

[Cold Harbour Supply]

What about Zenitco Perst series ?

Good to go from our limited time messing around with them. Ergos can be a bit odd but the ability to dial up/down the power level is a plus in my book. Published vs actual power levels can be a bit sketch, so not recommended for force-on-force training, but you can probably designate targets for airstrikes with some of them. One thing to also note is Perst lasers are known to be heavier (rugged), so depending on your application and length of handguard, hanging a 500g weight off the front of your rifle may not be ideal.

What set up would you suggest for a farmer doing some predator control? Would it be a thermal optic or head mounted set up? I see a lot of guys running thermal sights for hog hunting, but want what ever is going to have the furthest/clear coverage.

Head-mounted mono (or bino) for general nav/scanning and a weapon-mounted thermal would be best in this case. Thermal will give you the longer-range detection distance you're after.

Thanks for starting this thread, much appreciated.

I recently came across a thermal clip on that caught my attention. Do you have any experience with the Guide TA435 or TA450? I believe Guide is a Chinese company. I see them posted online for $3300 and $3700 CAD respectively which seems decent for a thermal clip on. The night vision world is new to me but apparently we can hunt at night in the NWT though so I'm doing some research. Do you know how much recoil clip on units can handle?

Unfortunately limited experience with thermal devices aside from Pulsar units, COTI, and REAP-IR. Problem with some of these clip-ons is - you sometimes have to buy them to try them out.
Snipershide forums has a TON of info for hunting thermals, including both US and Chinese-made devices.

[Canadian Psycho]

Do you have any ability to do repairs such as collimation or nitrogen ourging?

[rugbydave]

I understand, the price is going to be steep.

Thank you & keep us posted

This. Quality costs but crap is, well, crap, haha. Looking forward to seeing what you guys bring in.

[DavenK]

Good to go from our limited time messing around with them. Ergos can be a bit odd but the ability to dial up/down the power level is a plus in my book. Published vs actual power levels can be a bit sketch, so not recommended for force-on-force training, but you can probably designate targets for airstrikes with some of them. One thing to also note is Perst lasers are known to be heavier (rugged), so depending on your application and length of handguard, hanging a 500g weight off the front of your rifle may not be ideal.

Thank you for your input ! Will take into consideration for sure.

Head-mounted mono (or bino) for general nav/scanning and a weapon-mounted thermal would be best in this case. Thermal will give you the longer-range detection distance you're after.

What would you recommend as a mid-tier weapon-mounted thermal ?
I've been eyeing the T20X for a little while now.

[nebbie]

do you have a physical storefront where I could come in and try some NVGs?