Advice on budget NVG

[BadeaJohn]

I am looking for a decent pair of Night vision goggles (or monocular) and my budget is around $250.

I was looking at a few from Bushnell, Yukon and ATN.

Anyone that has some experience with NV gear, I will appreciate the advice.

Thank you

 

[Morpheus32]

decent night vision gear and under $250 don't go in the same sentence.

Functional night vision under $250 might work....

You have to note what you want to do....see around a room with an IR illuminator...just about any of the toy class stuff will work...but if you want to see down the street....not going to get it to work well unless you spend some $$$$

 

[BadeaJohn]

I am looking at a NV that I can use outdoors.

Since I'm not very familiar with these optics, what would you recommend?

Thank you

 

[Morpheus32]

I am looking at a NV that I can use outdoors.

Since I'm not very familiar with these optics, what would you recommend?

Thank you

A couple more questions. What do you want to do outdoors with them? Walk around on a trail? See 100 metres? Discriminate people at a distance?

The problem is you pay for the ability to discriminate...the longer away, the more it costs. If you want to just go around your house outside, then the Gen 1s will work particularly if you can use an IR illuminator flashlight. If you want to do anything more than that...then the $ starts going up...

 

[BadeaJohn]

Thank you for your advice.

I would like to walk on the trail and be able to see around me in complete darkness.

As you mentioned, more power=more $.

I saw that Bushnell and Yukon have some entry level optics.

 

[masterduckmaster]

Thank you for your advice.

I would like to walk on the trail and be able to see around me in complete darkness.

As you mentioned, more power=more $.

I saw that Bushnell and Yukon have some entry level optics.

for that kind of need (to see in complete darkness), you would need a 3nd gen or 2nd gen for the least.....
And none of those comes anywhere need your target price...unfortunally...

Also, even the 3nd gen nvg like pvs-14 would need minium amount of star/moon light to work.
if you want to see in real "complete darkness", you need a thermal imagining

 

[FlyGuy]

As has already been mentioned, "reasonably useful" NV gear does not come cheap...

Notwithstanding the fact that it's quite a bit more difficult to "walk" a trail in darkness using a single image tube NVG including a GEN3 one like the PVS-7 or PVS-14 due to the lack of depth perception. To have proper depth perception, one does require true binocular vision and thus you would also need dual/independant image tubes, one for each eye, in order to have equivalent capability. This is why you will see dual tubes being used by night time aviators and other "professionals" who need depth perception in the dark. Not to say that it can't be done with a single tube solution, but that walking with one over difficult terrain means you have to be more careful where you place your feet and it will take a bit of practice to become really good at it without running into things.

'Fly