What does one look for when purchasing night vision?

emilio613

emilio613

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I have been contemplating buying some nightvision goggles/monocular etc..

I know that there are various Gen's (1, 2, 3 etc), and I know each one is more expensive than the last (and harder to get than the last).

I assume the cheapo Bushnell ones use Gen 1 technology.

What I am wondering is, what should I look for when I go to buy it? how much should I be spending to get a decent image in the dark? (I cannot stand that grainy crap you see in cheap Gen 1 stuff, where you can barely make out a moving image amidst a blurry green background).

Are there any pointers that you folks that own it can give me?

Companies, suppliers, mono vs binoculars vs headmounted flip down, etc?

thanks!
 
I cant give you to much information on these, but when I was with my old company doing surveillance we used Stealthview and nigh####ch series from bushnell and they were pretty much garbage... ill try to call them before the end of the week and see what they are using now.
 
Gen II is alright Gen 3 is good and Gen 4 is like being able to see like day light except for the fact that you really only have 1 colour and shades of black & white. If money is no object then Gen 4 or thermal's is defenatly the way to go but if you don't want to spend over $5K on optic's Russain gen3 optic's is the way to go. Plus look for some IR capaible light's to help ya out.
 
Bushnell now has a model that won't burn out when exposed to light. Can't remember the name but it seemed to work not bad. Supposed to be good for up to 300m (I think).
 
You wouldn't belieive it but there is a nifty little IR night vision toy sold at the Canadian super store for about $30 If I remember correct. They are pretty kick arse. I've screwed around with them and it's way better than the Russian IR's that I have and a pal of mine that has spent quite a rediculas bit of money tryig these and those and some over 10k compares these toys clarity to some expencive stuff but the range is limited to about 100y from my experience.
 
This is a blog I read of a farmer in Idaho...
http://frankwjames.########.com/search/label/Night Vision

He writes for gunrags and he's got a show on (I think) The Outdoors Channel about guns, so he knows his stuff for sure. Anyways, he writes a lot about thermal imaging and nightvision, mainly from hog hunting, so it's real world experience. It's really fascinating!
 
I've tried many different ones, and owned a couple. You really do get what you pay for. Gen1 is pretty much hopeless like you said. They usually have a rating of resolution in mm, the higher the rating the clearer the image, generally. Cheaper ones also have a noisier image. Cheaper ones are also more fragile and less water resistant (both concerns when stumbling around the bushes in the dark). Russian is generally cheap crap, far lesser quality in general than US versions.
One thing, many of the lower end gen2 ones can be just as good as higher end gen3. The difference being that they need ir light to be able to see at that level(active), whereas higher end ones can get a good picture just using ambient light (passive). Obviously, active ones are kinda lame for the military (anyone else using NV can see your IR light beam, but for a civvie screwing around it's not an issue. The features you look for depend on what you want to use it for. I'd be more inclined for a monocular over binos or dual eye flip-downs. The NV kills your natural night vision, so having one eye looking with each gives you the best of both worlds, plus it sucks walking around with the binos on, as the depth perception is zero.
 
BC_Guy said:
I've tried many different ones, and owned a couple. You really do get what you pay for. Gen1 is pretty much hopeless like you said. They usually have a rating of resolution in mm, the higher the rating the clearer the image, generally. Cheaper ones also have a noisier image. Cheaper ones are also more fragile and less water resistant (both concerns when stumbling around the bushes in the dark). Russian is generally cheap crap, far lesser quality in general than US versions.
One thing, many of the lower end gen2 ones can be just as good as higher end gen3. The difference being that they need ir light to be able to see at that level(active), whereas higher end ones can get a good picture just using ambient light (passive). Obviously, active ones are kinda lame for the military (anyone else using NV can see your IR light beam, but for a civvie screwing around it's not an issue. The features you look for depend on what you want to use it for. I'd be more inclined for a monocular over binos or dual eye flip-downs. The NV kills your natural night vision, so having one eye looking with each gives you the best of both worlds, plus it sucks walking around with the binos on, as the depth perception is zero.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that set of tips! lol, I laughed at the depth perception *THUNK* hits a tree....

So a monocular is best, as I predicted in my head... now to find one that isn't a fortune!

Could you tell me which one you had that you found to be the best bang for buck?

Also, thank you to everyone else who provided suggestions so far. The canadian tire idea, the blog link etc.

Thanks so far!
 
just to stir the pot

Just to stir the pot,

Gen 1 is not that terrible and ALL current Gen1 units are made in Eastern Europe so don't buy into the buy US stuff.

The problem with Gen 1 and 2 is there are 2 distinct types "hobbyist" and sport where hobbyist is some yuppie playing in the woods. The hobbyist stuff is cheaply housed and uses cheap components, including optics.

The sport stuff is better made (cost more) and works better and tends to be water resistant.

Example I have a Yukon gen 1 monocular made for Centurion in the US. Clear optics, almost no fisheye effect works pretty good in the open, but needs good IR under the canopy at night.

I have seen a similar device made by the same company for Bushell that is complete crap, a fair bit of fisheye effect, crummy optics and very hard to make things out in the open let alone under a canopy.

BE VERY aware that anything above Gen 1 is illegal to export from the US and they will charge and jail you if you are caught. Even if you are not charged you are out a couple of grand as they will seize your night vision.

ATN was a problematical brand I don't know if that has improved.

Unfortunately like scopes the best way to know what you are getting is to try it out in your environment. As mentioned Gen 1 and Gen 2 benefit for having an IR light source. If IR light is not an issue, then a good gen 2 or 1 may work out fine.

Also if you need magnification above 1x get a bigger objective, half the problem with the gen 1 and 2 stuff is the small lens and high mag 3 to 5x, lees light is not good for night vision.

Also ignore the range they claim you can make out a man sized target stuff. On most websites that assumes a clear night and 75% full moon in an open field with a distinct background (dark object against a light background).
 
Best bang for the buck was a gen2 I got from ATN. Their low end gen1 stuff kinda sucks (like anyones low end stuff), but this one was totally clear, passive, and built like a tank. Sold it (on here, no less) around 2004. Unfortunately, I don't know how you'd get one now. I bought before all the subsequent ITAR regs, the good old days of buying stuff from the states. Like rgallant mentioned, all the decent NV out of the US ain't gonna happen now, even if you could get all the paperwork in place most places still won't deal with you.

There's this place:
www.nvoptics.com
Some high end stuff, and note their address -*Canada*
I've tried some of their things (gen1,2,3) and used to own a gen1 (that's no longer on their site) that was actually pretty good with the ir light. That particular item ended up crapping out on me one night after only about 20 hours use and their warranty dept pretty much gave it to me in the ass. I shipped it back to them and after months of the runaround I just gave up, never getting anything back. It was only worth about $100 so oh well, but it was the only gen1 I'd ever seen worth a damn so I was hoping they'd honour their policy.
 
i have an aimpoint comp m4 and aimpoint 3x mag. would i be able to mount the flir on my rail in conjunction with the 3x fts and have a ###y fts 3x heat vision sight for clearing my apt of zombies at night?
would the mag have to go before or after the flir? is the flir optical, or are you viewing a lcd/screen ?
 
BC_Guy said:
Best bang for the buck was a gen2 I got from ATN. Their low end gen1 stuff kinda sucks (like anyones low end stuff), but this one was totally clear, passive, and built like a tank. Sold it (on here, no less) around 2004. Unfortunately, I don't know how you'd get one now. I bought before all the subsequent ITAR regs, the good old days of buying stuff from the states. Like rgallant mentioned, all the decent NV out of the US ain't gonna happen now, even if you could get all the paperwork in place most places still won't deal with you.

There's this place:
www.nvoptics.com
Some high end stuff, and note their address -*Canada*
I've tried some of their things (gen1,2,3) and used to own a gen1 (that's no longer on their site) that was actually pretty good with the ir light. That particular item ended up crapping out on me one night after only about 20 hours use and their warranty dept pretty much gave it to me in the ass. I shipped it back to them and after months of the runaround I just gave up, never getting anything back. It was only worth about $100 so oh well, but it was the only gen1 I'd ever seen worth a damn so I was hoping they'd honour their policy.
Click to expand...

I bet the stuff on NV optics is pretty expensive. They don't even list the prices... kind of like if you have to ask, you can't afford it. The GSCI TWS-37 looks cool.
 
Gen2/Gen3 is the way to go. Combloc stuff is kind of the way to go. The US won't give you an export permit for any Gen2/Gen4 stuff. Even Gen 1 needs a permit. They don't trust us in Canada....might give/sell to an enemy of the "state".
I bought Combloc Gen 2 scopes for SKS and they work fine. Scopes will go on anything, but since they are Combloc and SKS shells are cheap, its a good combination.
I have the Gen2/3 ANPVS4's and the Combloc stuff works almost as good considering the difference in price. Had to get US State Dept permits, when they were giving them to buy them though.
 
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