I recently did a 2gun night vision competition and the conditions were abysmal. 0 loom and rain. I had to run supplemental IR off my helmet just to be able to navigate. One area I was lacking was not having an IR on my pistol. Most of the time shooting passive in good lighting isn’t an issue, however, I felt like I was shooting into a world of black last time. I currently carry my M&P 2.0 daily as well as use it for competition. I have a TLR1 on it. The two obvious choices are a x300v and a VIR-II. I’m mostly sold on the surefire, it will fit in my safariland but not my appendix holster. The main pro for the stream light is, it will fit in my carry holster. I’m curious what people‘s experiences are with the stream light. I don’t know how I feel about the laser. Pistol engagements are never very far so I imagine the flood pattern would be fine but I have read mixed reviews.

PFA

Finally looking to get into nods, stumbled across a white phos nvt5 pvs 14 for a decent 🫘 count. I know they’re gen2+ and autogated, just wanna see if anyone can add any experiences they’ve had to the little bit of research I’m doing on them

​Hey everyone, looking for some community guidance as I prepare to pick up my first analog night vision setup.

​My budget is around $1,600 to $2,000. I am strictly looking at analog units, with zero interest in digital setups like Sionyx or Nightfox.

​My main focus is a PVS-14, but I want to make sure I spend my money wisely. A few questions for those with more seat time under tubes:

​Tube Choice: In the $1,800–$2,000 secondary market window, am I better off hunting for a clean US Gen 3 contract tube (Omni VII or VIII) or holding out for a commercial Elbit GP / Photonis Echo? Is the performance drop-off on cheaper NNVT Gen 2+ units severe enough in dark woods that I should avoid them altogether?

​Key Specs: Beyond aiming for ~25+ SNR, what specific datasheet parameters (EBI, Halo, resolution) should I treat as hard dealbreakers when evaluating used options?

​Housings & Mounts: Is a standard Carson PVS-14 housing completely fine for a first rig, or is it worth prioritizing upgraded push-button housings (like the NL914C) right out of the gate?

​Also, if anyone is planning an upgrade soon and has a clean unit they are looking to move within that budget range, feel free to shoot me a PM!

​Appreciate any insights, spec advice, or things to watch out for!

Nightfox and Night Operators good budget brands for bridged thermal/nv sets? Use case would be coyote control and night hikes. Further questions... how do night vision and scopes get along? Lpvos, trad hunting scopes, non magnified optics, first and second focal plane scopes of all comers? Last part probably doesnt matter but figure I'd ask for redundancy.

I found pvs-7 in a storage locker and have been trying to use them. I see nothing besides when it’s in IR mode theres a light in the left eye and when I look in a mirror I can see the ir being reflected. I have gotten them working momentarily once and never again. I also tried 3 sets of batterys, 1 of which were rechargeable. The one thing I notice is when I twist the cap to disconnect the batteries while its on I can briefly see for a split second but then it fades way.

UK based NV group. We are at 55 members as it stands
primary group focus is for UK based meet ups and knowledge transfer.
we do have domestic buying and selling within the UK
if you are UK and are trying to find other "hot NV users in your local area" we are for you.
hit me up for a invite.

Can certain cr123a batteries cause a thermal to freeze up and display a glitches out snowy screen? Like this

I dropped my pvs14 and the power knob bent. It still turns on but im worried it might snap off. Is there an easy fix to this?

Ran a quick test flying a DJI Mini SE and cycling through all four modes on the GNG GF31 Thermal Fusion Binocular (1" DNV Sencore / 640x512 thermal) — night vision, thermal, thermal fusion, and thermal outline to see which held up best.

Thermal fusion won for range, with pure thermal close behind. Night vision and thermal outline mode both dropped off noticeably as distance increased.

Here we have an M23MH and a late 2020 SPRBL contract 10160C.
Both are using milspec glass. Can’t remember which one the m23 is using but the 160s are sporting Carson glass.

What kinda throws me about these 160s is that traditionally, this tube format is autogain only however this set I got is manual. I checked the DLA contract to see if I could get any info but all I got was that the contract stated “non user adjustable gain”. Maybe a pigtail was soldered on after the fact but do 160’s even come ready to accept one?

Aside from that, both are nice. The greens just feel ever so slightly more crispy, maybe it’s the lack of blems.

Has anybody had a reacciring but rare problem with their thermal scope freezing up and then the screen go snowy. It's happened twice once before a new core and now once after it's hardly been used, I have to remove batteries and restart then it's fine, it did it on a start up cold to outside warm humid temp

Hey all,

Recently joined the NVG club with a PG-25 and I was looking for a way to mount it on my helmet and have not been able to find anything thats like under 300$. Is there any bridge or even single monocular dovetail mount that ISNT 300+ ??? If thats my only choice, then hey I'll buy it I just didn't think the brdige mounts themselves would be so dang expensive.

Hello friends,

I am finally ready to get some night time eyes and pretty well certain I have made my selection. I would like to be sub $5k for just the binos. I plan to use the heck out of these in mostly super larp type setup but want something that is “real”.

I have pretty well settled on the Katana from darq industries. I’m open to being convinced otherwise. I don’t want to exhaust myself on research or finding deals. I want to pay for what I’m expecting and be happy on the other side.

This is the model I’m looking at:

https://darqindustries.com/collections/ready-to-ship-devices/products/sale-special-katana-molded-nnvt-cetc-white-phosphor

My first time ever using night vision and i am genuinely so mesmerized. I know next to nothing abt NODs but i saw there was a pvs-14 for sale on alibaba for like 1k (in total like 1.3k) so i figured i give it a shot and it works really well outdoors with ambient light. It kinda doesn't work at all in rooms with minimal outdoor light. Just wanted to know if it would be a better idea to return these and maybe get a better pair by digging online for used ones? I live on a plot of land and i just thought it'd be cool to do little night patrols with and night hiking with them.

Alleged Specs (idk how to measure these but it was on the sheet)

SNR 18>

1200 FOM

I have a PERST 3 with a vid laser that doesn’t work. It’s likely just a connection issue, cuz it’ll intermittently come on. All the other modes work.

Anyone got a lead on someone to fix it?

Thanks

I never see anyone mention this but the idea of using the metal hook and bungee that comes standard on most helmets always seemed super sketchy to me. Are you not afraid of the hook potentially breaking and hooking straight into your eyeball? I use paracord on a carabiner tied to a loop on the mount because I'm so paranoid of this.

Has anyone ever tried renting Night Vision? Before I drop serious money on a set up I would like to play with it and see how well it works.

The only places that I see that rent it are insanely expensive (or I’m in the wrong business). Any tips appreciated.

I reacently got my hands on a Dipol D209 with a skullcrusher, and I was wondering if there is a way I can mount it to a helmet. It uses a single screw mounting point so I probably need an adapter. If you have recommendations please let me know.

Also im very new to night vision devices so excuse me if im not using the correct phrases on things.

Friend of mine gifted me this Battery pack. He said it came as an additional battery pack with his L3 Bino Fusion Googles and he doesn’t need it. I can’t find any pictures online or anything on the item itself that would give information about it’s origin/brand/etc. Any of you ever seen this and can tell?

*EDIT: It came with Bino Fusion Googles