Night Vision

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cruzan

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I am wanting to surprise myself with a night vision binocular or monocular for Christmas, I am willing to spend up to $250. i know at this price I wont get the best but I just want a beginners Night Vision can anyone point me in the right direction,any recommendations. I apologize if this is posted in the wrong section, feel free to relocate this is if needed.
Cruzan
 
Can you guys even own guns down in the U.S. Virgin Islands?

As for night vision, I think all you can get in that price range is IR illuminated, which tactically speaking is a major no-no (gives away your position), but perfectly fine if you want to view nocturnal wildlife.
 
I picked up one of these from Walmart for $150.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=6371541

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It actually works quite well. On a night with 1/4-1/2 moon, you dont need the attached IR light. In total darkness, it looks like your using a flashlight with the IR on, and the one on the unit will give you 50 -75 yards of usable light. If you add a IR filter to your Scorpion or Surefire, you get a little more with a wider, slightly brighter beam. While someone else with NV will see your IR beam, those without it, wont, unless very close and looking directly into the light. Then you just see a very dim, reddish light.

This one is 2x, and you can still walk around using it with out to much trouble. 0x would be best. I'd avoid the ones with the higher powers, as the ones I've tried didnt seem to allow as much light in and were not as effective or easy to use as the lower power models.

Short of spending the big bucks, this is a good start to get an idea of what your in for, and what your next purchase will be. That of course will cost you the big bucks. :)
 
"Generation"

When considering night vision you first need to consider what "generation" the technology is. Generation 1 (Vietnam, pre Gulf war or even earlier to my knowledge) up to Generation 5, probably 6 now........all avail. to the civilian markets, but here's the catch....

Generation 1 (which I have...Night Owl Binoculars, about $450.00) are cheap, but so is the resolution. Yea....mine work "fine", but I got totally spoiled the other day when a SOU team member let me look through his issued Generation 5 (new!!!!) helmet mounted pair (like the military uses, about $5,000+) Man....how nice was that!!!! Crystal clear sight, full definition, totally cool (kind of one of those "I must have one" deals)

So, case in point, this is one of those time that you really "get what you pay for" Maybe you want to spend the $$ on at least a gen. 2 or 3. Don't be afraid to buy used too. Hope this helps!!!
 
I'm confused. Guns are neat. Night vision is neat. Is there any other reason that these two things are related? No offense, but this really isn't gun related.
 
During a night fight, having night vision is as close to equipment-guaranteed win as you can get.
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Yeah.. still not a gun. There are sections of this forum dedicated to accessories, and there are sections dedicatd to strategies and tactics. I didn't say it wasn't useful, but usefullness does not make nightvision a gun.
 
Answer for Floppy-D

Ok....to keep everyone happy....how does this relate to guns?? Many great night vision scopes out there!!

Yeah....it's pretty crazy. I was talking to a helo pilot for the Dartmouth Hitchcock Air Response Team (air med. based out of Dartmouth College) and he was talking about the "newest technology" that, rather than being called "generation 6" would be more of like a "enhanced generation 5", but said that the military (he is former Air Force) is working on several aspects to "clean up" the current technology (e.g. better power management, curing parallax effect, working on definition, etc.) Check out Wikipedia.com for more on this. It's getting to the point now where the cost of Gen 2, 3, and 4 should really start dropping for the civilian markets. I'm still drooling over the set that I got to try out. Utterly amazing.

--As a side note our fire dept. just got a $4,500 infrared handheld camera on a govt. grant that is absolutely amazing as well. You can put your palm down on a metal cabinet for just a few seconds and still see your heat signature several minutes later...and that's just the tip of the iceberg with what this thing can do. We've used it several times on the PD as well. Ahhh.....to many toys....so little time.....:(
 
Are there modulated infared lasers so you can change the frequency to something only your goggles can see (you would have to change settings on your goggles too)

getting them for your M4gery would be very nice, and wouldn't give you away
 
True Gen 1 nightvision really isn't encountered anymore. What even the cheapest Russian models will give you these days is something called Gen 1+. It's not quite Gen 2, but it's better than Gen 1. The biggest differences are in light amplification and graininess. Some of the newer Gen 1+ nightvision is so close to Gen 2 that it might as well be.

Prices aren't likely to start dropping any time soon, though, because of widespread price fixing by the manufacturers and retailers. If something has a Gen2 label, it's automatically $100-$200 more than even the best Gen1+. The prices should have come down years ago, but they remain about the same despite advancing technology. Until some company says, "We're going to undercut all these other brands, sell it direct, and make a killing", prices will stay the same.
 
Yeah.. still not a gun. There are sections of this forum dedicated to accessories, and there are sections dedicatd to strategies and tactics. I didn't say it wasn't useful, but usefullness does not make nightvision a gun.
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If you're only contribution to the thread is to say that there shouldn't be a thread, perhaps your time would be better spent elsewhere?


I've debated whether or not I should get a NV monocular as well. I really can't justify the purchase. I suppose I could use it in a home invasion type scenario, but that's pretty unlikely. I've used AN/PVS-7s before, and they do look amazing compared to Gen 1 NVGs. I'm not really willing to put down the $$ for something that really amounts to a cool toy though.
 
uring a night fight, having night vision is as close to equipment-guaranteed win as you can get.
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I wouldn't guarantee that. Back when I was on active duty I went out several times on night training. There were few LT's that thought they were pretty great. They said they could capture every section in the Battery. They got a few because they had night vision. They never got maintenance section once. We never had to fire a shot. I let them get close and hit them with a flash light.
They couldn't see for a few hours. Or nothing but spots.

I would think that the newer versions would have some kind of filter to stop that now but these were PVS7's and 15 years ago.
 
Amazon sells night vision these days.

http://www.amazon.com/ATN-Storm-3A-Stealth-Vision-Monocular/dp/B000WGIMFW

Check this warning out at the bottom of the page for this scope:

WARNING: You must be 18 or older to purchase Night Vision. Night Vision cannot be shipped to CA; D.C.; MA; Ca

Anyone know why? Is a 12 year old likely to buy this and likely to hurt themselves with it?? Why the state restrictions? Do those states really have a law against civilians owning night vision equipment?
 
I would think that the newer versions would have some kind of filter to stop that now but these were PVS7's and 15 years ago.
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Some of the newer ones do. But it's still a problem.

As for the restrictions, some bonehead probably just lumped nightvision in with weapons and applied firearms restrictions to them when it's not necessary. I can actually understand D.C., though, because of all the high level government officials. Because while it has little or no use for self-defense since you wouldn't likely to have time to use it (it's only really practical for a prepared defender), it would make perfect sense for someone wishing to do harm to a government official. SHOULD it be restricted? Of course not, since controls like that won't do any more good than the defunct handgun ban. But the threat does exist.
 
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I used the Gen 3+ on deployment, and it was fantastic. We were always told that's as far as it went, but I guess ATNcorp now has 4th gen, which is gated/filmless.
 
I've debated whether or not I should get a NV monocular as well. I really can't justify the purchase. I suppose I could use it in a home invasion type scenario, but that's pretty unlikely.
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I've recently been rethinking this. The myriad possibilities that can occur when you overlap a natural or man-made disaster with a power outage concerns me a bit. No motion sensors, no outside lighting. It'd be nice to be able to turn off my flashlight and peak outside and actually see what's going on out there from time to time. It's not some big tactical fantasy, its just a matter of practicality. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

As far as which one to get, that is truly confusing. It's like anything else, what one guy thinks is awesome (and rates with "5 stars" on a distributors website) another person, who perhaps has actually tried something better, says is crap. And the same thing with the brands, I've heard (for instance) that ATN is great, and I've heard they are cheaply made and have a high likelihood of breaking.

Basically all I can afford right now is a Gen 1. I can understand if my financial restraints mean a lessor quality image, but I sure hope I wouldn't be forking over a couple of hundred dollars for something that's lessor quality of manufacture. It should at least be rugged and dependable and last for years, even if it can't hold an image clearly at 200 yards.
 
On MidwayUSA's website, they have this overview:

# Notes:
# A night vision device works by taking existing light, whether infra-red, moonlight or starlight, and changing it into visible light. This visible light is amplified to the point where it may be viewed in the device’s eyepiece. The process, where the existing light (made up of photons) moves through a photocathode tube, changes to electrons that are electro-chemically amplified and then driven against a phosphorus screen to return them to visible light, gives the final image a green hue. Night vision devices are referred to by what "Generation" they are. Each generation has a different type of intensifier tube.

1st Generation amplifies light several thousand times. The image will generally be sharp in the center and slightly blurry around the edges, allowing wildlife observation or for general security use. A 1st generation will hum when on, it may continue to glow for some time after it is turned off, but is the least expensive type of night vision device.
# Recognition of a deer on a cloudy night is possible at 75 yards using a 1st generation unit.

2nd Generation has an extra process because a micro-channel plate is directly behind the photocathode tube and amplifies the light many times more than a 1st generation. The image is sharper and brighter.
# Recognition of a deer on a cloudy night is possible at 100 yards using a 2nd generation unit.

3rd Generation has a chemical added to the photocathode and a film is added to increase tube life. These changes give excellent low light performance.
# Recognition of a deer on a cloudy night is possible at 150 yards using a 3rd generation unit.

4th Generation does not use the film in the 3rd generation but uses a radically different way in which power is supplied to the unit. Image resolution is increased and there is a significant decrease in interference from bright light sources. Range is increased. The US Military does not use the 4th generation designation. These devices are referred to as "Filmless & Gated".
# Recognition of a deer on a cloudy night is possible at 200 yards using a 4th generation unit.

Regardless of generation, the image may have some black spots on it. These do not affect the performance or reliability of the device and should not be considered defects.
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