Can you see at night? Do you want to? Over the years I’ve used lots of night vision systems supplied for me by the military and private companies. Night vision worth using is really expensive and getting better all the time.
First, if you are going to buy some, save the extra money and buy a good set in Generation II or III. Be prepared to spend $3,000 plus if you want a good set. Here are a couple places I would buy from; LAPoliceGear.com, ATN, and USNightVision.com (I also didn’t believe it but Amazon sells night vision).
Disclaimer; LA Police Gear, I’ve done lots of other business with and always had good results. I also know tones of other people that do business with them and are happy with their products and services. I was issued some ATN Gen 2 goggles and played with a rifle scope made by them and was really impressed with the quality. US Night Vision was the supplier for one of the companies I worked for overseas and they did good work. I’ve also interacted with them a couple times over the years and they run a good business. Check out as much as you can before you spend this amount of money. I used pictures from Amazon.com because they were the easiest to put into this page.
Naming the night vision optics is a pain in the butt. Most people look at you funny if you don’t call them the same thing, and I still get confused. Marines call them NVGs (Night Vision Goggles), some of the high-speed guys called them NODs (Night Observation Devises), and Army guys I worked with called them NVDs (Night Vision Devises). I still use NVGs because I was a Marine for 10 years, but like NODs because it’s pronounced as a word and not individual letters like the other two. There are tones of other names for them. Let me know in the comments what you call them and where the term came from, the group that uses it, or where you heard it.
If it weren’t for the high price I’d own two different types of NODs. First is an AN/PVS 14.
This is a single optic and mounts to a helmet or head gear to wear all the time (tomorrow I’ll talk about actual use of this and a PVS-7
The second optic is even more expensive. I’ve never been able to use one in actual operation but got to mess around with one on a rifle and at the range a little bit.
These had just come out the last time I was in Iraq. You can tell by the price you won’t find many around. But the advantage of this optic is that it mounts behind your normal day optic.
This allows you to use the same scope, rifle, and data for a long-range rifle. Guys use to buy two of the same rifle and set them up the same, only one has a day optic and one has a night optic (this way might still be cheaper). The good news is the price has already come down. Four years ago they were going for about $22,000 dollars. So at this rate, in another 10 years or so I’ll be able to afford one.
Other optics you may hear about on the market are; The newest optic is the PVS-15. It’s like two PVS-14s mounted side by side.
I haven’t used a set and don’t think I want to. I really love the PVS-14 and did extensive training and practice with it. And it’s cheaper, so I’ll stick with it.
You will also hear about the PVS-14s. I’ve used these in combat and they still work. It’s a single monocular with 2 lenses, one for each eye.
These work great for working in towers or in vehicles, but stink for walking around. It’s like trying to walk around in your TV. There is no depth perception and it takes a lot of practice just to walk around without running into things.
This was just a quick overview of some of the stuff on the market. It’s a lot of fun and after a bunch of practice, these truly let you see at night.
Stay Safe,
Ben