[56type]

Looking for something that mounts to the wearer not the weapon. Don't want to spend the price of a used car on it either. I realize this limits my options to something in Gen. 1, maybe Gen.2 if I could find a deal.

Must be able to be worn on the left eye. I'm running an Aimpoint M2 NVG capable and an EOTech 553. Any experiance, advice, tips, tricks,voodoo would be great. Thanks all. :grin:

 

[JoeMomma]

You don"t want to hear this...if your going to use NVGs, anything less than Gen3 is almost a waste of money.
The somewhat good news...Gen4s are here, and Gen3s will drop in price.

 

[bamaak]

I agree, tough to find a good Gen1 device.

I purchased a Gen1+ device at a gun show about two years ago. I was able to compare to others including Gen2,3 and was favorably impressed with this model. I paid around six hundred for it with head mount, rifle mount, and case.

This model is manufactured in Belarus. (Dipol D125)


My intention was to have some NV capability, even if on a budget.


http://www.aimshot.com/nightVisionNVG125.php

 

[Dawg180]

www.tacticalnightvision.com , Victor the owner is very active over at ar15.com and has a lot of test photos of the porducts he seels (and even photos of products he has tested and decided not to sell)

I belieeve his 'budget' NV optic is the D-300, he has an extensive write up on it. I have looked inot getting it, but don't have the funds for something like that right now, at least not something that I would rarely use.

 

[bamaak]

Dawg, the comma in the URL is killing the link.


http://www.tacticalnightvision.com/

 

[56type]

Bamaak.... have you shot at night with yours yet ?? How does the tube handle muzzle flash ??

Before I part with the necessary coin for one of these I want to be sure the unit won't shut down or be destroyed by muzzle flash. I'm running one of the AR birdcage style flash hiders on it now to minimize that possibilty.

 

[H2O MAN]

http://www.morovision.com/morovision_specials.htm

 

[bamaak]

Bamaak.... have you shot at night with yours yet ?? How does the tube handle muzzle flash ??

No, sorry I can't help there. Haven't used it while shooting.

I can say that accidentally looking at car headlights, campfires or street lights doesn't affect it adversely, at least not yet.

BTW, it has a front lens cover with a pinhole in the center. It can be turned on during the day with this in place. (I'm not sure why, verify operation maybe)



Let me add a further review.

If one considers,...... resolution, contrast, and brightness..... compared to Gen2 or 3,...... the resolution and brightness is very similar, and contrast is just a bit less on the ones I was able to handle.

The real difference between this one and the better models has something to do with the lenses that I will call the small exit pupil view or pseudo fish eye view.

The more expensive models have a more "open" "flat" view that was not as sensitive to the users eye position.

This model seems more sensitive to position of the users eye. When well centered things are in focus well, and as the eyes moves off centered the focus blurs from the outer edges in.

Also it has very shallow depth of field, and requires focusing constantly for distance to objects being viewed. I'm not sure about the depth of field of more expensive units.

On a well adjusted head mount it works great. However these characteristics make it more of a challenge to mount on a rifle successfully. The mount is for top rail. I'm still working on that. One problem is the built in light will shine on the back of the optical sight unless it is mounted practically in contact with the back of the optical sight. In fact, the Belarus website shows an adapter ring to attach the monocular directly to the optic. I think that's the way to go if one could be found.


In short, I think it works well on a headmount. I can see in the dark, what's not to like. But for use rifle mounted I don't have the experience to judge well.

 

[Kotus]

Not sure about others experience but I found using my Aimpoint Comp M3 to be almost useless with Night vision. It has the nightvision setting and as advertised shows up great in night vision, but after a while playing with it I'm more or less convinced this setting is only of use to people who want to mount their nightvision optic to their gun with the aimpoint.

Trying to use the aimpoint to aim with the monocular actually mounted on my head was about impossible as the optic protruded from my face too much for me to index it onto the aimpoint. Even at 6'5" tall with the shoulders that gives me and the stock fully extended I just didn't have enough clearence between the aimpoint and the NV optic and I was using a KAC cantilever mount for my aimpoint with the mount all the way forward on the upper, maybe it would of been a little better mounted on the rail not sure, still think I would've had trouble because of the angle you must tilt your head to keep the tube straight.

It was suggested to me you basicly just put the NV on your non aiming eye and you more or less use your brain to superimpose the illuminated image onto the non illuminated one and then aim that way. This could be done some with practice but it's not easy or intuitive. I believe the original aimpoints worked this way anyhow and I had more luck(though not a lot) shooting this way they trying to come up with a way to aim through the NV. Shooting a pistol was still intuitive and easy as you would expect though.

Also when you buy an NV device, buy some kind of helmet and helmet mount, most of them come with a headgear device, I call it a "skull crusher" for a reason. The basic headgear is extremely uncomfortable.

Other then that Nightvision is awesome, I could quickly and easily pick my friends out against the trees in a dark part of the forest. I highly recommend the PVS-14 from morovision it's a badass product and it's jsut staggering what you can see in the dark and how much detail still remains. And don't forget to look at the sky at least once, if you are like me and live in a city its jaw dropping the number of stars NV picks up that you never see.

 

[56type]

Thanks for all the info guys. Keep it coming as I would like to make the most informed choice possible.

Sorry, I should have explained ....I lost my right eye in an accident as a kid. The left one is all I have to work with. Here's the rifle I'll most likely be using it with.

As you can see the Aimpoint is mounted pretty far forward, I don't think it's likely I'll hit it with NVD, although that's worth looking into.

 

[mndfusion]

as far as i have come to understand it, the designation Gen 1,2,3,4 night vision only really applies to American made equipment.

 

[bamaak]

56type,


Your needs may be better served by a night vision rifle scope.

Here's an example from Kalinka.

http://www.kalinkaoptics.com/detail.aspx?ID=141



Is it even possible to fire an optically sighted rifle from the shoulder with a head mounted NV device. I haven't even thought of trying that. Seems it would be way to hard to line up quickly to me, if at all.

 

[Kotus]

One thing I should of mentioned. Mounting it forward may work I didn't try that, but the reason I said I think it may not work is do to physiological mechanics.

When you aim a rifle normally you can tilt your head down some and rotate your eye so you are sort of looking 'up' through the optics. A night vision device is a straight tube that sticks straight off your face 6 inches or so. You can't rotate it 'up' at an angle because of this so the only way to really aim through it is by tilting your neck at a really unnatural angle and shouldering the rifle high(I was shooting an AR though so it might be a little different with an AK). It might be doable with practice, but it's not intuitive.

I can see why the military puts such and importance on IR laser aiming devices on rifles, they are really really useful for this. Unfortunately IR lasers seem to be restricted from civillian sales for some reason.

 

[Gunwriter]

call Victor at Tacticalnightvision.com and chat with him. I just spent a day with him at an industry event and did some interviews with him for www.tacticalgunfan.com

mounting a monocular, like a PVS 14, behind an optic blows. Head mount it and use an IR laser. Much much better.