Question about night vision

[Freshly Minted Georgian!]

Hoping for some advice here. I've been looking at night vision for the last few weeks and debating between a night vision scope on my AR, or putting something like an EOTech on my AR and using goggles or a monocular for those (probably) rare times that I'm on a night hunt. Anyone with practical experience using NV Scopes, NV Goggles, or NV monoculars, I'm looking for some feedback on pluses/minuses of a given approach. Realistically, I'm tending to think it's better to put a really good quality sight on as most shooting will be daylight, then use NV only when needed. I'd love to do a night hog hunt, for example, but that'll likely be rare for me.

So, opinions folks? All practical experience is appreciated folks, and thanks in advance.

 

[Necrosis]

I haven't done any night hunting yet, but I can tell you its much easier to look around/scan for animals with a helmet/head mounted NV solution instead of weapon mounted. Not to mention that it's not really the best practice to scan for things by pointing your weapon to avoid muzzling your buddies/things you don't want to shoot. After much research I picked up an Armasight Spark CORE (http://www.amazon.com/Armasight-Spark-Multi-Purpose-Vision-Monocular/dp/B007SYGLZO) as a budget solution and rigged it up for a rhino mount to a helmet to use with a NV compatible red dot. With a monocular like this you can use it weapon mounted (assuming you work out the eye relief), helmet mounted, handheld, or buy a second for goggle-style action (I've even heard of people using one NV and one FLIR). In short, I think if you look at what the military uses it will give you a good idea of what works well in the field (hands-free, gen 3+ if you have the cash).

As a side note, I'm always slightly paranoid to use my NV for fear of someone blasting me with a flashlight lol...

Hope this helped!

 

[dixieammo]

Stay clear of the ATN X site scopes pure junk

 

[AO3CoxUSN]

My time using NV in the "woods" ,not good, the IR lite will light up bushes & tree limbs that are close to you so bright you can't see whats behind them. Now if you are going to be in a clear cut or wide open area, then it might work OK for you. But would get 3rd or 4th gen. And at $1,000. per gen. I would use (save up) the cash for a Thermal Scope / FLIR.

MY .02 cents

 

[Necrosis]

My time using NV in the "woods" ,not good, the IR lite will light up bushes & tree limbs that are close to you so bright you can't see whats behind them. Now if you are going to be in a clear cut or wide open area, then it might work OK for you. But would get 3rd or 4th gen. And at $1,000. per gen. I would use (save up) the cash for a Thermal Scope / FLIR.

MY .02 cents

Pretty good advice, I've always heard that NV is better for target identification than location and FLIR/thermal is better for location than identification.

 

[mfoster]

Don't waste money on cheap n.v. A n.v. In daytime is almost as unusable as day scope at night.a good day scope with a nd 3 for night if only one setup.

 

[Tactical Beaver]

If you're going to buy NV, spend the money and don't buy crap; you'll regret it if you do. If you're going to get a dedicated weapon scope, I would go with thermal and not NV. I have a PVS-14 monocular helmet mounted with an IR laser on my AR rifle. I highly recommend this setup. You can mount it behind an EOTech or Aimpoint..ect... if you want, but you lose situation awareness and the weapon points where you need to look; you really don't want to point your rifle at something you don't want to shoot! The PVS-14 rocks; especially when paired with a quality IR laser/illuminator! Just nasty! PM me if you have any questions and I'm happy to help answer them if I can.

Also, check out this article from TNVC; they're actually the ones I bout my NEPVS-14 (Night Enforcer version) from; great article for info.

https://tnvc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/PVS14_Buyer_Guide_032713.pdf

Here's a quick video of me playing around with my PVS-14's in my backyard; the quality is WAY better than what I can capture on video.

 

[Sigo]

I have purchased an ATN-X sight. So far, I have been happy with it. I bought it for hog and coyote hunting. As an experiment, I put it on my 30-30. It is easy to zero and holds its zero. I only zero'd out to 100 meters since it is on a 30-30. I mounted the IR illuminater on the underside at the front of the barrel to reduce the shadow you get when it is mounted on the sight. During day use, it gave a clear picture and was kinda fun to play with as I waited for Bambi to show up.

It came in real handy in the last few minutes of legal hunting. In GA, we can hunt 30 minutes after sun down, but in the woods, it gets too dark to see. With no moon, I could not see anything across a long clearing. I turned the sight to night vision and a few minutes later saw Bambi's sister approx 130m against a background of cedars. The round hit exactly where the cross hair was. One shot through the lungs. She didn't even take a step.

I used it for a hog hunt with approx 1/4 moon. I was able to detect hogs out to 200 meters, and our group used me to find them, then sneak up on them.

The picture is clear in day and night operations. Its like looking at your TV screen.

CONS-
It is heavy, but I have carried it numerous times for a bit. It is manageable and you can still aim unsupported for a shot.

It loses resolution at full zoom. If you practice, you can still put your rounds in a six inch group out to 300 meters, if you work your shooting basics hard.

Someone mentioned using IR in the woods. They are right. If you can avoid it, I recommend not using the IR. On no moon nights, this can be a problem, but with moonlight, you can see very well.

The AA batteries wear out quickly. I attached a battery pack (like for your phone) and attached it to my rifle for hog hunting. It worked like a charm. It takes a little experimenting to attach it so it doesn't get in your way and you don't pull the cord out at the wrong time.

This is essentially a video camera, so snap shots are not the easiest. It takes a moment for the picture to clear and focus. Panning is not good for fast moving targets.

I got the 5x20 version. This is too much for the terrain I hunt, so I wish I had gotten the 3x12. This gives me an excuse to get another one

Bottom line- I am glad I got it. Like anything else, it has limitations. If someone is going to get it, they need to practice with it, so they understand how it operates and how it will work for their needs. If I had the money for the expensive stuff, like I used in the Army, I would have gone that route. With the resources at my disposal, this is definitely worth the price.

Attached is the doe I killed using it. This way you can see how big it is on a Marlin 30-30. You can see the exit wound. The doe was about 130lbs. She tasted good.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do. Always looking for solutions.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

I have a first-generation night vision monocular. The kind that sells for about $100- $200.
It's not good for dark woods with only starlight or a sliver of moon, UNLESS you turn on the built-in infrared illuminator (flashlight with IR light).
If you want to leave the IR off, you'd better have a nearly full moon or some car headlights aiming toward what you are trying to see.
A 75-watt light bulb on a house's back deck will light up a field enough to use the night vision to about 50 -75 yards, with good images. Things get dark and grainy beyond that.
With the IR light, it's just like a small flashlight and using your bare eyes. Good to about 25 or 30 yards, even in complete darkness, with the IR light on.
If my unit came with a more powerful IR light, I'm sure it would be useful for much greater distances.

NOTE: You don't need to have the unit powered "on" all the time to use it. Just turning it on for 5 seconds every minute keeps it working while saving battery life and the unit's lifespan, too.

I have no experience with NV weapons sights or anything beyond the basic first-generation 1960s era technology.

 

[Burdy]

Tell us what are you wanting to do at night and then we can help you determine the best approach. I use NV and thermal regularly in all different kinds of scenarios. Monoculars, binoculars, helmet mounted, weapons mounted, IR, no IR etc. I can tell you for 90% of scenarios you cant beat a good set of NV Binoculars and an IR aiming laser and illuminator of some sort like a DBAL or a PEQ unit.