Night vision recommendations
 

I have been looking around a few different online stores and comparing prices and quality for different night vision gear.

I just want to know what knowledge people have to offer. Any personal experience or recommendations.

I'm looking for something that's multi functional that I can use for everyday airsofting and at night.

Its all about budget...whats yours?

Get ready to spend 2,000 dollars to 4,000 dollars.

If this is within your budget everyone else can start the info dump.

Their is an entire thread devoted to this subject that is stickied on this section right at the top. A large chunk of the thread is devoted to e-peen and pictures, but their is a LOT of useful information contained.

Good timing for you, your question is timed with someone else asking the same looking for information question. Look at the last two pages:
http://airsoftcanada.com/showthread....131786&page=32

See I like my answer better because it cuts through all the bull crap.

"Are you ready to invest in the most expensive piece of gear you will ever own or are you just trying to play operator for like 500 bucks?"

Although... I was just going to redirect him to that thread if he said yes :P

See I like my answer better because it cuts through all the bull crap.

"Are you ready to invest in the most expensive piece of gear you will ever own or are you just trying to buy NVG's for like 500 bucks?"

Although I was just going to redirect him to that thread if he said he is willing to empty his wallet :P

I like your answer too, I was going to answer that way, but the good angel got in the way of the elite seal operator ninja forces ranger delta special keyboard commando in me.


high five myself for quote myself!

Keep in mind your mounting costs and accessories as well.
If youre spending $3000 on a night vision monocular, youll probably also be spending $500+ on helmet, helmet mount, and storage.
Since you're in ontario, you'll have to drop $1500 on a real peq-15 or dbal i2 if you want an IR laser.
the cheapest option is a rhino mount/j-arm which will range from $60-$200 depending who and where you buy it from. Unless you wanna be super operator and drop a few hundred on an L4 G24 or INVG mount

Budget for the following:
NVD Unit
Head Mount assembly:
Suggested Route: Helmet, Helmet Bracket (NVG Plate/Bracket), NVG Mount, NVG Adapter
Alternative Route: Head mount, NVG adapter and possible Bracket and mount may also be required for use.

Suggest you budget at bare minimum for a Gen 2 (Gen 2 SHP/ HD and Gen 3 are recommended)

If your budget is $2k for NVD, spend money elsewhere
NVG Bracket are around $15-$150 (PASGT/MICH bracket are cheapest, Norotos mount are pricy)
NVG Mount are between $50-$800 (Rhino mount are cheap, Norotos INVG/ Wilcox L4G24 are pricy)
NVG Adapter are between $50-$200 (USGI J-arm are cheap, Wilcox dovetail J arm are pricy)

And we haven't started about aiming device, IR laser goes between $500-$2500, NV compatiable sights are $300-$1000 (Red dot)

In short, unless you have set aside $3k, don't bother.

FYI: NOD (Night Optical Device), NVD (Night Vision Device), NVG (Night Vision Goggle) are synonymous for the purpose of this post

Don't feel that you HAVE to get gen3, but we'll all recommend you set the top end gen2 as your minimum.
So expect to be in the low $2000 range for really good gen2.

Having directly compared a night optics D300-HP (~$2200) against a PVS-14 OMNI VI (~$3250), I can tell you the difference is not monumental. I wouldn't be too bothered to run the D300-HPs for a night game after having used the PVS-14.

I heard D300 HP uses Photonis XD-4 tubes -That's essentially a Gen 3 quality tube (Only loses at the IR gain spectrum and absolute darkness)

Hmmmm seems you might be correct. Yeah those are pretty darn good tubes, only major difference is really the peak sensitivity. Gen3 operates with a lot more sensitivity in the IR spectrum.

Dudes, Just let it die already.

Well thank you for all the information and suggestions.

I looked into it myself a little further and realized how expensive this actually is... This is going to have to wait probably another year or two before I get something that expensive.

I'll keep my eyes peeled if something good goes on sale, if its worth getting then I might drop the fair penny. As of now, Nope