Anyone Using Night Vision?

[FrankT]

Oh that is a Barn Meeting! Great group of Christians!! Where is that held locally?

 

[MIAMI MATT]

It all depends if it is new or used , what tube , thin film and gated , what brand .
watch them go on Ebay to get an Idea.

I went with Morovision because of their ITT tube's and bought direct since I know the manager from a forum.
he got be the 72 lp/mm tube and a 10% military discount .

the same pair with 64 lp/mm can be had here
http://www.opticsplanet.com/morovision-pvs-7-night-vision-goggle-gen-3-pinnacle-mvp-pvs7-3p.html

OH YEA...That would be the preverbial straw that broke the camel's back at my house..Very cool though..Maybee one day...in my dreams..

 

[1956_4x4]

I'd have to say that is a well balanced system!

Smitty

 

[Zeroed in]

Those are all nice devices you guys have, but I bet they are expensive. I'm just a poor man, and use the poor man's night vision. It's a "red-eyed" bird dog. Works real well, can see well out to 100yds easy, and you can get by with less than $100.

 

[Daezee]

Is anyone currently using a night vision setup? I'm seriously thinking about making the jump, but would hate to make an expensive step in the wrong direction. Any pointers would be appreciated.

Smitty

Yup. Have PVS-14. I use it behind various night vision compatible red dot sights with mild recoiling 300 Blackout loads. Someday I want to have it on a helmet with an IR aiming device on the weapons itself.

 

[Daezee]

This thread and having recently fired my zero magnification night vision setup at 100yd targets in the dark reminds me:

Does anyone on the forum have the 3x lens for the PVS-14? If yes, how long is it? How do you like it?

Does anyone have the mount for using a PVS-14 behind a regular telescopic sight?

 

[OhThreeEleven]

Hey guys go take a look in the firearms accessories & ammo sale section, I'm selling ($3,000) or trading a pair for a nice AR! PVS 14s

 

[Wildcardace]

If you need mounts or helmet or rifle let me know i have a lot for the pvs 14

 

[Daezee]

If you need mounts or helmet or rifle let me know i have a lot for the pvs 14

PM sent regarding mounts and helmet for use with the PVS14.

 

[SAWMAN]

I'm buying ANOTHER thermal. Found a great use for them the other night.

Kept looking at my plastic barrel feeder. The bottom 1/3rd glowed white hot. Wondered why, so after the hunt walked out to it and hit on it. It was 1/3rd of the way full of corn.

Only thing that I could figure is that the sun heated up the corn on the bottom 1/3rd of the plastic bbl,which in turn kept the bottom of the bbl hotter than the ambient air.

Sooooooo.........."alternate" use for thermal.......checking to see how full your feeders are from 110yds away. (Also..turkeys roosting in the bay trees in the thickish bottoms.)

Is it worth the money ?? Please advise. --- SAWMAN

 

[Daezee]

A better view to see would be that the amount of feed in the barrel is going down, meaning the hogs are coming and utilizing the food and being "trained".

 

[Daezee]

I went to Wildcardace's home and received a PVS-14 class. Learned a bit, and following his class I ordered a helmet to mount the PVS14 on and a LDI LAS/TAC 2 IR laser. Thought I'd have my order arrive this coming Monday, but TNVC emailed me it will be about 4 weeks.

I'd started with just a PVS14 for looking around the farm at night, then added a mount to mount the PVS14 behind my NV compatible EOTech and Aimpoints. That setup was OK for just checking out around the property for when my dogs alerted. But when I was given the opportunity to try night hunting I found it can be awkward for watching the hunting area for long periods. Wondering why so many long term PVS14 users recommended wearing it on a helmet, I took advantage of Wildcardace's offer (since he'd been using such equipment professionally) and ordered my helmet.

 

[SAWMAN]

Lemme see iffen I got this right ---> ? You got your seizure helmet on with the PVS attached. You have the EOT and the laser on your weapon. You see the(a) target animal. You take the PVS off your helmet and install it on your gun. (Do you have to take your helmet off or can you shoot with it on ??) THEN........?.......lets see, where was I at.......I think I lost my place...OR...had a "seizure" .... >>> now with the PVS,EOT,and the laser on your gun,you put the normally invisible laser dot on the target and shoot ??? What about the EOT dot ?? Is that on or off ?? Do you put dot on dot ??

I'm lost ! Please forgive. --- SAWMAN

 

[donr101395]

Lemme see iffen I got this right ---> ? You got your seizure helmet on with the PVS attached. You have the EOT and the laser on your weapon. You see the(a) target animal. You take the PVS off your helmet and install it on your gun. (Do you have to take your helmet off or can you shoot with it on ??) THEN........?.......lets see, where was I at.......I think I lost my place...OR...had a "seizure" .... >>> now with the PVS,EOT,and the laser on your gun,you put the normally invisible laser dot on the target and shoot ??? What about the EOT dot ?? Is that on or off ?? Do you put dot on dot ??

I'm lost ! Please forgive. --- SAWMAN

PVS14 mounted to the helmet, laser and Eotech mounted to the gun. The laser is IR and only visible with NVGs; you can either use the laser with the NVGs or by using the NVG on your non-dominant eye you can view the Eotech reticle with your dominant eye and it will superimpose it to your other eye and NVG.
Yes you shoot with the helmet mounted NVG on and if you are having seizures it's probably not a good idea to go hunting alone.

 

[Daezee]

Yep, that's why I took advantage of Wilcardace's offer to teach me how to better use the NV equipment. Wear the PVS14 on the helmet such that you are looking through it with your non-dominant eye (in my case, my left eye). IR laser is mounted on the rifle (he recommended sighting in the laser to have point of aim/point of impact on at 100yd). You shoot with the PVS14 mounted on your helmet, but for my initial sighting in, mount the PVS14 on the rifle, look through the PVS14 and the red dot sight with the laser turned on with the red dot on your target. Adjust the laser so it coincides with the red dot, and you are probably done with sighting in. Shoot the IR laser equipped rifle with different holds to make sure you hit where the laser is aimed.

When moving, walk with both eyes open...it will give you some depth perception. In my case, I can slightly move my head to the right and see (using my right eye) through the EOTech/Aimpoint if I need/want or can take a shot that way (target pops up at close range at night or there's enough light to shoot without night vision). For "normal" night time shooting use the IR laser, seeing it through the PVS14 over my left eye. Either hold rifle to my shoulder or hold the rifle buttstock tucked under the right arm in the arm pit or have the rifle resting on something. In each case I will be viewing the IR laser via my helmet mounted PVS14 equipped left eye. I was told I will find shooting with the rifle held thusly and laser equipped easy and stable with some practice. I will try both looking through the rifle mounted red dot sight with both eyes open and shooting without looking through the red dot. Take a rifle with an Aimpoint sight mounted. Turn on the red dot, but leave the front cover closed so you can't see through the Aimpoint. Now aim at something, keeping both eyes open...magically you will see the red dot superimposed over the target your off eye is seeing.

I would have never thought of using NV on my non-dominant eye. I have went on YouTube and seen videos of people using IR laser equipped rifles while hog hunting. On some videos you can see the IR lasers are not being held very steady...I will go out on a limb and say 1) they are not very experienced 2) they are not using stable technique or a rest/shooting stick. On other videos the lasers are more steady. The laser I'm getting was designed for pistol use, but many have found it to be very nice for rifles, giving a nice aiming dot, providing the distance is 250yd or less. Note: With a non magnified PVS14, vision-wise, you wouldn't be hunting past 150yd anyway. Bonus: I'll use the laser on my suppressor equipped .22 pistol for walking about the farm when looking for armadillos.

I believe my helmet will weigh about a pound. It has a rail on the left side so you can mount an IR light source aimed the way you are looking. I've got 3 IR illuminators to see which works the best on the helmet. I may still have an illuminator on the rifle...will need to experiment with that.

Having said all this, I'd still like to have Thermal. I need to buy a lottery ticket.

 

[SAWMAN]

For less than my setup you can have a FLIR handheld thermal,a EOT,3X magnifier, and a PVS. Use the handheld thermal for lookin'/detection and the PVS for shootin'. THERE ........ --- SAWMAN

 

[Daezee]

For less than my setup you can have a FLIR handheld thermal,a EOT,3X magnifier, and a PVS. Use the handheld thermal for lookin'/detection and the PVS for shootin'. THERE ........ --- SAWMAN

True. It's amazing how far night vision has come in just the couple of years since I bought my PVS14. Sorta like buying a new computer...do I buy now and get the benefit of of having it or wait a year and have even a better choice.

 

[SAWMAN]

All in all I would say this after extensive research. Buy the highest tech that you can afford that suits your purpose. YOUR application for the unit is the key to all the rest. What will you use it for ?? What is your style of hunting ?? Spot and stalk ?? Driving the roads ?? Sitting a stand ??

Like computers,there will eventually be better than there is now...OR...the same,only cheaper. HOWEVER.....at least for me,being older,do I want to wait another 4 years or start using it now. Is my unit high ENOUGH tech for me ?? What more could my thermal do than it already does ?? How much are you willing to pay for this "extra/upgraded" technology ??

These are the things that each prospective buyer has to answer. For me the "light bulb" that came on was when I finally decided that the choices were not only Gen 1,Gen 2,or Gen 3 NV....but thermal was also an option.

Good night hunting to all. --- SAWMAN

 

[doc92]

I bought a like-new mini osprey at the last pcola show. Wasn't really looking for one but it's awesome and was way underpriced.