NVG Equipment Gallery

[Wilkie]

All the time! Lol no I guess I'm over reacting, I just don't want too be drilling too many holes in it. It's more the idea of taking an impact, say from a fall to the nods and having the front torqued and shatter.

It's also the fact that the current mount is only slightly off, and I don't want future holes to cave in the old ones, just millimetres away

[Mirodasc]

Where are you guys getting your J-Arms from?
Last I checked they were ITAR restricted.

[ShelledPants]

Originally Posted by Mirodasc

Where are you guys getting your J-Arms from?
Last I checked they were ITAR restricted.

Oh boy. You're noticing the J-Arms are restricted and can't see the forest for the trees.

[ThunderCactus]

hehehe

[mcguyver]

Originally Posted by Mirodasc

Where are you guys getting your J-Arms from?
Last I checked they were ITAR restricted.

Restricted only in the US. There are 211 other countries in the world. I have gotten ones from Denmark and South Korea, as well as in Canada.

[R711]

Once the J-arm is outside of The USA it's legal. Plus, there are many more manufactures of NVG's and accessories outside of the USA that are bought and sold legally. What the USA is worried about is that the associated optics and kit make it to countries with ill will towards them and the willingness to cause harm to her and allies.
R711
PS I'm not advocating you break ITAR laws to get said items, but once they are legally acquired outside the USA, they are legal.

[ANTICITIZEN]

Hey guys I'm looking to buy some decent nvg and I don't know what brand to get, I'd like to be able to see about 400 feet and my budget is about 1500$ that I'm willing to spend, can you help me out?

[Azathoth]

Originally Posted by ANTICITIZEN

Hey guys I'm looking to buy some decent nvg and I don't know what brand to get, I'd like to be able to see about 400 feet and my budget is about 1500$ that I'm willing to spend, can you help me out?

400 feet under what kind of lighting conditions? Complete darkness IE a CDN tire with no lights on and blacked out windows? A open field on a cloudy night with no moon? A forest on a full moon? half moon? quarter moon? how much cloud? with / without IR lighting?

Also define "see", See a barn? see a Coyote? A person walking? A male or female? A car?
See above in a open field, a forest, a parking lot, your typical suburb?

The purpose of a NVD is to see in the dark not necessarily see like a binocular a long distance.

[ANTICITIZEN]

I would like to be able to see people so I can effectivly play night games i mean an Airsoft gun is only effective within 300-350 so id like to be able to see people at that distance in a forest or field or urban area, though I realize that it isn't like looking through binoculars, and I don't know the difference between with or without ir illuminator. Basically Id like to get the best pair that I can with the money I have

[DipTwit]

I'm gonna guess this is a good as you can expect for that price range:

http://www.scoutbasecamp.ca/product/...ard-definition

If you dig the binocular format, of course, as opposed to monocular. But it seems like a good price for Gen 2+

[ThunderCactus]

most long range engagements, even with gen3, on open ground happen within 200ft
Everything gets closer at night.

[Azathoth]

Originally Posted by ANTICITIZEN

I would like to be able to see people so I can effectivly play night games i mean an Airsoft gun is only effective within 300-350 so id like to be able to see people at that distance in a forest or field or urban area, though I realize that it isn't like looking through binoculars, and I don't know the difference between with or without ir illuminator. Basically Id like to get the best pair that I can with the money I have

You didn't really answer my questions. Under what lighting conditions? A higher end Gen 1+ unit under a full moon is not much better than a healthy person with no NVGs. Have you done any research on your own?

Kullwarrior wrote this FAQ for Edmontonairsoft, and I annotated and added things to it. I highly recommend you read all of it. ESPECIALLY the section that is marked "MUST READ". Their are pictures of what images look like under realistic working conditions for a NOD, once you figure out what picture quality you want from that forum post, then you can determine how far your budget will go

NVG 101
First of all, I’m by no means an expert in Night Vision device. I did my own research (took me ~6 months) I’ll just put these info up so that way I have something to refer people in the future.

Night Vision is a device used to see in the dark; Image Intensifer (I2), Digital Night Vision, and Thermal. Image Intensifer and Digital Night Vision work by amplifying light whereas Thermal detect heat signature.
Important Links you should look at:
HISTORY OF NIGHT VISION TECHNOLOGY
HOW NIGHT VISION (IMAGE INTENSIFER) WORKS
NIGHT VISION GLOSSERY (MUST READ!)
NIGHT VISION DEMOSTRATOR
While they’re all Gen 2 (Photonis’ Gen 2 were well known to exceed Gen 2 specs) XR-5 is the current top tier offered by Photonis. While its debatable, most NOD forum suggest its capability are roughly similar to Gen 3 OMNI IV or V spec
NIGHT VISION GENERATION COMPARSION {MUST READ!}
HIGH END DIGITAL NIGHT VISION VS HIGH END IMAGE INTENSIFER NIGHT VISION
YOUTUBE: GEN 2 NIGHT VISION EXPLAINED
AUTOGATING VS NON-AUTOGATING


Items for a night vision setup
Night Optical Device (NOD)/ Night Vision Device (NVD)/ Night Vision Goggle (NVG)
Mounting adapter for your NOD if it does not have an integrated mount (Examples: USGI J-arm, Wilcox J-arm, Norotos Dual dovetail adapter, GSCI Horizontal Universal Side Mounting Bracket (HUB-14))
PVS-7, PVS-15, PVS-18 for example have integrated mount where as PVS-14 (and almost all other monocular) requires an adapter
NVG Mount: unless you are using USGI headmount aka Skull Crusher, you will need to get an NVG Mount. This is the part that allows one to flip the NOD up when not in use. Example of NVG mount are USGI Rhino mount, Wilcox L4 G-XX series, Norotors INVG, AKA2, TATM.
NVG Bracket: If you are mounting your NOD to your helmet other than Ops-Core FAST base jump, you need a bracket for your NVG mount. Examples: USGI NVG bracket (there are two models, PASGT and MICH/ACH type. If you’re helmet does not have 1-hole you may also need the straps)
Head mount/ Helmet: Most NOD user will recommend using helmet as it’s more comfortable (ever wonder why the USGI head mount is nicknamed skull crusher?!?)
[STRONGLY RECOMMENDED] Protective Lens: Like your real gun optic, you want to protect it. NOTE: SACRIFICAL lens protector is meant to stop items from scratching the objective lens. THEY WILL NOT STOP A BB.


Cost:
For a Monocular Night Optical Device: (In my opinion base on looking on internet)
Gen 1: $300-$700
Gen 2: $800-$2000
Gen 2 High Performance: $2000-$3000
Photonis Gen 2 High Performance with Autogating: $3500-$4000
Gen 3: $3000+
"Gen 4" aka Filmless Autogated or FLAG: $4000+, I've never seen on for sale in Canada (I don't recommend this as the intensifer has an extremely short life)
L3 GPNVG-18 quad tube Gen 3 filmless autogated: ~$34,000USD MIL/LEO only (and good luck trying to export that thing out of US getting away with it)

TL : DR

You are going to need to triple your money to get the performance that you are asking for the unit alone. If you are lucky you will find a used unit with mounting hardware for less, And depending on if you want to have oclusions on your image you can get it cheaper.

[kullwarrior]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

most long range engagements, even with gen3, on open ground happen within 200ft
Everything gets closer at night.

Depends on what kind of night. As someone who used to own a NVD, night game shouldn't be run unless its atleast 1/2 moon.
I played at a night game where it was a new moon night;
OMNI VII was able to gather about 300ft of fuzzy image on open field (it was <150 in the forest).
A fellow teammate had early Gen 3, he couldn't get anything out without active IR.
Gen 2 SHP (Super High Performance or Photonis XD-4/ XR-5 quality could pump out about 150-200ft on open field

[ThunderCactus]

Agreed, some people also have NO night vision.
And if it's overcast, people with nvd can't see anyway since there's no light available to amplify lol

But even under 3/4-full moon, nice brightly lit night, using gen3 OMNI VII, you still can't hit crap at 300ft since you can't track the BB to determine wind conditions
But below 200ft, it's pretty easy to compensate for light windage and get single shot kills.

[c3sk]

Mod-3