Night Vision binoculars

[thedude824]

I did a search and didn’t find any threads really getting into the different current NV binocular offerings. Depending on my divorce and tax situation in the next month I may be looking at a pair in the near future. I don’t need absolute best, but I don’t want observably inferior units to save $1500. I’m pretty sure I want aluminum housings and I like the Manticore R. Based on the resounding reps I’m thinking I’d like L3 Harris tubes. I plan to go to a couple reputable dealers before plunking down money and fortunately there is a very well regarded dealer in the next county over. On of my huge questions would be the focus on FOM. They have a couple nice tubes. One with an FOM of 2200 and another with 1700-1800. What are the chances I’ll notice this for roughly $1500? My eyes are definitely not as good as they were, but I still don’t need glasses. I plan to do some night time run and gun stuff with some local guys and I plan to use these at every opportunity including non-FA related. I’ve already set up my NV rifle in 300BLK out with an Eotech EXPS3 on Unity riser and Holosun Iris 3. Please share any and all experiences and opinions you have. I’m looking at spending between $8500 - 10k on the units and hope to do a package deal with the mount, bump helmet, ear pro and helmet mounts etc. I’m thinking Sordans have a good rep vs cost ratio.

These are what I’m looking at. I love the on board IR illuminator

 

[Unobtanium]

People focus too much on fom. Does it come from 81lpmm tubes with lower snr, or 64lpmm tubes with higher snr? Whats the ebi? Halo? How are the cosmetics? I've used some 2200-2400 fom systems that are visually superior to some 2700fom systems.

Then you have tube type. 2200fom l3 uf sg tubes are going to crush 2200fom elbits.

As to fom alone? Once you get past about 2300, unless its very skewed (96lp/24 snr) or something, the other stuff will matter way more. Fpn, ebi, halo, etc.

As to bump, the ops cor unit is superb, at present. A used g24 off some EE is a solid move, although I really dig the Alpha mount. MSA Sordin Supreme modified to fit the AMP/RAC system is the way I went and am very pleased. Get the Gibbous Outfitters steel reinforced mounts. If youre spending 8k, id be looking at 2300-2700 fom l3 uf tubes with great cosmetics. You should be able to snag a helmet light (im not really into onboard illuminators, altbough the pvs7 focusable rnvg was prrtty good for IR), bump, msa sordin setup, and mount for well under 2k. I've used cadex, wilcox, a cheap crappy Argus(do not recommend. Chinesium trash), and the nocturn alpha. Hands down the alpha is my pick. Id also get a battery pack and counterweight system worked into that 2k. I prefer Cold Harbors lead plates. Paint them and or wrap them in tape and stuff them behind the battery pack in a TNVC Mohawk or similar. A lot of this is EE purchase able to save money. Helmet light, bump, counterweight, battery pack, etc.

pro tip, I use LIFs on the objectives and Cold Harbor clear covers on the ocular. It keeps my optics perfectly clean and scratch free, and image degredation is very very minimal.

 

[thedude824]

Thank you! All of the tubes are L3 Harris. I believe it was $8500 for the 1800 FOM or $9800 for the 2300 FOM which are 61. The 81 are roughly $11500 I believe. This is in the Manticore housing which is quite a bit more expensive than the Katana. I’m a little uneasy about going with a polymer housing. I’ll check out the Ops Core.
It’s $8400 for the 61 with the 2300 FOM in the Katana molded housing. So basically it’s a $1400 up charge for the Manticore R housing

 

[Unobtanium]

Thank you! All of the tubes are L3 Harris. I believe it was $8500 for the 1800 FOM or $9800 for the 2300 FOM which are 61. The 81 are roughly $11500 I believe. This is in the Manticore housing which is quite a bit more expensive than the Katana. I’m a little uneasy about going with a polymer housing. I’ll check out the Ops Core.
It’s $8400 for the 61 with the 2300 FOM in the Katana molded housing. So basically it’s a $1400 up charge for the Manticore R housing

I don't really have an opinion on the housing, as that's by and large user choice. For me, I like my MGA, but everyone has preferences.

 

[Rockworx]

Just FYI if you are on Tacswap or any of the night vision FB groups, there are tons of deals out there that will save you a decent bit of money.

 

[Waddles0931]

I'll second that for TacSwap. I got a hell of a deal on Spotless Gen 3 OMNI VIII tubes and a lindu housing for 5k. I've used them almost every single night for almost a year with zero regrets