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Night Vision BNVD 1531

WillHugh

WillHugh

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Apr 6, 2017
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Curious if anyone here has experience with the L3 BNVD 1531 yet. I believe these are still mil/LE only, but figure some of you may have used them in a professional setting, or know someone with a set (TNVC?).

From reading the specs they look to be a pvs-31 with improvements on things people always complained about - adjustable diopters, more rugged, lemo port in the back instead of the side. I believe there are plans for them to be made available to civilians as well.

Mostly just wondering whether a set of these would be a big upgrade from my pvs15s.

- Will
 
Tagging on this post for the thermal And nv guys....

If you could pick up a set of 1531s in unfilmed white for the same cost as two brand new l3 unfilmed white pvs14s to bridge, which you give you the option to run a thermal monocular at some point in the future, which route would you go?
 
1531’s are so 2015.

69FD0D7B-7E3E-4EA1-88A6-8723FFBBC1A4.jpeg
 
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TheHorta said:
Sadly, they’re not mine. Dealer demo set. Unobtanium, even for silica-based life forms.
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Alas, I guess I'll have to make due with living in one spectrum for now.

Playing with demo gear is pretty cool - @NHPiper and I got to borrow an unfilmed cnvd-lr and lwts-lr (which I realize are nowhere near as cool as those goggles). Could see where bullets had gone into a tree 100 yards away with the thermal unit.
 
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WillHugh said:
Alas, I guess I'll have to make due with living in one spectrum for now.

Playing with demo gear is pretty cool - @NHPiper and I got to borrow an unfilmed cnvd-lr and lwts-lr (which I realize are nowhere near as cool as those goggles). Could see where bullets had gone into a tree 100 yards away with the thermal unit.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thoroughly enjoy mine. They’re obtainable with factory warranty.
 
Now that the 1531’s are out, there’s a slim chance we’ll see the 31A come off restriction.

It’ll be years before the 1531 becomes available.
 
NHPiper said:
Tagging on this post for the thermal And nv guys....

If you could pick up a set of 1531s in unfilmed white for the same cost as two brand new l3 unfilmed white pvs14s to bridge, which you give you the option to run a thermal monocular at some point in the future, which route would you go?
Click to expand...
For me, it's 100% on getting the 1531's and getting a coti or an ecoti but some might disagree.
 
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Well went thru some digging and found out the horta's pic is of a BNVD 1531 Fused. Serious unicorn. Precursor to envg-b correct me if I'm wrong.

On the reg bnvd-1531 and pvs-31a side. The contract for the 31s end Nov 2021. So civ side may become more of a possibility after the contract ends.

What I'm more interested in finding out is what they're going to replace the 31s with. Are all the high speed ppl going to use envgs too. They seem pretty heavy at 2+lbs comparatively.

Anyone got the deets?!?
 
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zinny said:
Well went thru some digging and found out the horta's pic is of a BNVD 1531 Fused. Serious unicorn. Precursor to envg-b correct me if I'm wrong.

On the reg bnvd-1531 and pvs-31a side. The contract for the 31s end Nov 2021. So civ side may become more of a possibility after the contract ends.

What I'm more interested in finding out is what they're going to replace the 31s with. Are all the high speed ppl going to use envgs too. They seem pretty heavy at 2+lbs comparatively.

Anyone got the deets?!?
Click to expand...

Yes, they’re going fusion too. Weight and size are coming way down with each generation, as is the cost. The most significant improvement is Augmented Reality and wireless weapon scopes that allow accurate observation and blind firing from behind cover/concealment with zero exposure. Since they’re already including those enhancements, it’s only a relatively small weight addition to include thermal as well.

The next-next generation is going to be all helmet/weapon mounted sensors with just lightweight goggles or glasses on the operator’s face — all wireless, of course.
 
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They unveiled the fused GPNVG last year. We talking about a light weight fused PVS-31 unit in the near future?

The IVAS seems very interesting but it doesnt seem like its nearly there yet. But sounds very cool; man its not bad being even an E1 in this decade.
 
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I'm guessing 1531's can use manual gain PVS14 tubes? Is there a place to just buy the housing?
 
NHPiper said:
Do you know what the FOM was on the units you were borrowing? Will units with unfilmed white tubes and 1800-2000 FOM be comparable, better, or worse, than green thin-filmed tubes with higher FOM?
Click to expand...

AFAIK, 1531’s are restricted and will be so for some time. They’re minimum 2376 FOM and all are exclusively L3 unfilmed WP. DRT can confirm, but I do not believe they have manual gain.
 
Do the 14 eyepieces use glass lenses or polycarbonate like the 31s? The poly lenses were done to keep weight down in the 31s, but I heard they don't hold up well to abrasion.

Also curious what you think of the housing in general. Does it seem rugged enough?
 
My impression from reading was that the 1531s solved most of the complaints people has with the 31s, with only a small weight penalty.
 
TheHorta said:
AFAIK, 1531’s are restricted and will be so for some time. They’re minimum 2376 FOM and all are exclusively L3 unfilmed WP. DRT can confirm, but I do not believe they have manual gain.
Click to expand...
Correct....basically 31s with 14 eyepieces. Designed originally by insight for Dep of Energy. The idea was that their security guys pull product from a bin and can adjust diopter for individual eyesight....rather than assigning individual units with appropriate fixed 31 diopter. They never really caught on beyond that...because
1. Almost same cost as 31s when you consider no g24 or battery pack
2. Not pressure test sealed in same fashion as a 31.
3. Extended lead times because no major contracts.
4. Most agencies assign 31s to individuals

I tried to push them for a while but every agency opted for 31s so we sold off our pair. 2376 min fom on everything currently from L3HARRIS.
 
DownRangeThermal said:
Correct....basically 31s with 14 eyepieces. Designed originally by insight for Dep of Energy. The idea was that their security guys pull product from a bin and can adjust diopter for individual eyesight....rather than assigning individual units with appropriate fixed 31 diopter. They never really caught on beyond that...because
1. Almost same cost as 31s when you consider no g24 or battery pack
2. Not pressure test sealed in same fashion as a 31.
3. Extended lead times because no major contracts.
4. Most agencies assign 31s to individuals

I tried to push them for a while but every agency opted for 31s so we sold off our pair. 2376 min fom on everything currently from L3HARRIS.
Click to expand...
If they were going to be for personal use would you consider them a better option then a set of 31s?
 
I haven't used 1531's, but the 31's ocular sac lens is a scratch magnet. Personally, if I wore eyeglasses, I would still wear eyeglasses under NVG's - so the whole diopter adjustment thing is silly to me.

I hate not being able to rub the dust off the ocular lens without destroying it and if the 1531 fixes that, it's a better product.
 
jeffl838 said:
I haven't used 1531's, but the 31's ocular sac lens is a scratch magnet. Personally, if I wore eyeglasses, I would still wear eyeglasses under NVG's - so the whole diopter adjustment thing is silly to me.

I hate not being able to rub the dust off the ocular lens without destroying it and if the 1531 fixes that, it's a better product.
Click to expand...
Proper way to clean dust off of 31s is to dunk in a bathtub then shoot with air can.......straight from the horse's mouth. Every set that goes out door has been in the pool
 
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DownRangeThermal said:
Proper way to clean dust off of 31s is to dunk in a bathtub then shoot with air can.......straight from the horse's mouth. Every set that goes out door has been in the pool
Click to expand...
Easy to do post-event, hard to do mid-event. Also always made me fearful of applying chemical anti-fog agents.
 
I have no clue what the lead time is but getting ready to order these for work from L3. They gave me a quote but still pending the official quote and me being charged. Comes with the battery pack and cable.
I'll update when I find out how long it'll be.

edit - L3 has two choices of FOM. 1792 min and 2376 min FOM. Not a big price difference between the two.
 
Last edited:
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JonLSU said:
I have no clue what the lead time is but getting ready to order these for work from L3. They gave me a quote but still pending the official quote and me being charged. Comes with the battery pack and cable.
I'll update when I find out how long it'll be.
Click to expand...
Nice! Super jealous.
 
JonLSU said:
I have no clue what the lead time is but getting ready to order these for work from L3. They gave me a quote but still pending the official quote and me being charged. Comes with the battery pack and cable.
I'll update when I find out how long it'll be.

edit - L3 has two choices of FOM. 1792 min and 2376 min FOM. Not a big price difference between the two.
Click to expand...
I was quoted December delivery, so I'll be curious to hear what they tell you.
 
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At least they're consistent in what they're quoting. I'll throw up a review when my set shows up.
 
Do you have to have some sort of letter from your LEO agency to put in an order with L3 for restricted nods or how does that work?
 
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Billan0317 said:
Do you have to have some sort of letter from your LEO agency to put in an order with L3 for restricted nods or how does that work?
Click to expand...

That’s generally how it works, but many agencies will allow their guys to buy their own private stuff but the purchase is handled at the agency level. It’s typically in smaller LEAs, as things tend to be very flexible. Larger agencies generally can’t accommodate those requests because PO’s are handled somewhere up the food chain and they don’t mingle with the worker bees.
 
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JonLSU said:
How did they hold up durability wise? Did they seem well built? I had planned on buying an rnvg but this deal is almost to good to pass up for filmless
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Mine are used almost nightly throughout work week. They are fairly rugged and get tossed around a lot. They aren’t babied at all.
 
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