• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

Rifle Scopes Night vision/Binocular combos?

Johnnyscience

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 11, 2009
128
0
41
Cleveland, Ohio
I'm super new to night vision and good binoculars.

Ideally I would like to get one set that does both.

Is this possible?

Are there any night vision goggles that also dub as really good binoculars?

Or preferably binoculars that can dub as night vision or have some type of night vision/heat sensor capabilities.
 
Re: Night vision/Binocular combos?

There probably are but I imagine they would be prohibitively expensive.

From my rudimentary understanding of NV (I have owned one GenIII NV device) the image struggles to retain quality when magnified much past 6-8X. The MUM I had worked okay when magnified through a scope, but not great. And it had a near perfect tube.
 
Re: Night vision/Binocular combos?

There are plenty of crappy ones out there. If you want good quality night vision, then you're looking at a decent light intensifier tube and most are stand-alone 1x power setups designed to be worn or used as pocket monoculars. There are fixed power night vision rifle scopes though, which would be the closest to what you're talking about, but for most they are prohibitively expensive. The modern methodology is to have a normal powered optic enhanced by mounting a light intensifier to it (a la PVS-22).
 
Re: Night vision/Binocular combos?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dogtown</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There are plenty of crappy ones out there. If you want good quality night vision, then you're looking at a decent light intensifier tube and most are stand-alone 1x power setups designed to be worn or used as pocket monoculars. There are fixed power night vision rifle scopes though, which would be the closest to what you're talking about, but for most they are prohibitively expensive. The modern methodology is to have a normal powered optic enhanced by mounting a light intensifier to it (a la PVS-22). </div></div>

I should state, at least for right now, I'm looking for a "pocket" type of device. Something that can be kept in its own small pouch.

But when you go with these smaller devices, do you loose quality or distance capabilities?

When you say power monocular - what exactly does that mean?

So you are saying there are some devices that can be stand alone on thier own in a pouch, yet also be added to a weapons system?


 
Re: Night vision/Binocular combos?

Then look for a simple, Gen I or II pocket setup, the kind marketed to hunters. The main cost difference is the intensifier tube between generations, with Gen III+ being the current state of the art. When I say "power monocular" I mean a single look through device (ie one eye) with magnification. Most military-style NODs are non-magnified, again with the exception of adds ons or actual scopes. The PVS-14 is a single non-magnified monocular that can be worn or mounted (though I don't recommend the latter).

Vic knows way more about the details of this, so hopefully he'll chime in. I'm just going off of Army NOD time.
 
Re: Night vision/Binocular combos?

Assuming your definition of "good binocular" mimics mine of Leica quality images, you're not going to get "good binocular" images through any NVG that's on the market (mil or otherwise). The technology isn't there yet. PVS 14's and 7's, even with adding a 3x or 5x lens, will not provide you detailed resolution past 75/100 yards depending on light conditionds(and that's best conditions). Now, with that said, if you are after just being able to tell if there is a man, deer, hog, etc... out to 400-600 yards the 14 and 7 will work with the magnification lenses but you won't be able to see facial features, antlers, or sex in under 100y unless you light it up with some form of light (there are exceptions to this such as having a field of green grass backlighting the object). The best resolution I've used in the field was the 6x Raptor, but that's not going to fit into a pocket. Insight Technologies is advertising a new monocular that can passivly identify facial features out to some distance. I'd check them out, prices were over $10k if I remember correctly. All the top of the line dual tube NVGs out there are nothing more than two autogated PVS 14 tudes in another housing. Many people think that having two tudes will give you normal depth perception--I disagree. It will be a little better than a single tube, but in the end you are still looking at a flat image on a screen.

If you want something small, with the best image available and can be weapon mounted, without breaking $5k, the PVS 14D with autogated tube is what you want. I see a lot of people not recommending the PVS14 for weapon/scope mounting. In my experience, mounting behind an EOTECH is just fine for short range stuff. Mounting behind a scope is just as fine, but you may need to use additional light (visable or ir laser with an illumination feature, not just the fine beam laser, is what we use). I've used a PVS 14 behind my USO 3-22 numerous times coyote hunting and, depending on the natural light conditions, not needed an additional light until I got to around 8-10x, but can just as easily crank it up to 22 and light 'em up with the DBAL2 so clearly that I can see hair and tell the sex. The biggest gripe over mounting a PVS 14 behind a scope is the need for additional LOP on the stock. If you use a Monoloc to attach it to the scope, the PVS 14 will add about 6" of eye relief. Without a stock boot or significant LOP adjustment, this will likely take your shoulder off the butt. For smaller calibers that's not a big deal, for the 7.62's we commonly shoot it may be a problem if you can't adjust your head appropriately. On a bolt gun, it can also interfeer with bolt manipulation if your scope sits low enough and the monocular isn't rotated so the battery pack is out of the way. In both cases, the problems can be resolved.


If cash isn't an issue, forget the PVS 14 or 7 and go with a UNS SR, UNS, or UNS LR. The UNS and UNS LR have imagery similar to the Raptor but in a slightly smaller package--although still not going to fit into a pocket (well the UNS SR may...not sure)