Night Vision NV & thermal on Nightcap?

[PlinkIt]

Anyone running a PVS14 and flir breach on something like a crye nightcap?

Will a nightcap be enough to support whatever type or bridge I need to mount both to?

Suggestions or recommendations?
Thanks

 

[wigwamitus]

I've run the pvs-14 and coti together on night cap ... but I find duals to be too much weight ...

 

[PlinkIt]

Is there a more.... Hunter grade head gear you would suggest that could handle the pair? Or is going full tactical Timmy ballistic helmet about the only way to support a 14 & a breach?

If a full on helmet is the only thing that will really support it... Perhaps I will just try to find a mounting solution that will let me switch the 14 for the breach rather quickly. Use whichever is more beneficial at the time.

 

[wigwamitus]

"full tactical" ?? hecque no ... the plastic helmets are what most of us use ... I have two ... a "Team Hillary" (formerly known as Team Wendy) and an Ops Core. The Ops Core was around $230 IIRC.

You can try it on a night cap ... maybe it will work for you ... but the tensioning system on the plastic helmets (and the "full tacticals") distributes the weight better IMHO.

Regardless, to get a breech to work beside a PVS-14, you will need to put the 14 into a hyper or vyper housing and get a pair of "m-clips" ... those will work with the universal bridge or the IC bridge.

Then get a lo sto mount and it should work.

If you find it too heavy, the get an ops core plastic (a.k.a. "bump") helmet.

It is good having a night cap ... and it is good having bump helmets and good having ballistic helmets ... I have all of those ... and I even have a couple of skullcrushers ...

==
IIRC the night cap was about $90 and the shroud for the night cap was around $130 ... so the price for the NC isn't much different than the price of the ops core bump, which comes with the shroud.

To me, where the night cap "shines" is in minimalist config with just one 14 on there ... then you have a very light setup that gives you navigation and laser.

 

[wigwamitus]

Ok, I see CP NC on CP site for $66 and Mod Armory has a 4-hole shroud for $80 ... So $146 total which is $90 less than the OP Core.

 

[wigwamitus]

And the ops core is showing as $274 on optactical site ...

 

[wigwamitus]

Team Hillary's are $285 ... and politics aside, I like the team hillary's due to the tensioning system. The turn knob pushes in for "tight" and pulls out for "loose" and is easy turn. Way superior to the Ops Core knob which has no push in pull out and is slow turn. But the team hillary rail system is proprietary and doesn't match the ops core 'standard' .... but if I had to get one today, I'd get the ops core. Don't want to support TH politics and since I mount lots of different crap up there, don't want to have to get separate mounts for the TH and the Ops Core (my ballistic is also ops core). Like COMTACs ... you have to get the TH comtac mounts and replace them on your comtac headset. Don't want to have to to that. That's the #1 reason I got an ops core bump when I needed my second one and my helmet mounted comtacs are on that one.

 

[wigwamitus]

You can see the TH (FDE) and Ops core (Green) helmets in the upper left of this pic (was staging gear for a two person outting). The ops core as a comtac with the direct helmet mounts installed, the other comtac is "'free mount" and either goes under the helmet, or over the CP (or other non NV headgear).

click on the pic to make it larger

 

[EXTREMEPREJUDICE]

After looking over the amazing line up of gear in your photo, just one question? What's the chew toy in the dog bed?

 

[wigwamitus]

... What's the chew toy in the dog bed ...

Chi Hua Hua ... (for the Chi Hua Hua)

 

[EXTREMEPREJUDICE]

LOL!

 

[Rerun7]

Not to derail but do you run the thermal and NV at the same time? Seems like it would be hard to manage the inputs.

I run a nightcap and PVS14 but just bring my thermal up when I want to stop and scan. I can do it without touching the 14.

 

[wigwamitus]

In reading plintits original post, it sounds like he is preparing to setup 14 and breech side by side ...

 

[rsb]

When I used to wear PVS-7 and 14s, we had a mount that allowed us to wear it without a helmet, just a wire type frame with pads and straps. With a helmet, there was a real small sandbag to balance the forward weight, otherwise after a few hours the neck muscles would start to complain about the front heavy weight. After a few nights of driving with the helmet mounted NODs, the neck was just painful. The strap mount was the lightest solution.

 

[DownRangeThermal]

I need to weigh this system together but should be about 24 ounces all up so it would probably be a little heavy. The skeletonized bridge we have built for us by IC/MOD is the lightest avail and works perfectly with the breach and 14 lining up correctly. The RQE is a thing of beauty though.

 

[PlinkIt]

@DownRangeThermal what mounting system is the NV using in this set up? It's this the vyper / hyper housings @wigwamitus was speaking of earlier? Or does this function with the standard single screw?....

I'm 100% certain I want to get a better minimalist set up than the skull crusher I've been using, and would like to TRY to see if I can function while running both. I would prefer to have it where I can default back to just the pvs14 or breach as individual items if my eyes / brain try to explode from processing what I'm looking at.

I may very well be returning to a similar process as @Rerun7 mentioned with just running the pvs14 on left and hand scanning over right.

 

[wigwamitus]

... 100% certain I want to get a better minimalist set up than the skull crusher ...

Excellent decision !!

... I would prefer to have it where I can default back to just the pvs14 or breach as individual items ...

I do this all the time with both of them up there ... just close one eye
But I get it ... and with a dual system, not only can you run just one, you can run it on either eye.

 

[DownRangeThermal]

@DownRangeThermal what mounting system is the NV using in this set up? It's this the vyper / hyper housings @wigwamitus was speaking of earlier? Or does this function with the standard single screw?....

I'm 100% certain I want to get a better minimalist set up than the skull crusher I've been using, and would like to TRY to see if I can function while running both. I would prefer to have it where I can default back to just the pvs14 or breach as individual items if my eyes / brain try to explode from processing what I'm looking at.

I may very well be returning to a similar process as @Rerun7 mentioned with just running the pvs14 on left and hand scanning over right.

DRT-14 Night Vision Bridge Mount – Down Range Thermal

Just threads into the 14 and other side uses an arm with a MUM interface.

 

[crossgun]

Might also want to take a look at the Raptor Tactical Skull Crusher. More support than the Nightcap and ability to mount rails and other items if needed. The Skull Crusher is very comfortable.

A Team Wendy Bump helmet is also a great option. The liner in the Team Wendy is VERY comfortable and consider by many to be the best politics aside.

 

[wigwamitus]

https://www.raptortactical.com/home/106-raptor-tactical-sentinel-skull-crusher-gen-20.html

 

[DownRangeThermal]

https://www.raptortactical.com/home/106-raptor-tactical-sentinel-skull-crusher-gen-20.html

They should lose the fake PANOS. Just a little overkill.

 

[Pseudohero]

I bought the Raptor and am not impressed. Cheap boa knockoff dials with plastic fishing wire type cables rather than braided wire. Major pressure points over the temples. It supports duals better than the nightcap but poorly executed in my opinion.

 

[PlinkIt]

The raptor reminds me of the ops core skull mount and I am looking into them currently as I have been told several times now the nightcap will not support the bridge mount.

The skull crusher / helmet hybrid type designs seem to fall closer to a bump helmet than the nightcap, but I hate to ignore more experienced people....
And the the first reply I get in most conversations is.... That's prolly not going to work

 

[wigwamitus]

Well, you can do two things ...
01 - Try the Night Cap ... it is good having one regardless.
02 - Try a bump helmet ... it is good having one regardless.

 

[PlinkIt]

Somehow I have a feeling I'm going to end up with both anyway...

I'm having a hard time seeing the difference between something like the skull mount or raptar vs a bump helmet anyway. It seems like they are just more open air helmets basically...

I guess that's a really good thing in the summer though

 

[wigwamitus]

The bumps are sort of like bicycle helmets. They have lots of holes in them. They are fine in the summer. I actually use the bumps more in the warm half of the year and the ballistics more in the cooler half of the year. The ballistics don't have the holes, so they are warm. The ballistics are oversized so I can wear thick balaklavas under them. The bumps are not, but I can still wear thin balaklavas under them.

 

[Strykervet]

The Crye soft cover is the shit --especially for 14's. I can see how it'd be an issue with more weight. But most folks still use 14's and if you have one, a soft cover is, IMO, a must.

You can mound damn near anything to hard helmet. I went with a Crye Airframe but never use it. Soft cover is enough. I put batteries in the back pouch but it's not really necessary.

I bought the Raptor and am not impressed. Cheap boa knockoff dials with plastic fishing wire type cables rather than braided wire. Major pressure points over the temples. It supports duals better than the nightcap but poorly executed in my opinion.

That's strange because it looks really nice to me! But I get where you're coming from.

There are few other new skull crushers out to try, ones that have more support. Wilcox and I think Norotos both make one and all are heavier duty/more expensive and larger than the Crye. The Crye is, more or less, a PVS14 specific piece of gear designed to make that setup light, fast and compact. It wins in spades there. But it isn't really designed to support a lot of weight, rather, it's designed to take advantage of the already lightweight 14.

 

[chosen_karma]

Wilcox has 2 Skull Lock systems designed to be used sans helmet. One is the Skull Lock Heavy (@10 oz) which has the TW Cam Fit Suspension System, which is specifically designed to distribute the weight and pressure off of the head. The other is the Skull Lock Lite, which is more of a low vis system with a similar suspension system, less plastic and more fabric and fits like a well broke in ball cap. Both of which are comfortable to wear over extended lengths of time, they don't bounce around if you need to boogie and will hold any of the NV/Thermal products designed for helmet wear use. Price ? yeah... Buy once, cry once.

 

[TheGerman]

You can in fact use both thermal and a PVS14 on a Nightcap at the same time. Just did it this past weekend with a friend who I let borrow some of my stuff at night because he didn't have anything.

Nightcap + OpsCore VAS shroud + Norotos LoSto + RQE Bridge + PVS14 + PAS23

No you cannot use thermal and NV at the same time; you can have both on but your brain will not merge the images as the colors are vastly different and thermal is 2D whereas NV is 3D.

Basically you use the NV 95% of the time and then throw the thermal down to scan for anything you may not see with only NV. Think in terms of scanning before/after a halt. The PAS23 shines here because it can mount to the RQE bridge and lines up well with the PVS14 unlike the FLIR Breach which was a total dumpsterfire in this configuration. Also, the PAS23 has an IR laser which is invaluable if others with you have NV and you want to designate something you see with thermal to them.

 

[Pseudohero]

Wilcox has 2 Skull Lock systems designed to be used sans helmet. One is the Skull Lock Heavy (@10 oz) which has the TW Cam Fit Suspension System, which is specifically designed to distribute the weight and pressure off of the head. The other is the Skull Lock Lite, which is more of a low vis system with a similar suspension system, less plastic and more fabric and fits like a well broke in ball cap. Both of which are comfortable to wear over extended lengths of time, they don't bounce around if you need to boogie and will hold any of the NV/Thermal products designed for helmet wear use. Price ? yeah... Buy once, cry once.

I agree that wilcox looks nice and not too much more than the raptor when you account for separate mount purchase. Should have bought it instead

 

[mop89]

Mum14 paired with a breach using a RQE bridge. Nice light weight setup

Get a helmet and be done with it