Anyone know of a good IR lLaser with dual Illumination? Using a TNVPVS-14 with a helmet mount and looking for something that reaches out to around the 450m range. Or is it cheaper to go with separate items?
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PVS-14's shouldn't be rifle mounted on anything above a 5.56 right??Now, I run lasers on my carbines that I use for hunting and I use them. But not beyond 150yds and rarely beyond 100yds. And I've only used illuminators with the lasers when going "ratting". The rats hide in the vegetation or in the wood or dirt piles and the illumination lights up those eyes and gives me a target. Coons and Opossum are the typical laser targets and don't need illumination with them.
But in general laser gives you a "snap shot" capability to shoot without having to flip up or out with your PVS-14, if a viable target comes in to view ... usually while "patrol" style hunting.
My current go to "patrol style" hunting setup
click on image for larger view. That is ir-patrol on the left side of the helmet for detection/id out several hundred yards. PVS-14 on right side of helmet for general navigation and seeing the ir-laser. PAS-29 on the PVS-14 for thermal overlay. Then I can see a critter in the vegetation with the pas-29 and aim with the laser, even if the 14 cannot see the critter.
And that is Mk3 60mm thermal on the carbine for long distance spotting and aiming with the carbine.
And cqbl ir-laser on the 3 o'clock for quick shots if they arise.
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For "set up" style hunting a good tripod and a rifle length barrel and day scope and a clipon (either NV or thermal) will give you much more distance. And then rifle mountable range finders can give you a fast accurate distance.
Here is 5.56(18) rifle on tripod for the setup style:
that is xtr2 3-15x scr-mil day scope with pvs-30 clipon, elir-3 illuminator and radius range finder.
And if I bring the helmet, I'm using the patrol as the thermal spotter.
I see Steiner DBAL i2 IR Single Spectrum's going for around $600 used.Visible laser does little for me; I have 600V Surefires, though, so I have IR light capability.
If I had an i2 single spectrum, I'd likely get a 600u white light on the gun.
PVS-14's shouldn't be rifle mounted on anything above a 5.56 right??
Great info, and a lot to take in for sure. But it looks like for the money right now the MAWL-C1+ is the shit. Now if I can only get financing attached to my already financed PVS-14.At 450m, you will most likely be more limited by your ability to positively ID your target through the PVS-14 than by the performance of the illuminator or by the reach of the aiming laser. While an extremely versatile piece of equipment, the PVS-14 is not really designed for long range observation (yes, I know this is “Sniper’s Hide” and some may take issue with my description of 450m as “long range,” but it is for the PVS-14). A 3x magnifier will help, but under most circumstances, it will still only push your PID range out to about 200m or so confidently, depending on your particular circumstances.
That being said, I would absolutely recommend an IR aiming laser unit with an onboard illuminator that gives you the ability to activate both the aiming laser and illuminator simultaneously, and that can be zeroed to your weapon just like the aiming laser. Depending on your application, you may or may want to seek out a stand-alone IR illuminator, but IMHO, this should be supplementary to the onboard illuminator in your aiming unit. That being said, for most general purpose carbines, I recommend a dedicated white light rather than a dual spectrum illuminator such as the Surefire Vampire-family.
As far as which illuminator to choose, there are effectively two types of IR illuminators that you need choose between before selecting a device—LED based illuminators, and laser based illuminators.
Military restricted power lasers more or less universally use laser-based illuminators, because they are much smaller and IMHO “cleaner,” and they have close to zero visible downrange signature. However, at least in the US, because of Class I power restrictions for IR lasers, most Class I laser based devices, while effective up to around 100m, are pretty underwhelming due to regulatory hamstringing when you start trying to push beyond that range. Also, they are not focusable in the same way that restricted power lasers are, devices like the DBAL-A3 will allow you to change the size of the illuminator’s “cone,” but will not actually focus the illuminator.
The sole exception here is the MAWL-C1+, which has already been mentioned, which uses a proprietary laser-based illuminator technology that will allow it to “hang with,” if not exceed the performance of many Class IIIb restricted power illuminators. The MAWL-C1+ is hands down the best “civilian legal” IR laser aiming module/illuminator currently available. It’s downsides are that it’s $2,500, and backordered literally everywhere, to the point that used units go for above MSRP on the second-hand market for those too impatient to wait. If you want one—you’ll want to get on a backorder list ASAP, as if you’re waiting for one to be “in stock” somewhere, you’ll need to either get extremely lucky (be in the right place at the right time to snag e.g., a cancelled order) or you’ll be waiting a while.
The other major type of illuminator available are LED based illuminators that use an LED and reflectors to generate illuminator rather than a laser—the advantage of LED based illuminators is that they are less strictly regulated, so you can purchase much more powerful (at least in terms of illumination performance) LED-based illuminators that will allow you to reach out further and give you more illumination than Class I laser based devices, often at a much lower cost. However, all of them have at least some degree of visible downrange signature, and in general are significantly larger and heavier than laser based devices, almost all stand-alone illuminator units like our Torch Pro will be LED based devices.
For a more extended range application, the DBAL-D2 is probably the best option out there for a multi-function unit combining both an IR aiming laser and adjustable LED IR illuminator that will give good long range performance.
~Augee