Night Vision NV for a newbie to NV?

[500grains]

I am an oldster in the shooting sports, but a complete newbie to NV so I seek advice.

I would like to be able to do the following at night:

a. Look for raccoons out to 50 yards in a wooded and brushy area along a creek. Have NV mounted on helmet.

b. Shoot jackrabbits out to 100 yds in the sage brush. Have NV mounted behind Eotech on a Larue mount.

c. Shoot coyotes out to 200 yards in the sage brush. Have NV mounted to helmet and use it to look through an ACOG.

d. Keep watch on a cemetary from 1000 yards on Halloween to be sure that zombies do not rise from the dead. Have NV mounted to my Halloween mask.

I am presently thinking of going one of two ways.

1.) Purchase new ITT AN/PVS-14 Gen3 PINNACLE MILSPEC - Full Standard Issue U.S. Army MILSPEC AN/PVS-14 Special Forces Kit $3,795.00 from www.tnvc.com. Product here:

http://www.tnvc.com/shop/anpvs-14-milspec-gen3-pinnacle-special-forces-kit/

2.) Purchase the PVS-14 Gen3 PINNACLE Night Enforcer® PVS-14 Gen3 ITT Factory PINNACLE Autogated Night Enforcer ITTE-NEPVS-14-1 because the listing says: "These units are factory built by ITT Technologies and have the highest performance characteristics of all the PVS-14’s we carry." Product here:

http://www.tnvc.com/shop/pvs-14-night-enforcer-gen3-pinnacle-night-vision-monocular/


3.) Purchase a used Gen 2 unit, probably lower end, for 1000 bucks or so.

Suggestions?

In particular is there a better rig that I can get than the milspec one above for the same money? Is the milspec rig rugged, durable, quality? Am I paying an unnecessary premium just because it says milspec?

What are the more respected brands of NV?

How important is it for the unit to be autogated?

Which ones are most durable in hard use?

What advantage does MUM have other than being lighter?

Is it worth 300 bucks extra for a "hand selected" tube?

As for mounting, I plan (a) helmet mount, and (b) mount behind an Eotech using the Larue mounting stuff. Larue supports PVS 14, as I understand.

I would prefer not to spend more than $4K.

Any input or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[jasonk]

Re: NV for a newbie to NV?

Let me know if you'd like me to move this question to the NV dedicated area, may get better answers there.

Also, did you see this post?

http://snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2385214

 

[500grains]

Re: NV for a newbie to NV?

Thank you for that post, I will read it in detail.

 

[RADcustom]

Re: NV for a newbie to NV?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 500grains</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I am an oldster in the shooting sports, but a complete newbie to NV so I seek advice.

I would like to be able to do the following at night:

a. Look for raccoons out to 50 yards in a wooded and brushy area along a creek. Have NV mounted on helmet.

b. Shoot jackrabbits out to 100 yds in the sage brush. Have NV mounted behind Eotech on a Larue mount.

c. Shoot coyotes out to 200 yards in the sage brush. Have NV mounted to helmet and use it to look through an ACOG.

d. Keep watch on a cemetary from 1000 yards on Halloween to be sure that zombies do not rise from the dead. Have NV mounted to my Halloween mask.

I am presently thinking of going one of two ways.

1.) Purchase new ITT AN/PVS-14 Gen3 PINNACLE MILSPEC - Full Standard Issue U.S. Army MILSPEC AN/PVS-14 Special Forces Kit $3,795.00 from www.tnvc.com. Product here:

http://www.tnvc.com/shop/anpvs-14-milspec-gen3-pinnacle-special-forces-kit/

2.) Purchase the PVS-14 Gen3 PINNACLE Night Enforcer® PVS-14 Gen3 ITT Factory PINNACLE Autogated Night Enforcer ITTE-NEPVS-14-1 because the listing says: "These units are factory built by ITT Technologies and have the highest performance characteristics of all the PVS-14’s we carry." Product here:

http://www.tnvc.com/shop/pvs-14-night-enforcer-gen3-pinnacle-night-vision-monocular/


3.) Purchase a used Gen 2 unit, probably lower end, for 1000 bucks or so.

Suggestions?

In particular is there a better rig that I can get than the milspec one above for the same money? Is the milspec rig rugged, durable, quality? Am I paying an unnecessary premium just because it says milspec? <span style="color: #000099">My understanding is that the milspec units are tested to assure they meet a certain level of clarity. The tubes used are randomly pulled from the same tubes used in the commercial units. </span>

What are the more respected brands of NV? <span style="color: #000099">ITT makes the tubes for other brands too, so no matter what brand you get, it will likely have an ITT tube in it.</span>

How important is it for the unit to be autogated? <span style="color: #000099">For the purposes you listed, not very. </span>

Which ones are most durable in hard use?<span style="color: #000099">I have heard the non-autograted tubes handle recoil better when weapon mounted.</span>

What advantage does MUM have other than being lighter?

Is it worth 300 bucks extra for a "hand selected" tube? <span style="color: #000099">That will depend on how picky you are about the number of spots you are willing to look at. You could get lucky and get a good tube anyway.</span>

As for mounting, I plan (a) helmet mount, and (b) mount behind an Eotech using the Larue mounting stuff. Larue supports PVS 14, as I understand.

I would prefer not to spend more than $4K.

Any input or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.




</div></div>

I would probably pass on the full kit, or you will end up with a lot of extras that you don't need or won't use. Save the extra funds to put towards a good IR Illuminator. 1000yrds is pushing it with a PVS14 without magnification and some sort of illuminator. A 3x magnifier is a nice addition but, still may not be enough to see zombies at 1000yrds.