Night Vision Pvs 14 and Crye Nightcap

[Travis224]

The options are endless, so I have to ask, what’s the best way to mount these two together? I wish to use the Wilcox G11 but also want to have it adjustable enough because I might not be the only one to wear this setup. BTW, I don’t even have a shroud, it’s literally a cap and a pvs14, that’s all I have...and will be in and out of a vehicle not sure if that matters.

Thanks

 

[Starbuck]

You'll need a shroud to attach the G11 to the Nightcap. Seems like you know this. I have a Wilcox 3-hole shroud that was simple to attach. You'll also need a J-arm to attach the 14 to the G-11.

For me, the G11 didn't provide enough eye relief, so I inserted about 1/4" of padding in the Nightcap so the ocular of the 14 was further from my eye. Wilcox makes a longer eye relief mount if you need more eye relief than added padding can offer:

https://tnvc.com/shop/wilcox-l4-g22e-mount/

Also, using a Wilcox amber filter on the 14's ocular helps because it has a rubber pad that will save your face if the 14 gets bumped.

Finally, a counterweight of some sort on the rear of the NC is useful to balance out the system.

 

[Rerun7]

I use a Wilcox shroud and a Rhino II mount with a counterweight in the back. Very comfortable and plenty of adjustment. If you’re on a tighter budget I would recommend them. If I had more to spend I would go with the Wilcox

 

[newguy2k3v2]

I use a Wilcox shroud and a Rhino II mount with a counterweight in the back. Very comfortable and plenty of adjustment. If you’re on a tighter budget I would recommend them. If I had more to spend I would go with the Wilcox

I used this as a primary for a long time and now as a backup/spare. Still the most comfortable setup I've used.

 

[Tchitcherine]

+1 on a counterweight. The night cap is great for lightweight, packable use. Otherwise consider picking up a bump helmet.

 

[BigTex]

I used a Wilcox 3 hole shroud and a Wilcox G11 with my nightcap. The EOD counterweight was pretty much a must have. I sold the nightcap because the chin strap was severely off center with no way to adjust. Other than that it was comfortable.

 

[newguy2k3v2]

I velcro'd a 20rd mag on the back of my nightcap. Balanced it out and I always had a spare mag.

 

[BigTex]

I velcro'd a 20rd mag on the back of my nightcap. Balanced it out and I always had a spare mag.

That will work great until you need your spare mag.

 

[newguy2k3v2]

That will work great until you need your spare mag.

It was the last ditch mag. I really only used it if a short stalk turned into a long one and I hadn't brought anything with me.

 

[Hogstooth]

Love mine with Wilcox shroud and G11 mount with GI bayonet works well, the Velcro adjustments take a bit to get right but you can make it so that you don’t have to have a counterweight which keeps it low profile and light to pack as an EDC set up or have in a response bag for LE

 

[wigwamitus]

There's my CP with a 14 and a PAS-29 on a regular USGI j-arm/rhino ... shown with the .22lr(16) and the ODIN on top ... this is a "ratting" setup.

Click to see a larger view ...

oh there is also a Laser Max Ir-laser on the 12 o'clock, which gets used a lot in this setup.

 

[Strykervet]

Yeah, I LOVE those. I got the first ones when they came out. Wish they'd come out when I was in the army.

So you wanna get a lightweight shroud for it, the plastic ones with the metal lips work great. For the mount, I'd get something light, G11 sounds about right. The dovetail mount is superior to the bayonet clip too, so ideally you want that. Now I have the Norotos INVG mount and it's SOLID and has NONE of the drawbacks my issued kit had. I got it for a helmet, but it works fine on the cap too. Still, a lighter mount would be ideal.

But whatever you get, you wanna get a quality mount. Wilcox or Norotos. They cost a bit more but are worth it. The issue junks is, well, junk. When I bought my 14 I got it from TNVC in a soft case instead of the issue junk I'll never use. That saved me a bit on the mount that way.

 

[TNVC_Augee]

For the NightCap I would recommend the Wilcox L4 G22E over the G11 or any other Force-To-Overcome (FTO) mount.

Not only does the G22E have greater forward adjustment that is useful with the NightCap, but IMHO, push-button mounts simply play far better with the NightCap than FTO systems. Because the NightCap is non-rigid, applying force to the mount to stow the NVG will almost always cause the NightCap itself to shift. With a push-button mount, the folding arm will offer essentially zero resistance while stowing as long as the lock is released. That being said, the G22E will require you to also purchase a dovetail adapter, rather than being able to use the USGI bayonet interface and J-Arm that most likely came with the PVS-14.

Also, the NightCap is extremely popular because it is light and relatively cheap, however it's worth noting that because it's a non-rigid system, it's not as quick to don or doff compared to something like the Ops-Core FAST Bump. Comfort, of course, is relative--however, one thing to consider is that because a helmet is much easier to simply take off and put back on, the NightCap could end up ultimately meaning more neck strain and heat retention over the long run. This obviously doesn't mean much if you're only going out for an hour or two, but over longer durations, being able to periodically remove your headgear might be something worth considering if covert packability is not a major concern.

~Augee