Hello Lucas..from centerville...I enjoyed the video..but I am still sat up like when I resigned my commission from Dam Neck.. I am still running Emerson fast maritime I still have the IR strobe on to the back so when we have a chopper up with flair he can track US I'm still running the same system which is the Insight Technology L3 Warrior system to ground panoramic night vision thank you I do enjoy the videos
“You’ve got 9 different guns, which are more or less crap, sell half of them and get some capabilities you wouldn’t normally have” Truer words haven’t been spoken, but geshhh that’s a hard message to pass on to family friends without coming off as arrogant or stuck up lol. I agree 100%.
@@TheInfantry98 IMO, everyone should have a .22lr pistol and rifle for cheap practice and training beginners. Then you should have a home defense weapon - either a shotgun or a assault rifle - and a pistol for concealed carry. That's the minimum and that is 4 firearms.
Lucas botkins was never law enforcement or military yet he absolutely destroys almost everyone with knowledge and skill. The reality is he proves it doesn't matter. His character trumps every factor.
Night vision is probably "too expensive" to many people that can afford a lot of different kind of things because its like one thing, one single small unit that cost like a hell of a lot. That's why I feel like I never have money to get anything, but when I pay something on credit and pay it back in small amounts then I can magically afford it.
but you pay interest which means it cost you alot more. Im the type of person to look at total cost not momentary cost. rather be broke for a bit then be robbed in the long term
You shouldn't buy something like night vision with credit. Pay cash even if it takes longer. I feel you, it seems like a really really important item to have, but at the end of the day most of the time it'll be a cool toy in a way.
Ambient light awareness is big. When both eyes are adjusted to binos you can perceive it to be allot darker outside than it is and present a target. Can see them does not mean they can’t see you.
Solid advice, I've got a cheaper PVS-14 with a lower tier Gen 3 tube. I'll eventually get an upgrade but just having that alone is a game changer. I highly recommend if you can afford it get even a lower tier gen 3 unit from a reputable company like TNVC.
@@n0xxm3rcyxx heres the thing, when I upgrade I can keep my pvs14. It still has plenty of uses, it's small and handy to just throw in a pocket so it'll still probably be my go to for bringing along for outdoor activities where using night vision isn't the plan but might be fun or useful. It never hurts to cary a super power in your pocket.
I don’t know anyone that actually has night vision and I know a lot of gun people. I wish there was a place you could go to look at some of this stuff and at least look through some. It’s a hard thing to spend so much money on when you’ve never even seen night vision in person. I can shoot machine guns anytime I want but don’t know anywhere I can try out some nvg’s.
@@jpk9171jpk Theres a place in Allentown that makes NVD. Might be able to do some detective work to see if they do demos. Or, if you play airsoft, big milsims that do night shenanigans rent NV. SO you dont have to buy your own. Its a good way to get some kind of experience.
I completely agree on selling guns you have to get into night vision. But unfortunately the guns you just mentioned you won’t be able to get anything for. Also people need to get over getting into a dual set over a 14. A 14 is plenty for 99 percent of folks out here
Yeah you really aren’t more constrained by a 14 than bino’s. They both have the same field of view, and you can still see fairly well in the dark with your unaided eye. I was really surprised at how good my natural night vision was the first time I took my 14 out. Most people don’t venture into the dark without a flashlight, but with a 14 you do, and the unaided eye really adjust substantially if you actually allow it.
@@revvyishonisd5027yup I did range 410a in 29 palms with one of my 31’s pushed up, I pushed it up so I could focus around me, and I forgot to lower it back down cause I wasn’t hindered at all with one eye
look into the DTAMS Act in Black is dropping or Mod3's over bridge PVS-14 setups. Start with a single tube for those who can't afford the bino jump and have a clear upgrade path. Only real hurdle is making sure the second tube you purchase plays well with the first tube.
The reason why I run a monocular is because I run it bridged with a Nox 18. With the bridged mount, it allows for the display of the thermal to be centered in the 40⁰ FOV of the PVS, and gives you a pseudo "fused" image.
isn't the NOX 18 designed to be mounted on a long gun? Dude , your neck muscles must be massive?! Have wondered real use battery life is on that? & how is the "horizon splash" ? I ask b/c doing similar w/ FLIR Breach ...
@@bargainhunter4033 the Nox is primarily a heat mounted/handheld spotter that can weapons moutned and the Nox 35 is primarily a weapon mounted unit that *can* be helmet mounted if you're a Chad.
If I had the coin.....night vision is good to go. Most of us cant afford it because it is too expensive and most of us have other priorities. I used NV when I was in the .mil and I'm blown away by how advanced it has become from when I was in to now. Excellent video brother.
Look for Canis Latrans PVS14 clone. They're IR cut digital sensor, digital eyescreen, costs about $145.00 They're waterproof to x meters,, use almost all pvs14 accessories, and nearly identical sized front mounting ring.
Just got my l3 filmless from custom NV last night. Holy crap! I can see in the dark! It's so awesome! I drove around the farm tonight just fooling around it's a lot easier than I expected.
if you are using this gear for the scenario that the 2A was established for using the IR lights and lasers will only give you away, remember who your proposed opponent is and what their gear is.
Seriously you can get into night vision for pretty cheap. Let me know if you have questions, but I’ll tell you about my experience below. I started with dual tube green Gen 3 RNVGs that I got for cheap ($4500) (but you could get similarly spec’d pvs14’s used for like $1500 if you shop around, ask me where) and then get a rhino mount $60 for a pvs14, or a rhino2 and a dovetail adapter (150-200$) or maybe something else if you find a good deal, and then think about helmets. The first helmet I bought to support night vision was an LWH (they were kinda cheap then) for $150 with the shroud attached. You could buy an ACH for less. They range all over the place, but I have bought them for as low as $60. Average is probably around $300 My second helmet was the alternative to a high cut helmet on the cheap. I bought a DH132B vehicle crewman helmet (same ballistic rating as an ACH or almost any other modern Helmet) for about $200, and then spent more money buying a retention system for it, and pads, and you CAN buy rails to mount to it too, (for the cool guy look) but I didn’t. That’s a cheap way to get a “high cut” helmet though. My favorite helmet that I own though, is an ECH that I bought near camp Lejeune for $250… (that’s a freakin steal, but you can still get them for like 4-600$) and what’s so great about the ECH, is that is a rifle rated helmet, that isn’t ridiculously heavy, or anything like that. It’s basically an ACH, but thicker, at the same weight, because it uses UHMWP, instead of Kevlar. If you don’t need a high cut (you probably don’t, you can still wear electronic ear pro UNDER a regular helmet) then this is the best one you can buy in my opinion. I have been issued a high cut ECH, and it’s amazing though. It’s super light, rifle rated, and it is nice to just be able to flip the peltors up and out of the way from time to time, but if you’re concerned about budget, you probably don’t need to get a high cut, and you can still get an American made ballistic helmet for less than an opscore/teamwendy bump helmet… I’ll always preach this on these videos, because Lucas is starting to explore budget options a little more, but honestly, you can get into night vision for WAY cheaper.
What’s your experience been with RNVG for tactical use? I want the option to be able to run a single tube for some purposes but it’s hard to spend the money on articulating RNVG and the added complexity
Gen 3 pvs 14s start at $2k and go to $5k. What’s a must have and what is nice to have but not needed? From what I can tell there are 4 major differences green vs white , autogated vs non , filmed vs filmless and the quality of the tubes. And whats better a $3500 pvs-14 white p, autogated, quality tube or $5000 green ,non autogated, low quality dual tubes?
Depends autogating is a really nice feature. White or green is a preference, I prefer white. Duals over one pvs-14 is always optimal but I think the best way to jump in if money is tighter is get in with pvs-14. NV holds its value really well.
Thin filmed auto gated (OMNI VIII to OMNI VIII specs, OMNI VII being better) is a must in green phosphor is about the bottom tiered of high quality Gen III tubes. These are typically the "starter" Gen III units. The absolute best tiered tube that you can get is a L3 filmess min FOM 2376 (with the FOM being 2800+ if you know people). FOM is a measurement of SNR (signal-to-noise ratio, the higher the better) times the resolution (higher is 72 and above, but you also need good EBI and Halo), and color pallet being white phosphor (gives better background contrast and slightly better performance in low to no light ambient conditions).
Also, no blems (dark, oblong deformations in the tube) in zone 1 or 2 is the best. You can have blems in your tube, but if you can, pick a tube that is either lacking in them or in zone 3 (the outer edge of your view). Blems don't degrade the tubes performance, but they are quite an eye sore if they are directly in your line of view.
@@braxtonnelson7976 that’s the conclusion I’ve came to is gen 3 wp autogated pvs-14 is basically the minimum. Just a lot of money to spend on something ive never seen in person let alone got to try out. There isn’t a place I know of to check any of this stuff out.
although not 97° like 4 tubes , the NoiseFighters "Pano-Bridge" provides 75° FOV for considerably less & provides more versatility , Ex. mounting a Thermal Monocular in conjunction , among other things ... @NightWalkers has very informative videos / vlogs on multiple platforms & Night Vision is literally his job.
@@nickjohnson8780 definitely don't get to hyped up on the ATN ps31.. save for PVS31s if you want those.. if you don't wanna pay 13k then get a good set of DTNVS .. ATN is a no go 🙅♂️🙅♂️
Lucas I love what you’re doing and I’ve been listening to y’all for years. I train hard and I own night vision. However, I feel like you’re missing the mark by telling people not to complain about the cost of night vision. Consumers will always complain about the high cost of products, especially products that everyone should have access to, and it is 100% within everyone’s right to do so. I have heard you yourself complain about the exorbitant costs of machine guns and the like that should be accessible to everyone. Then you tell people to just accept the high cost of nvgs. I absolutely get your argument and while I do like that you’re trying to teach people about budgeting, which is a must have skill (yes budgeting is a skill) for all of us who are into this stuff, people are totally within their rights to complain about the frankly ridiculous cost of night vision. Again, I’m not hating and I own 2 nvg setups, but you need to understand where people are coming from when they’re expressing their distaste about the cost of this stuff.
His complaint about machine guns is that the price is artificially increased because of the strict restrictions imposed by the government. A pre 86 transferable m16 lower is worth $15,000 in a private sale even though a physically identical ar15 lower without a 3rd hole drilled only costs about $60 because it’s not legal for more of full auto lowers to be manufactured and sold in the civilian market. The only difference is that one of them was manufactured before 1986 and has all the legally required permission slips from Uncle Sam to be sold as a machine gun. Without those laws, a full auto lower would only be worth $60. I’m sure something like a m249 saw would still cost a few thousand dollars as that is how much the semi auto versions cost anyways.
Being a US citizen and being able to buy the latest a greatest night vision because of it, is like being able to ring up Lockheed Martin and ordering the not-for-export F22 raptor and them actually delivering it to your house. It’s one of the last untouched rights we have, and if you can afford a few guns, you can afford it too. Which is pretty fuckin cool of a deal if you ask me. Even if it’s fairly expensive. But really it’s not for what it is, and there’s multiple price points for multiple budgets.
Everyone complaining about the cost of kit need to read or watch Dave Ramsey - especially his envelope system. Carry cash and use it for everything you can, pay down ALL your debt, and avoid buying anything that isn't absolutely necessary (while constantly questioning what "necessary" means). Saving money, and investing in things like kit, land, and gold is the way out for Western Man. Plus, using cash and buying gold/silver/lead puts the squeeze on the Banks, Feds, and Globalists. My goal for 2021 was making myself completely debt free and getting married - that's done. My goals for next year are 1. Buying 30+ acres out in the sticks, 2. Upgrading my kit to include NV and a suppressor, and 3. investing in the people around me and building a community of assets instead of liabilities. Sorry for the rant, but if youre subbed to this channel and youve read this far you probably agree.
I wish I had of known about weights when I was in the army and running NVG's! Numerous head and jaw pains from synching down my chin strap to hold em in place! LMAO
Imo get a pvs14 first and then upgrade from there. I picked up a helmet from hard headed veterans and find it to be a high value ballistic helmet without the extreme high dollar cost.
Just got me a HHV bump yesterday.. Once I start working again, straight to a Wendy ballistic. Edit, After some time using it, I put arc rails and an opscore type harness on it from ballistic armor co, fits MUCH better after adding them, With a Microbat counterweight. Ordered the AXL/Opscore mount for some howard leights. I think the longest Ive worn it has been 3-4 hours, driving. 2-3 hours hiking. Im getting hotspots, but I think its just cause I gotta break the pads in still. BUT, so far its actually been pretty decent.
They're stupid heavy compared to other ballistic helmets on the market. For me that's an important reason to avoid them. If you can't afford a light ballistic helmet, get a bump until you can.
I own both a bump helmet (Protec alpha bravo) and a ballistic helmet (ACH/ECH helmet, old school but affordable. I got mine from Fort Bragg Surplus). I would wear a bump helmet in training or in situations where ballistic protection is not needed. Either way, whether if you have a ballistic or bump helmet, keep your helmet as slick and as light as possible otherwise you’ll experience neck/head pain. Most ballistic helmets are meant to stop pistol rounds but they can also stop rifle rounds. In the end, it’s better to have some protection than no protection.
Can someone explain why the mounts are so expensive? Materials? Tooling? Labor? Financial need? Can anyone in the industry explain? For how small the mounts are and for how relatively simple the parts are, I can't imagine that high of a price being the result of cost of production.
Pretty much all of that! They’re made by Americans, by hand, with expensive tooling, expensive labor/quality control, and expensive materials (most night vision mounts are titanium)
Hearing that MTEK has distribution issues I'm glad I knew a guy that got me a brand new Flux ballistic for $400.. only downside is they don't have a suspension system from the factory
Team Wendy LTP, Comtac 3’s w/unity marks, Wilcox g24, pvs14 Photonis wp “echo spec” tubes. Great setup for my first. No complaints. Do your research. Everyone is different.
Instead of selling a bunch of crap and buying night vision.... work a lot, save money. Buy night vision. Don't make enough money? Work more, work harder.
Always think about surplus when looking at night vision. I mean that mostly for helmets and mounts. That stuff can be cheap. You could get into a Gen 3 green Pvs14 for less than 2k if you shop around, and then have a mount and helmet for $300 (rhino mount) (ACH helmet) depending on how picky you are. You probably don’t need a high cut, and a standard cut helmet will give you more protection anyways… but, again, it’s all personal preference and budgeting
@@michaelparks7563 but as for my comment, I’m talking about finding supporting accessories on the surplus market (helmets and mounts) not really the night vision itself 💁🏻♂️
I remember when I served for a few years as a reservist we got to use and practice with nvg's There was a few times when the moon was covered by clouds and trees... you couldn't see your hand in front of you with the naked eye AND when you had the nvg's on, it was just a really dark green hue. Couldn't see SHIT! Lmfao we held the tac vest of the guy in front so we wouldn't lose each other. We still manage to lose a guy and one of our nco's went looking for him LMAO
I didn’t think I could like your videos more, but your comments/ rant on hhv and American manufacturers has!! We in the 2a community need to push to buy more American made. Or at the very least anywhere but China!!! Awesome video btw!
Now you can bridge pvs14 and change FOV by canting them out. Can't do that with binos ... but if I'm buying TWO pvs14, I'm gonna just get a dedicated bino. I'm happy with my pvs14 for now tho
In regards to defeating rifle rounds to the head, I believe the risk of secondary injury is very high. For instance, your helmet can defend against 7.62x39 within 150 meters. How likely are you to suffer a debilitating or fatal neck injury? I have never seen any research on that possibility. Understand that it's a relative question. Would you rather die from a hole in the head, or die from a sealed decapitation, or live with c6 or above paralysis?
Gen2 vs Gen3 NV visually is only about 15 percent more sharpness. If you need NV and don't have a down payment on a new car to throw at NVG's, then go with Gen2. Be advised they might not have safeties for bright light damage.
@@davidsirmons Gen 2's also burn out faster (2000 hours compared to 10,000 hours in a Gen III), are not autogated (protects the tube from light exposure), and when they start to run out the image degrades (unlike Gen III). Gen 2 is better than nothing, but for about 1k more if you look around, it's worth the upgrade from Gen 2 to Gen III.
It seems like the impression made was that NV has auto gating and that be carful, but it’s durable.. I have a top tier L3 tube. Any light for less than a second would cause blemishes. They would go away, but after black boxing for days, a blemish wouldn’t go away in zone one. Only have had it for a couple weeks.
In regards to the Hard Head Veterans, I thought they said that they source materials here, ship them overseas for assembly because it’s cheaper, then have them sent back assembled for sale. Now, idk if that’s business smart or not because I’m not a business man. I like their bump as I have one and it does well. Still prefer my TW LTP because of the retention system though.
Hey Lucas, next time the audio cuts out you should take the opportunity to get product leaks out of your system 🤣😆 Congrats btw, may Yah bless your household
53:00 low light innovations llul does exactly that, no on board battery and run with a battery pack to reduce weight. Not putting this here as some cheap ad but really just show what kind of stuff is coming out within the last couple years in night vision
I bought an HHV bump helmet as my 1st one it has 3 cracks 2 around the shroud and the rivets and 1 up the back. 100% do not recommend when you can spend 20 more dollars and get an op's core or Wendy
Gen 2 vs Gen 3 is not a meaningful discussion. Let’s talk about specs for particular tubes. Getting a 30+ SNR and 68lp/mm is entirely feasible on “Gen 2” tubes. This is a GREAT tube. Very usable. My Photonis barely delivers less than my Elbit tube, which is slightly higher specced. For anyone buying, call your vendor, ask for specs if possible. Also, filmless might be slightly more bright, but the film refers to very thin ion barrier on the photocathode in the tube, which prevents chemical (and structural) degradation of the photocathode.
I know just enough to know SNR is sound:noise ratio, and lines per millimeter. I understand that. Are there any other numbers or grades on a spec sheet I should know about?
@@geebeaux EBI (background brightness), Halo (how much "halo" shows up around either IR light or visible light, the less the better), and blems (zone 3 being the best, zone 1 the worst)
Filmless still has a thin film... lol it’s just thinner than thin filmed. No gen 2 doesn’t perform even close to the same in low light or no moon even. That ion bond screen does more than just protect the tube it.
@@geebeaux Yes, but I'd consider them secondary. Halo and EBI are the next things to really consider, which affect how various artifacts appear, such as bright point lights and others. Lower is better, in general.
@@geebeaux Also blemishes in the phosphor coating, as ThermalToyzNGear mentions. Zone 1 blems are really annoying. Look for 0 or MAAYBE 1 very minor dust spec blem there. Zones 2 and 3, I leave to preference, but blems bother ME in general. All my tubes have blems on the other hand, and they aren't debilitating. Just annoying when you start paying attention to them, which is hard when you have a non-flat background to be honest.
Question for anyone with experience: With your NOD experience, assuming roughly the same budget range, would you recommend a high quality single tube (i.e. L3 unfilmed white w/ higher specs) or duals with lower end tubes (i.e. RNVG w/ photis green basic tubes). It seems you can get into both systems for roughly the 5k range but Im not sure which is more of a priority quantity vs quality in this type of instance. I live in and am LEO in urban/suburban south florida so that would be my main usage environment
I would say in an urban situation (likely to be closer quarters work, and also decent ambient light, from streetlights, or even home lighting and whatnot) you should go for the dual tubes. I’ve always been issued a pvs14, and like Lucas said, there’s a lot I’ve valuable training that comes from being proficient with a single tube system, but duals just allow you to focus brain power elsewhere, instead of always trying to compute/combine your eyes’ two different images. My unit is starting to get PVS31s, and they’re white phos, and it is amazing, and there IS a good difference in the amount of light they pick up, and perceived clarity of the image in low light, but like I said, in most situations that I imagine you’d encounter, green phos would suit you just fine. I have a personal set of RNVGs that are green phos, and they perform super well with nothing but the light from a smoke detector in an otherwise pitch black room. It doesn’t take much, and like I said, they just allow me to not have to think about using the night vision, they’re just like putting on a pair of green glasses, and going to work. Just my two cents, hope it helps. Edit : Another thing to consider though, is having an eye that is already adjusted to low-light. With a single tube, you will always have an eye that’s ready to see in the dark for situations where your nods aren’t convenient (you’d probably have your nods focused out to infinite distance, so close-in work can be tricky unless you re-focus them, which is why it’s nice to have a focused naked eye sometimes) I keep my duals focused out infinitely of course, but the remedy for this is to just get some scope caps, (butler creek makes the best ones) and drill small holes in the center of each. I keep them closed all the time, and they stay infinitely focused, but are also great at close-in work! If I need more light in the tubes, I can open and close the caps at will, without having to re-focus the objective lenses. Just another thing to think about
totally depends on your intent of use. If you you will be using mostly in lower light situations I would go with best specs I could find in a single. If you have lots of ambient light etc, like the previous guys said, go with the lower spec duals. You still have the same field of view with both, but your brain just works a lot less with the duals. I train a lot with my single PVS14 just for that reason.
I connected and disconnected my Bluetooth headset 10 times bacause of audio loss. Then i noticed Lucas messing with his mic, and realized i dident have the issue :p
Thanks for the info Lucas. I am getting ready to move into some NV. I took the approach you spoke about in another NV video of yours, buy a little at a time. I did not really watch any of the NV videos back when you posted them because it was not happening at the time. Now i am going back and watching all of yours and WPS’s as well. Invaluable info. I work for one of the companies actually you have mentioned numerous times in this video. I wish we could get employee discounts, that would certainly make things somewhat easier. Oh well.
Check out the ATN NVG7-wpt it’s 2 gen+ and it still does really good in near pitch black and it hits that pvs 7 look if you like that metal gear solid look and it’s still getting made unlike the pvs 7
Hey, is that a wedding ring? Never knew you had a personal life outside of Trex arms 🤷♂️ lol Best wishes 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸 Also dude, the math is “multiplication” and you multiply two times two is “multiplication”
