Head mount or weapon mount NV?

[cg21]

If you can only have one?? I am a complete novice been looking for awhile and have settled on the wraith digital weapon mounted nv scope.

but now I am wondering if I have been looking at this all wrong someone enlighten me. I have been looking at nv for a long time...... thought I knew what I wanted but now the helmet has thrown me through a loop.

would be used for zombies and coyote hunting would be mounted on a 308 if that makes a difference. Thanks and happy Easter.

 

[masterdekoy]

Definitely helmet mounted if you can only have one. Allows for much better situational awareness and means you don’t have to hold your rifle to your shoulder to scan.

 

[cg21]

And with the headmount you just keep it down and use your normal optics ?? What would be ideal scanning with headmount flipping it up then using weapon mounted nv?

 

[Rookie]

You would have to go head mount since they aren't rated for 308. Instead of night vision, go thermal.

 

[Rookie]

Fwiw, I ran night vision for about three hunts. Night vision doesn't work near as well as thermal, I had to flip my night vision out of the way to shoot, and it's heavy. I sold it, bought a thermal hand scanner, and never regretted it.

Night vision was good for 100-200 yards. Thermal is good for 1,000+ yards.

 

[cg21]

Any recommendations on a head mounted budget thermal unit? It looks like head mounted stuff is more reasonably priced than weapon mounted

 

[Rookie]

No such thing as budget head mounted thermal. Decent units are $6,000+ not including the helmet, mount, counter weight, etc.

Buy a Bering Optics Hogster-r, use it for a hand scanner, realize the wraith isn't holding a candle to your Hogster-r, mount the Hogster-r on your rifle, and scan from a tripod. Or buy another Hogster-r as a scanner.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but there's a world of difference between night vision and thermal. The wraith is great for what it is, but there's no comparison. I have a pulsar digisight that sits in my safe collecting dust because there's no way I'll choose it over my thermals.

I have no idea where you're at, but, if you want to, I have a few thermal scopes that you could look through to decide for yourself.

 

[Rookie]

https://www.nightgoggles.com/shop/t...ing_wp_cron=1586682279.6144330501556396484375

 

[Rookie]

And whatever you do, DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER ATN...

 

[Vigilant]

https://www.nightgoggles.com/shop/t...ing_wp_cron=1586682279.6144330501556396484375

Wow, I hope the product has sharper images than the website selling it!

 

[Rookie]

Lmao, I know, right? Seriously though, it has an amazing image. I'll recommend it over Pulsar.

 

[devildog70]

For hunting, I'd go thermal. For anything around vehicles or structures, or for anything that requires PID, I'd go nv, and I wouldn't look at anything that wasn't Gen 3.

 

[sheepdog697]

Strictly hunting I would suggest thermal. But you’re going to pay to play with these . My buddy has a trijicon snipe IR which is very nice. The Halo nvision thermals seem to be top of the line, although I’ve never seen them in person. I’ve heard good things about the hogster too. What’s ur budget? Do you want dedicated thermal?(optic is a thermal only with internal reticle) or would you like a clip on which goes in front of a day optic? Clip ons are nice because you can scan without flagging everything with your rifle, then clip it onto your optic when you have found a target. The trijicon sniper IR does both actually. We almost always use it in clip on mode and it works great. Picture is high quality and you can even record your hunts.

If you want to be able to anything with movement or navigation in the dark, you’re going to want head mounted night vision, preferably analog instead of digital. As others have stated gen 3, however some gen 2+ night vision is very serviceable. For a monocular the pvs14 is basically the entry level “glock” of the night vision world. Just about everybody builds them and a decent one can be had for about 1800-2500 all the way up to $4k+ with high end tubes(L3 unfilmed). You can also go the dual night vision route with something like an anvis9, rnvg, dtnvg, pvs15/31, etc etc. These units range from $4k -$10k plus again depending on the types of tubes you have installed. Dual is better if you want to do dynamic movements, and I prefer two eyes under night vision than one in almost every aspect. You’ll need either a scull cap or a helmet with a good mount. You could get it done for about $300 for an air soft bump helmet and a rhino mount, and counterweight setup. With a head mounted unit you can go passive and look through a NV capable optic like an eotech(which is much cleaner than you would think). You can also use a weapon mounted IR laser which is the preferable method in most cases. Serviceable IR lasers that can be mounted start at about $200 all they way up to $3k+. If you only have a weapon mounted night vision unit, everything you look at is essentially flagged with your rifle. Clip on night vision devices like a pvs 27 or pvs 30 have great capabilities out to distance at night if you want to just do long range night shooting. These clip in front of your day scope.

If you can give a little more information on what you would like to do with it and what your budget is, I’m sure some of us in here can give you good information.

ALSO, google TNVC and give them a call. They are probably the number 1 commercial night vision supplier. Their customer service is top notch and they could square you away with anything you want to know much better than most people can. Check out some of their YouTube videos as well. They can give you an idea about the difference styles of night vision.


buy once cry once is very true with night vision. You will definitely get what you pay for. Be careful who you buy from there are a bunch of companies that sprung up overnight that are building units and cutting corners.

I sold off quite a few guns and optics to get a good setup. It was definitely worth it from my experience.

 

[sheepdog697]

Fwiw, I ran night vision for about three hunts. Night vision doesn't work near as well as thermal, I had to flip my night vision out of the way to shoot, and it's heavy. I sold it, bought a thermal hand scanner, and never regretted it.

Night vision was good for 100-200 yards. Thermal is good for 1,000+ yards.

definitely agree with you here if you’re talking about head mounted night vision.

I would also add that the target identification with thermal at ANY range is unbeatable when compared to night vision. (Unless it’s behind glass). This identification benefit doubles during the day. Thermals work the exact same during the day and that is often over looked by people who aren’t familiar with them. Using analog night vision during the day is a good way to burn out a tube.

One thing to note, im into long range shooting during the day(Steel targets). If I wanted to do it at night a pvs27 or 30 would be able to get you out pretty far as well with a good illuminator. That being said if your shooting at a person or an animal at distance the thermal is much more capable.

In terms of thermal identification my buddy lives about 3 miles from i65 and with the Trijicon snipe ir, you can see the cars on the interstate I sh** you not. We have also identified deer out to a mile no problem. In pitch black...

 

[Rookie]

I have a Trijicon IR Hunter, so I can believe you seeing cars that far away. We hunt in Greentown and can easily see the windmill farm that's a lot farther south than three miles.

Nvision and Trijicon are the top of the line for consumer thermals. I'll give the edge to Nvision simply because of the price. The next step down, I used to recommend Pulsar, but they're having issues with POI shift and they're going to proprietary batteries which suck and are expensive. I recently purchased a Bering Optics Hogster-r which is my new recommendation for the cheapest entry into thermal.

 

[sheepdog697]

I have a Trijicon IR Hunter, so I can believe you seeing cars that far away. We hunt in Greentown and can easily see the windmill farm that's a lot farther south than three miles.

Nvision and Trijicon are the top of the line for consumer thermals. I'll give the edge to Nvision simply because of the price. The next step down, I used to recommend Pulsar, but they're having issues with POI shift and they're going to proprietary batteries which suck and are expensive. I recently purchased a Bering Optics Hogster-r which is my new recommendation for the cheapest entry into thermal.

if you get a change and it’s possible can you upload a few pictures through the hogster?

 

[cg21]

Well I was hoping to be in the <$1000 range..... that is seeming less and less likely though. I will be using for hunting and if zombies come I’d like to see them at night and have any advantage I could.

I guess I have to ask myself would having the wraith with a nice ir on it be better than waiting to purchase one of the pricier units. Obviously buying the wraith would delay getting the better unit but in the meantime I would atleast have something. I saw it is not rated for .308 so maybe would have it on a .223

 

[Rookie]

I have no way of taking pictures...

You would be sub $1,000 with the Wraith and a good light which would get you 250 yards. My opinion, 308 is overkill for anything around here that you could hunt at night.

 

[cg21]

Sorry I guess I should have added I am hoping to take a hog trip that was the .308 application

 

[Rookie]

6.5 Grendel works well on hogs.