Quote Originally Posted by El Laton Caliente View Post
I keep avoiding this subject. What it came to is keeping up with the Jones... Anyone else operating at night is likely to have NV also. If it is a Gen 3 or 4, and you are using a 1 or 2 with IR illumination it is as bad as shining a large flashlight around.

To get into gear that doesn't require suplimental IR you are into Gen 3 or 4 and the price runs into the $5K range.

My conclusion was Gen 1 & 2 are great for pig hunting, but not for any serious fire fight.
You 100% right. I was thinking of this this morning and came looking for this thread to address just that.

If you do get the NV stuff make sure it is usable without IR lights. We've got some day/night security cameras on the property that use the IR lighting to work. Through the NV scope those camera's look like giant green flood lights - very easy to see.

The most I can/could afford at the time was the Gen II+ that works OK without the IR light. Most of the time I dont bother with the IR light because on a night with lots of stars out it really is not needed. BUT, on a clowdy night it needs a bit of illumination.

Don't get any of the Gen 4 (or "filmless") night vision. The amplifyer tubes do not last very long and are very prone to breakage. Also, remember to turn on your NV equipment once a month for 10 or 15 minutes. Not powering them up can cause them to go bad.