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  1. #1
    Senior Member jet3534's Avatar

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    Thermal Nights Sights

    I know nothing about these sights, but given their ever growing popularity it seems like it might be good to have one for a collapse of society situation. Can anyone tell me what is lowest priced thermal night sight currently available that has a somewhat decent quality? Can you use these sights at all during the day time, i.e., for sighting them in. Where I live you could shoot for hours during the day time without attracting attention whereas shooting at night would result in a police visit.

  2. #2
    Team GunsNet Platinum 02/2014 Hatedbysheeple's Avatar

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    There is a difference between thermal optics and night vision optics.

    Thermal can be used day or night, it picks up heat signatures, and displays them in black and white, not the greatest resolution. Price point for a monocular that you cold actually mount to a helmet or weapon and is of mid quality is going to be north of $10k. Cheaper, larger hand held or weapons mounted ones can be had for around $5k. Our small helmet mount ones run $23k, per eye, and are not of a high enough quality for any long range shooting. A long range shooting thermal is north of $40k

    Night vision amplifies ambient light, they can also see infra red light. They have much higher resolution, you can recognize faces and such. BUT and I emphasize BUT, the quality of the optic depends greatly on what generation the night vision is. Gen 1 can be had for a few hundred but it is worthless. Gen 2+ is the absolute lowest I would go. If you are going to spend the money this is one of those things you do not skimp on. If you are going to shoot distance get a monocular that you can mount in front of a rifle scope, don't buy a magnified night vision scope, or clip on optic because they don't really work for CQB. If you are not shooting distance get a binocular set, depth perception and field of view are king. New sets are switching from a green tinted phosphorus screen to a white phosphorus screen, so the image is black and white with far superior resolution and light pick up, but you trade longevity.


    For a mono you can mount behind a red dot I would get this one
    https://tnvc.com/shop/tnvpvs-14-l3-gen3-omni-viii/


    These are what I would buy for me
    https://tnvc.com/shop/tnv-sentinel-b...l-3-omni-viii/

    or these, but i'm not sure about the filmless
    https://tnvc.com/shop/tnv-sentinel-b...hite-phosphor/
    Last edited by Hatedbysheeple; 03-08-2016 at 06:19 PM.
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  3. #3
    Team Gunsnet SILVER 05/2012 deth502's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hatedbysheeple View Post
    There is a difference between thermal optics and night vision optics.

    Thermal can be used day or night, it picks up heat signatures, and displays them in black and white,
    but is more effective in the night, as the heat from the sun can easily wash out a target during the day time.

  4. #4
    Team GunsNet Platinum 02/2014 Hatedbysheeple's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by deth502 View Post
    but is more effective in the night, as the heat from the sun can easily wash out a target during the day time.
    true, they can also not see through windows.
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  5. #5
    Senior Member jet3534's Avatar

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    Thanks for the information.

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    Team GunsNetwork PLATINUM 10/2012 rci2950's Avatar

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    thats some expensive stuff. Wouldn't want to drop that one in the bog.
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  7. #7
    Senior Member jet3534's Avatar

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    This is probably a stupid question but I have to ask it since my experience with the AR15 platform is minimal. I would like to mount a night vision sight on my SR556 and based on the advice received, I believe I should get something to mount in front of my current scope which is a Primary Arms 2.5x Compact with a reticle that is designed for both distance and CQB. Are AR-15 mounts a standard height, i.e., would a typical mono night vision sight that I would purchase be likely to line up with my scope in terms of height? My scope lines up with my eye without any kind of a riser if that means anything.

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