After several decades of service, the U.S. Army decided to solicit a replacement for the standard issue USGI Rugged Helmet Night Vision Mount, more popularly referred to as the "Rhino."  Love it or hate it, the Rhino Mount was the go-to mount for the vast majority of U.S. Military Forces and our Allies when they needed attach a set of night vision goggles to their heads.  It was designed to accommodate the standard AN/PVS-7B(D) or AN/PVS-14 (with J-Arm).  The Rhino featured easy operation.  The Bayonet Horn interface allowed the user to quickly index their goggle to the mount while the helmet was still on the head.  Stowing and engaging the goggle was easy with the "force-to-overcome" mechanism where a user simply had to push the goggle up or pull it down.  Adjustments were basic and simple to find without having to look at the device.  But regardless of its benefits and being relatively "Joe-Proof" (those of you have served understand what this means), the venerable rhino mount was not without its shortcomings.

Like all military equipment, the Rhino Mount began showing its age and its deficiencies over time.  Wars have a tendency to put military gear through an unforgiving crucible that quickly points out their weaknesses and spurs development.  The past 13 years' Global War On Terror has seen incredible advancements in the warfighter's kit; especially on the technological side.  Our ability to own the night with advanced night vision and thermal equipment has allowed us to facilitate the meeting of bad guys and their maker at an exponential rate.  As night vision began being implemented more and more on the battlefield, the Army realized that it was for nothing if the goggle didn't stay on the warfighter's head.  After all, this is a critical part.  So, roughly 3-4 years ago, they solicited a replacement for the standard Rhino Mount.  The contract was eventually awarded to two companies: Wilcox Industries and Norotos, Inc.  Wilcox supplied their excellent L4 G11 Mount.  Lucky for the civilian market, they also made it available right away to commercial customers.  Norotos built the RHNO II and until now, was supplying it directly to the U.S. Army.  As often happens, stolen RHNO II mounts made their way to ebay, but you could not legally acquire a RHNO II outside of being issued one until now.



The RHNO II comes complete with a shroud and mount.  The shroud is designed to fit standard one-hole helmets as used by the U.S. Army.  It accepts all standard bracket-style mounts.  A wide set of legs securely clamp under the lip of the helmet, helping to keep it from rotating.  This is a huge improvement over the legacy shroud bracket that simply curled under the lip of the helmet.  These old shrouds would have a tendency to rotate on the axis of the bolt.  The RHNO II Shroud fits tight and its wide stance helps keep it secure.



The attachment mechanism has been refined as well.  The RHNO II shroud features a smooth-face bolt that is secured on the inside of the helmet shell with a lock nut.  A plastic washer goes between the nut the inner helmet surface to keep it from becoming damaged or marred due to over-tightening.  







The Mount features three points of adjustment: vertical, fore/aft, and tilt.  Unlike the previous USGI mount, the RHNO II features 1" of vertical adjustment.  This is a welcome addition since many users had a hard time adjusting the legacy mount to fit their head, causing them to adjust the way the helmet rode on their heads.  Additionally, a full 1.60" fore/aft adjustment allows the attached night vision goggle to sit at the correct distance from the eye(s).  17º of tilt adjustment finish off the adjustment options.  All moving parts are locked into place via levers that control their travel on straight rails.  This provides the user with “infinite” adjustments rather than relying “teeth” to set movement at certain points.



Like the legacy mount, the RHNO II features the "auto-off" mechanism that will shut the goggle down when it is flipped into the stowed position.  This will keep the bright green glow from being seen downrange.  

My overall impression of the RHNO II is that it's a great replacement to the legacy system.  It solves many problems found in the old Rhino: The addition of the vertical adjustment is a huge improvement.  Not everyone's face and head are the same size.  Often times, Joe and Jane had to adjust where their helmets rode in order to line up the goggle with their eye, simply because the old mount has no vertical adjustment.  The knobs for adjustment are prominent and easily found while wearing gloves.



The adjustable parts slide on rails, allowing for free travel rather than incremental teeth.  This is a nice feature.  However, I did notice that the metal on metal sliding has a slight tendency to bind.  This is not a show-stopper by any means, but it can become an annoyance.  I found that a thin application of graphite or gun lube solved the problem.  CAUTION: do not overdo it.  You don't want excess dripping out on your goggle or getting in your eyes when the goggle is stowed.  

The RHNO II has two versions: Bayonet Horn and Dovetail to accommodate the two main types of night vision interfaces.  The Dovetail version is the least expensive way to get into a quality dovetail mount at this point.  While it lacks some features of its contemporaries, it's still a nice alternative.



One feature that I particularly found interesting was the release mechanism for the dovetail goggle.  Other mounts have their release buttons sitting on the top of the mount, easily accessed by the user and any debris or obstacle in the field.  This can prevent a hazard of accidentally engaging the release lever and dumping the goggle.  But, the RHNO II's lever is low profile and can only be accessed when the fore/aft adjustment is all the way extended, exposing it.  When it is back towards the eyes, the lever is shrouded and inaccessible.  





Lastly, the RHNO II is available in two colors: Black and Gray.  The gray color was intended to match the ACU camouflage pattern.  But gray has become increasingly popular in the tactical community, so it's probably going to catch on for the tacti-cool folks too.

Anyway, I just thought you guys would like to get an up close look at the new RHNO II.

As of right now, there doesn't seem to be any word on these units being released without the shroud.  Since the U.S. Army only seems to be ordering them as a package, Norotos only seems to be shipping like this.

For me personally, I like the G11 and the ability to tighten down an existing J-Arm.  BUT, if you already have a dovetail NVD such as the  BNVD, Sentinel, PVS-15, PVS-18 and 31's and technically the GPNG's that have the dovetail interface,  this Rhino 2 is the cheapest way to get into a dovetail setup as Chip indicated. (Dang that was loooong winded!)

Vic

Glad we could assist.