So i was planning on picking up a brand new TNV/PVS-14
Then I was offered an ANVIS 9 set up for the same price.

The tubes are Generation 3 on these goggles and are extremely clear and crisp. They are blemish and spec free. The lenses, housing, bridge, and mount are basically in like new condition. They have the F9800J ITT tubes. Also comes with a ground mount adapter.
They are F9800J, 10160A  ITT tubes. They are not auto gated. They are in excellent condition with no blemishes in both tubes. The housing,bridge and ground mount adapter have no issues and are in excellent shape as well. They are basically ready to be mounted to a helmet.
They have been used lightly and been well taken care of. They are Omni III plus and were built around 2003. The housing, lenses and mount are all about a year old.

SO WHAT DO I DO!?

Only issue I have with getting the ANVIS 9 set up is the lack of a warranty. I know the tubes are rated for 10,000 hours, but I'd hate to spend $3500 and then in a year they break for some reason.

I have pieced together several anvis9 housings for around $800 each. I would not pay $2700 for a pair of omni 3 tubes. $2700 is more like omni 7 or 8 price range.

Good enough for me, thanks for the input! I'm gonna stop trying to talk myself into a deal and just get the TNV/PVS-14 like I've wanted to from the beginning.

Knee-jerk reaction is to say get the duals - that's if it were me and I had the money.  

More conservative thinking would lead me to ask some more questions -

What is your level of experience with NVDs and dual versus monocular NODs in particular?  

What do you plan on doing with these NVDs, and in what kind of environments?  

As much as I love BNVDs, my initial inclination is to say that I wouldn't necessarily recommend them for your first and only NVD if you're not absolutely sure that's what you want/need/like.  

Binoculars, while awesome, are less versatile if you're just getting into the NV game, and are not totally sure how and where you might end up using them and what you prefer, so you're not going to be able to be as "experimental" with the ANVIS as you would be if you got a PVS-14.  

FWIW, OMNI III tubes are older, and not as good quality as what you're going to be getting in a set of new PVS-14s, though IMHO, they'd be more than perfectly suitable for my use -- again, though, the general consensus is that the big "jump" in tube performance came between OMNI III and IV, so you'd likely be on the "wrong" side of that divide.  

ANVIS are also a bit more delicate than the PVS-14, as they were not designed as a ground combat device, though they've frequently been used for such, it's still a point worth considering.

Again, most of these concerns are fairly conservative ones based on the notion that you may not be very experienced with NVDs.  Again, if it were my $3,500, I'd take the used, OMNI III ANVIS over the a new PVS-14 in a heartbeat, but that's because I know that I prefer head-mounted duals 95% of the time, and have used OMNI III tubes before and am confident that they are adequate to my needs.  

However, it's a big chunk of change to drop hoping that your needs will be the same is mine, if you're not sure yet what you need yet.  

There is, of course, option two, try to save a grand, and try to negotiate for the OMNI VII PVS-14 that the seller has listed as well.  

If warranty is a big concern to you, I would avoid the used options altogether, pay the piper, and buy from a dealer and sleep soundly at night.  

It's just a question of how much risk you're willing to assume, and how much that's worth to you.  

~Augee

You ask a bunch of great questions and makes some good points. My level of experience with NVDs is exactly 10 minutes behind a set of ANVIS 9s with ITT Pinnacle tubes. And that whole 10 minutes I was floored by the quality and crispness of the image. What do I plan on doing with the NVDs I buy? Haha, I have no idea! This is one of those dumb purchases you make in your life that you know is dumb but do it anyway. I've always wanted NV and am finally going to pull the trigger. I will probably do hog hunting once a year or so and I will do some night time tactical shooting. Other than that, I'll probably use them to mow the lawn at 2am, vacuum the house at midnight with no lights on, and see what the hell the dog is doing in the yard and night. If I get a PVS-14, it will never be weapon mounted, it will be on my team wendy. I'm probably just going to get the new PVS-14 from TNVC so i can get the warranty and the customer service they're so well known for should I ever need it.

::shrug::

As someone currently trying to piece together an ANVIS for as little as possible, I don't know that that's a fair comparison, for starters, you could say the same about a brand new PVS-14 -- if you're talking about doing it piece by piece as cheaply as possible, people have put together PVS-14 housings for $600, meaning that you're paying $2,900 for a tube and a warranty if you get the new PVS-14 for $3,500.  I'm not sure what OMNI range that would be in... Again, not that that's the logic I would use in this situation, it's not really a fair comparison.  

Plus, you're talking about "piecing together" versus a "one stop shop," including the cost of the mount and LPBP, which, not that it would make a significant impact on the "tube price" in the above equation, but still needs to be factored into the cost if you're piece-mealing things.  

Moreover, while I'm piecing my ANVIS together - I can't build one, once I get past the "amassing parts" stage, I'll have to get it sent out to get it all put together, either that or buy at least a couple of tools and hope that my self-teaching is good enough to get an expensive set of NODs put together.  Which not only adds to the timeline (collecting parts, shipping, building, return shipping) and cost, since few folks I know of are volunteering to put these things together for free.  

Considering all that, to some, the convenience of turn key setup might be worth paying a little extra, people will pay a lot for convenience, and $3,500 for a set of used, serviceable, turn-key ANVIS with mount and LPBP doesn't seem like an unreasonable market price to me.  Obviously you could build them for less, and for probably have better tubes, that's what I'm banking on, but I don't know that's it's a fair comparison to do a "I can piece it together for..." versus "complete" price, that argument could be made for any complete NVD, and there'd be no reason for anyone to pay over $2,000 for any PVS-14 ($600 pieced together housing, $2,700/2 "OMNI VII or VIII range" - $1,350 = $1,950), and you'd be paying 75% of a new optic just for the warranty.    

Unless that's the point you're trying to make.  

Fast, quality, cheap.  I'm a patient man myself.  

~Augee

I agree with Augee. The F9800J tubes are FOM1250 limited, which is a little better than just OMNI-III baseline specs. You see a lot of tube measuring on this forum, we all do it, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter much. I've got a MOD3 with ITT tubes that F9800 types (non-OMNI) that are about OMIN-VI and an OMIN-II tube and some OMNI-IV tubes. I can hardly tell the difference between the tubes in a practical setting. Yes the OMNI-VI level tubes work better in very, very dark environments but in CONUS it's nearly impossible to escape sky glow and at least some cultural lighting which makes the minor differences in super dark performance not as important. I've used OMNI-III and OMNI-IV tubes in Iraq and what I think was an OMNI-V tube in Afghanistan and honestly, they all worked fine. The biggest difference is provided by autogating, if high light operations are more likely for you springing for a gated system might be best. Non-gated systems are perfectly useable, especially with a cover like the Hoplite or Tasier (which I have on my MOD-3s) and manual gain is a great help in mixed light environments and really shines with the PVS-14. Why? Because you have one eye in the NVD and one out in the open, by adjusting the brightness of the NVD relative to what your unaided eye sees you make it easier for your brain to fit everything together.

I would recommend a PVS-14 for your first system. I've used PVS-7s, 14s, and MOD-3s a LOT and if I had to pick one as a first scope, I'd go with the 14. However now that I've used dual tubes, I'm not going back. Now I'd pick the ANVIS over the '14, even with the OMNI-III+ tubes.

Unless you know for sure they are Omni III's, my suspicion is they are most likely Omni IV because those are the most common tubes used in the Anvis. They could potentially be Omni III's if the unit they originally came from was older, and the housing being fairly new it is possible they could have been transplanted from a older Anvis.

Omni IV tubes are probably my favorite because they offer very good performance at a decent price. The only time I really notice a difference between my Omni IV's and my Omni VIII is in extremely dark conditions, as in no moon, stars, or indoors without any light source. So basically when you'd need IR illumination anyways.

As for helping you decide, arguments could be made for both. I started out with a monocular, and then another monocular, and then moved to duals. Not knowing exactly what you'll use it for makes the decision process a little harder. Some people find using a monocular easier to use when walking and prefer having a eye already adapted to the dark. With a monocular manual gain, at least for me is a must have. Personally I'd rather have duals for 90%+ of the times I'm using NV. My monocular still gets used a lot though and probably always will be. If I need something really quick I always revert to the PVS14. For extended use, the duals come out.

ETA: just looked at the F9800J specs. They look very similar to Omni IV in most regards but ultimately the tubes themselves are what tell the tail since the contract only specifies minimum specs. If you decide to go with the Anvis I'd ask for a inspection period. FWIW I shared the link of that exact pair you're looking at with a friend of mine.

Ok, as much as I want the dual tubes, I'm going with the TNV/PVS-14. $3500 is too much for me to drop without a guarantee that it will last. At least with the PVS14 I'll get an awesome set up with a 5 year warranty. TNVC, you'll be hearing from me and my wallet next week!

Fwiw, i built up a mod-3 using a set of F9800J tubes and it works perfectly fine even when compared to my Omni VII autogated unit. In terms of real world performance you probably won't notice a big difference, except in a completely dark environment, with zero ambient light, moonlight, etc.

With that being said, if it is your first device, get the 14 with the warranty.

Whatever you get, remember two things. Dummy cord, and batteries out when not in use. Both those will go a long way in protecting your investment.

I owned a AVS-9 with sequentially numbered milspec tubes. You may wonder why this is important. My tubes were mislpec and a matched pair from the factory. They were Omni IV tubes and some of the best I have owned. They are not thin filmed or gated but have given some of my omni VII tubes a good fight.

In the beginning I was not sure if I loved the cool factor or the scope. It was nice and worked well but had drawbacks. Weight and one eye not dark adapted was my biggest concern. Lack of cost effective and quality mounts was secondary.

I still love Anvis gear but found a PVS-14 or micro works best for me. The TNVC L3 tubed scope is a superb option with high quality tubes. I would not hesitate to buy.

The one Vic sent me is hands down the finest looking tube I've ever used.

I enjoy mine. I'll also probably be sending their sister company some money in the future.