As I progress through my night vision journey, I’m finding what I like and dislike. I got my feet wet with the cheapo Armasight Spark Core, then jumped up to a gen 3 PVS-14. I loved the performance of the PVS-14, but could never really learn to like the single tube setup. I also hated how sloppy the j-arm and Rhino-2 mount felt (but was what I could afford at the time). I ended up selling the PVS-14 for a down payment on my truck, fully knowing that I’d be back to jump to the next stage of night vision when the funds allow.

End of the year bonuses and tax time is slowly approaching and I’m starting my research to see what options I have. I’m completely stuck on a dual tube setup and I’m really not interested in a dual PVS-14 setup with the goofy bridge setup (IMO). With that being said, I realize that my options don’t appear to be plentiful if at all for gen 3.

That’s why I’m here. I’m not opposed to buying used (heck, my PVS-14 was bought used off the EE), but buying something of a known quantity and with a warranty sounds pretty nice. Buying new appears to leave me in the Gen 2+ category. Having made the jump from gen 1 to gen 3, I have no first hand experience with gen 2/2+ to know how big the jump is. I don’t have an issue with using an IR Illuminator on the darkest nights or when looking into the darker areas, but I don’t want to give up that much in the resolution area if possible.

What seems like the best option on paper is the Armasight BNVD Gen 2+ QS “Quick Silver”. I think their QS is supposed to be like a white phosphorous, but they don’t specifically state that. LINK

There’s also this one right here that doesn’t have the same functionality of being able to flip up the individual tube, but seems like it may be a higher spec tube. LINK

Does anyone have experience with either of these? I realize that these aren’t on the cutting edge and special forces wouldn’t be caught dead with them, but would they be in the same league as a lower grade gen 3 like what I had? I’d be willing to give up a little performance if it meant being able to get into a binocular setup.

I know you said you don’t want a bridge setup but perhaps consider two Pvs-14 (used) with a mod armory light weight bridge($350) then have them built into a real bino when funds permit. You can then also sell the bridge and pvs-14 housings. You don’t want to go from gen 3 to gen 2 IMHO also consider gen 2 tube life is also a lot less than gen 3.

I would strongly suggest, given your budget, looking into this thread:

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/is-the-PVS7-still-a-valid-option/18-492266/

Bridged PVS14 with the right bridge is probably best for your budget still. Get a dovetail compatible bridge and just accept that it will be 4-6oz heavier than a true bino system but can cost a lot less. Don’t spend the cash on anything that is “Gen 2+” IMO.

As a dual 14 user something you should consider, having a match set of tubes that are collimated will yield you the best results like dedicated binos. That being said if you add everything up you could save @ 1-3K vs a bino setup but at the cost of 4-6 oz added to the counter weight of @ 6-8 oz to have a good center of gravity on your dome cover. The main reason I went with dual 14s was the ability to split them up in a SHTF scenario and I spent the extra I saved and bought a set of PVS7 so in essence I have 3 sets of NV. If I didn't need to have the ability to split them up I would have bought a set of DTNVG or RNVG instead.

How much does something like that cost?

I second the anvis as an option. There were a few sets going for $3700 with nice green tubes in them a while ago. I’ve seen some 10160a tubed anvis go for about 4000 used not long ago too for some very nice tubes. Upside/downside depending on how you look at it is having a external battery pack and there are allot of different options for packs. The anvis is pretty durable to a extent, I’ve beat my isssue ones on the bulkhead and door frames of many helicopters and never broken a set yet. They have popped out of the ball mount a few times from some good wacks and popping out of the ball mount is probably what saved them.

Another options is source some tubes and have them installed in a goggle housing. I had some tubes out of a set of anvis I was going to have installed in a RNVG housing for total cost of about 3300. I decided on a fully matched and built set instead. So you can source a housing of your choice and get some used tubes for it or have pvs14 tubes dropped in.

Then the prices go up from there. I decided on a set of WP echos in a RNVG for under $6000 and am happy with them. I started with a pvs14 and went to those, the next progression is going to be BNVD/dtnvg high spec L3 WP set eventually.

So don’t discount the anvis or even building a set too If you want some great gen 3 tubes for under your price range.