Black out curtains from Lowes, put a piece of velcro over the cluster and attach velcro to the piece of black out curtain.

Ours is doubled up and you still get a little residual light from it.

The only drawback is I forget to take the damn thing off- then it's a few weeks later and I remember to remove it so we can check the GAS LEVEL at some point that will probably come back to bite me in the butt!!!

Yes, I black out the running lights and run an IR flood on a pivot.

On my truck I don't go nearly as fast as the RZR. The RZR has IR lights on it, they're helpful if it's no-light or going through thick woods not letting light in. I use the lights also to drown out competing light sources off in the distances at time.

My 2013 Tacoma has the ability to totally shut off the dashboard lighting, so all I really “need” is a couple of pieces of painter’s tape to cover the LED clock display, drive indicator, and airbag indicator, and I don’t always bother to do that, because so long as you look over the dash, it’s usually not a huge problem.

We’ve actually partnered with Lightforce and are offering their IR lights, both the IR Strykers and ROKs, both of which were originally developed for military applications, and are actually fairly affordable, and come with a simple and easy wiring harness for vehicles, and are beginning to look at offering more specialized NV driving training for the overland/mobility communities.

So, I’m usually the first one to say not to chase the spec dragon when it comes to tubes, but FWIW, as you noticed, when driving a motorized vehicle, some of the specs do become more important, because vehicle glass (especially armored glass, though this is not necessarily a huge issue for most civilian drivers) will definitely reduce the amount of light transmission.

Moreover, things like noise and halo can be a bigger deal, especially when you’re moving at higher speeds, which is in part why aviation tube specs are kept to such a tight parameter (our tubes use a hybrid aviation/ground specification).

Everyone is correct in terms of use of supplemental IR: the big thing is using it/needing it will be conditions dependent—in many situations, especially in fairly open terrain with decent ambient light, no supplemental illumination will be necessary. However, in some conditions (I drive around a lot in thick brush in the Southeast, for example), supplemental IR illumination is a great thing to have, and gives you a definite edge in mobility.

At the same time, some things to consider:

Light output, throw, and placement matter. “Really bright”’ isn’t always the right answer, and I actually prefer the lower powered ROK40 floods for most situations versus the spot or the Strykers.

When driving, it can be pretty important to see where it is that you’re going, that is to say, right in front of your vehicle, so see changes in terrain, obstacles, etc. With dismounted ground movement, you’re moving at a pace where you can detect and process these things in the distance, and respond to them, even if you can’t see your feet.

Depending on the speed you’re driving, however, you may simply not have enough processing time, so it’s critical to be able to see right in front of you.

With a spot profile light and with too much power, especially in more restrictive terrain, you can have a situation where the projected hot spot is too close, and too bright, which will cause your NVD’s ABC to kick in, and actually do the worst thing for you in this scenario, that is dim the image around the IR spot, causing you to lose the image in front of you.

Lights mounted to hoods or roofs can also be an issue depending on both shadow and reflection off the hood. For more open terrain, powerful spots are a great tool—especially in conjunction with close in floods, because they’ll (obviously) allow you to see at further distances and allow you to “plan” your movement better.

Also, depending on if the situation allows for it, I often recommend driving with the side windows all down for reasons that have already been identified.

Finally, some other small notes:

Particularly if you’re trying to remain covert/dark/driving in groups of more than one vehicle, your brake lights will need to be covered, otherwise, they will continue to light up, even when the rest of the lights have been turned off/covered.

One of our preferred methods for this is covering the lights with painter’s tape first, then covering them again with duct tape, or some other thick covering, but leaving a tiny rectangle of uncovered painter’s tape, which under NODs will illuminate just enough to indicate to other drivers in the column/formation that you’re using your brakes, but not enough to wash out their vision.

Also, with IR LED lights, just like with things like the DBAL-D2, you will see some residual light coming from IR driving lights, and especially with powerful lights like the Strykers, you can see them a long ways out, like 500m at least.

Of course, if you’re in open terrain with that much LOS, you may or may not be wanting to use active IR as you approach your destination.

More minor considerations—not just for covertness but for general comfort:

Many vehicles today have automatic interior door lights that can be disabled. Make sure you do—few things can be more annoying than everyone being in darkness, and suddenly someone opens a car door, and everything lights up and the vehicle looks like it’s on freaking fire from the interior lighting.

Also, many modern vehicles have key fob entry, and some do not have “analog keys” at all any more—this is less than ideal for NV use as well, because not only do many vehicles beep/make noise when you activate the key fob, but many will blink lights, etc., when the key fob is activated. See again the above. If manual key entry is an option, use manual key entry. Obviously, depending on how often your mounting/dismounting, you may not be locking the vehicle at all, but again, something to consider if you do choose to lock your vehicle.

Finally, try to take into consideration that it may be more difficult to use your mirrors under NVGs, and if you have a backup camera, most likely you will have covered the screen during your low light preparations, otherwise, you’re going to have a blooming infotainment screen that suddenly lights up and causes your goggles to auto-dim, and you won’t be able to see shit.

Many an accident report has been written because of this, and many a supervisor has been badly dinged for not adhering to proper ground guiding procedures because of this. Always verify your mirrors under NODs before “stepping off,” and always use a ground guide if possible.

~Augee

@Jeepinjoe17
@ThisWildAdventure

Fair enough.

If anything, I would say "don't trust your mirrors until you've verified," to be honest, it's been so long now, I've just gotten used to simply not trusting the mirrors, whether they be HMMWVs or various types of NTVs. So, when you're driving a new vehicle under NODs for the first time, probably best to verify, like, and not saying anyone would ever do this... if you happened to be in a rental.

Fun semi-related story, we went to Overland Expo West last year with Lightforce, and I was just like some of the dudes who show up to our booth at trade shows, I'd look at stuff on display, and be like "man... I got issued all this stuff in the military, and I know how to use it and used it a lot overseas, but I don't know the first thing about it!"



~Augee

If it’s important to you that I concede that I was wrong, then I’m here for it. And I’ve already conceded that it’s been a long time since I checked or verified. Augee from TNVC was wrong on the technical characteristics of U.S. commercial passenger vehicle mirrors, and possibly all vehicles.

What I will say, however, is that I have driven a lot of vehicles in a lot of places, not all in the U.S. and not all in consumer vehicles, and have led both motorized reconnaissance and motorized infantry heavy weapons formations, as well as non-standard non-tactical vehicles, including suped up Hiluxes, F-series, Suburbans, etc. I honestly don’t know if the same standards do or do not apply to them.

That being said, IMHO, the salient point still stands, don’t rely too much on your mirrors, and always ground guide when possible.

I’ve seen way too many ground accident reports and sworn statements, and have seen NJPs, statements of charges, and Article 15s on the basis of mirrors—day and night to recommend it, and all the more when you’re running around with degraded vision and loaded firearms. Thankfully it's never happened to me or anyone I know, but people have been very severely injured and even died as a result of sloppy vehicle operations under degraded conditions.

Like all the other information I try to provide, my advice comes from a context of full spectrum military and/or law enforcement applications with high stakes where the consequences of doing it wrong can be dire.

Is it that big of a deal when you or I are driving our Toyotas through the local backwoods or deserts? Probably not. When you’re responsible for a 25 vehicle formation in a Company Assembly Area with 79+ Soldiers under combat (blackout) conditions? It’s a big deal.

Don’t rely on and don’t trust your mirrors, be safe and be highly conscious of what’s around you and what you’re doing, and use a ground guide if possible.

~Augee