Assuming you got a real PVS-7, and not something like an ATN biocular, I’d say you did pretty well. It’s been a while since I looked at the prices on PVS-7 housings less tube, but I’d bet it’s usually over $550 even on the second hand market, plus the MX-10130 format tubes out there aren’t really useful for much else besides PVS-7s, so you can usually find a pretty good deal on fairly high spec tubes compared to the much more in-demand 11769 and 10160s.

~Augee

I would continue to strongly recommend against airsoft replica helmets that do not have a verified impact protection rating, not talking about ballistic protection here—most people are much more likely to fall down and receive a head injury than get shot in the head, to include most military.

NV can make traversing terrain all the more difficult, and if your plan is to hike with it, especially with potentially difficult terrain, I would not recommend foregoing good, verified impact protection, especially if you don’t have that much experience withmovement using NVGs.

As an added note, one of the things that gets discussed when discussing PVS-7s versus 14s or other kinds of units is the way that not only does the biocular design largely eliminate the possibility of using your unaided eye for supplemental information, it also “tricks” your brain into thinking that you have stereoscopic vision, your brain naturally assumes if it’s seeing an image in both eyes that your eyes are working normally and you have depth perception and binocular vision, when you’re in fact only seeing one image in both eyes, making your brain “more confident” than it should be that it can process the terrain and the environment.

Anecdotally, I’ve seen a lot of guys try night vision for the first time (or otherwise be beginners to tactical use) on issued units, and I see far more take far worse spills with PVS-7s than 14s for the reason above, and I’ve had my worst falls with 7s early on as well.

This has been my opinion long before I was ever associated with selling anything, ballistic protection is usually unnecessary for most non-professional users, but impact protection is something everyone should have and think about. I have similar thoughts about things like the NightCaps and other soft head-mounts, which were more-so designed for very experienced guys working low-profile ops that needed a small, packable, and possibly even concealable solution.

~Augee

I may have come off a little stronger than I intended about the NightCap, hahaha.

I don’t mean to say no one should ever use them, just that I think that people sometimes overlook the actual bump protection aspect of bump helmets, and that they should give it a little bit more thought when selecting a helmet, especially a knock-off helmet where the manufacturer is more interested in whether or not it looks like a “cool guy” helmet, than if it offers comparable protection.

~Augee

Glad you got 'em figured out.

I'm not personally huge fan of the PVS-7, but for $550, even for a "lower end" Gen. 3 unit, I'd say you got a hell of a deal, enjoy it!



~Augee