Looking to getting a complete setup this year after buying random NVG stuff the last several years that's turned into a hodge podge.  I'm looking to upgrade my ANVIS goggles into a nice articulating housing, and also dip into thermal.  Would like some input on a well rounded setup, not just for shooting but also going out into the wild and spotting wildlife. Considering the following:

- BNVD 1431 MKII using my ANVIS GP tubes and Carson PVS-14 glass
- ECOTI or wait for the Holosun DRS thermal red dot? Can any argument made for both or too redundant?
- Clip on thermal if I want to reach out 100+ yards?  Do clip ons have any other versatility or they need a magnified scope to work effectively?

Thanks for your input.

I’m not very impressed with the 1431 in general. Some of the examples I’ve had do not hold a purge: https://youtube.com/shorts/4cc8v54uJcs?feature=share

The plastic is not very high quality and many develop cracks quickly. The plastic also doesn’t seem to be very chemically resistant, such as the plastic degrading from dielectric grease.

I’m not an expert/just an enthusiast, and I don’t have a bunch of these housings that have passed through my hands. But initial impression wasn’t positive. The power button and how it connects to the PCB is pretty bad, it kinda just floats around in there and can work itself loose from the PCB, causing intermittent issues powering on.

It’s pretty interesting for the price, and I would probably be more interested if they fixed the issues with them.

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What's your environment? What would be ideal for the west side of the state will be different than the east side.

I believe thermal red dots are a gimmick. Get a good dedicated thermal scope like a nox or trijicon, can even helmet mount them too

This pretty much mirrors my feelings on the 1431's as well. I used to own a set of Argus 1431's and sold them for the above reasons. They also have parasitic power drain because the power button is multi-function, meaning you can press it multiple times for various functions such as turning off the articulating shut-off features, etc. Cool, but you need to be aware if it.

Since you already have an anvis setup, you may want to consider shopping around for a housing that takes anvis glass and just reuse your glass unless you truly hate it or plan to move to RPO glass or something. I would NOT pay any extra for an anvis style housing though, in that event, I would just move to PVS-14 glass. Also, many of the housings out now will still allow you to reuse your existing ANVIS battery pack, which you may or may not want to do, but it is an option.

Ah interesting.  I just started doing research on the different articulating housings, but from my understanding the MKII fixed a lot of the issues you mentioned as well as using a higher quality polymer, but it appears the picture you posted is in fact a MKII?  Durability and ruggedness is definitely a trait I'm after, one of the reasons I would like to upgrade the ANVIS housings for ground application.  I don't like seeing the crack around the screws.  Not sure if I want to splurge on DTNVS as I'm not a huge fan of 3d printed housings like the Katana, albeit they may be more rugged and a better middle ground.

My environment would mainly be over in western Montana on some ranch and timbered properties.

I owned a katana binos for a little while and it was a nice solid-feeling housing. They now ship with aluminum upgrades for the areas on the housings that could see stress like the dovetail and the articulation components. Ultimately I sold mine and picked up some 1531s (buy once cry once).

I have the 1431 Mkii and they have held up to professional use so far (LE; not mil).

If I had unlimited budget I would go for a more expensive housing, but I am not disappointed with the housing for the price. It’s held up to bumps and rougher than normal use.