TNVC Thin-filmed WP PVS-14 arrived today.  BEAUTIFULLY clear L3 tube. Coupled with the Matbok Tarsier Eclipse, it’s going to meet my needs, perfectly.

I had two NV NewB dumb questions, though:

First off the TNVC soft case. Trying to figure out what the different compartments are for. It’s got a main compartment, and a black fabric divider for a rear storage area.  Then a velcro pocket on the inside of the front flap, as well as this weird ‘flip out to the side’ velcro pouch.  Also perhaps a lanyard string if some type attached to the front of the bag? I figured out the front/inside has some elastic battery holders... but is there a recommended way to store stuff in this soft bag?

Secondly, tube protection. If the unit is powered down/battery removed... how much of a concern is it that the daylight cap stay in place (or in my case, the Tarsier Eclipse dialed down to the ‘closed’ pinpoint position).  What about the eyepiece cover? Is it necessary for light protection as well? I intend to keep the rubber eyepiece and demist shield in place most of the time, if the cover isn’t absolutely necessary.

I warned you they were dumb/NewB questions.  We all gotta stary somewhere, right?

msh441,

My experience regarding the "soft case" is limited to issuing/receiving them on the .mil side.

Usually; the PVS-14 monocular, the "rhino mount," a weapons mount, and the j-arm are thrown into the main compartment of the bag. Sometimes, if you are especially lucky you'll have a set issued with the wonderful "skull-crusher" mount shoved into the bag as well. I believe the elastic bands in the main compartment are supposed to be utilized to secure the various accessories but more often than not, they end up all thrown in a mix in the bottom of the bag.

The velcro pocket generally holds the user manual, a sacrificial lens, the demist shield, daylight cover with lanyard, and sometimes a kind of Ziploc style "dry bag."

The "weird flip out to the side" pouch is utilized for spare AA batteries.

As far as storage of the monocular itself, ALWAYS REMOVE THE BATTERIES!!! With the batteries removed there isn't much danger of corrosion damage or inadvertent activation of the monocular. I personally store my PVS-14 with the daylight cover on as well as the eyepiece lens cover on. More so to protect the "fragile" lenses from the various accessories bouncing around inside the bag than anything else.

When I bought my own PVS-14, the soft case was basically the first thing to get shit-canned. I utilize a small pelican case with the pick and pluck foam (I don't recall the exact model and I'm not at home to check) to store the monocular and a couple of batteries. I keep the helmet mount and j-arm attached to my helmet and call it a day.

Hope this helps, and I'm sure people with much more information than I will be along shortly to help out!

That helped A TON!  Thank you for taking the time to respond, Kimo.

I’ll definitely be looking for a Pelican hard case long-term.  I’ve been given a surplus AN-PVS metal transport case (looks like a tall ammo can) in the meantime.

So I correct in believing that powered off/batteries out, the concern for light exposure/damage is eliminated? Or is a front cap still always required?

Yes, if it is off, you're not going to damage it by light exposure.  I'm more worried about scratching the optics though, so I am a stickler for putting the caps back on while it's not in use.

If I may "borrow" the thread to ask a newB question of my own though, to what extent do I need to be worried about light exposure/damage when it IS in use?  Are street lights and car headlights to be avoided at all costs?  Bad to have the full moon in view?  Filmless WP tubes, autogated of course.  Does the auto-gating protect the tubes, or is it just for user comfort?  One night star-gazing I "swept" the full moon, and noticed little squiggly darker lines in the image afterward that was the path the bright source had crossed over the image.  It faded eventually, but is that a sign of potentially doing damage?  I feel like I'm being paranoid, because there's all kinds of pictures through NV of semi-lit environments with streetlights and whatnot, but I do NOT want to damage my nearly $10k device in any way whatsoever.

Scanning over headlights and street lights will not damage your tube. If you were looking directly at a bright light for an extended period, that could potentially damage the tube. There is a technical term for those squiggly lines, I’m not sure what it is, but it is completely normal and for some reason they seem to be worse the first few minutes after the tube is powered up. Modern gen 3 autogated tubes are a lot more robust than people think.

I cut & pasted the paragraph below from another NV forum (so don’t mistake this for my own brain at work).  A pretty leangthy thread on the subject. Conclusions were however, that it’s ‘normal’, and sometimes more prevalent with certain build/or part combinations:

“The temporal dark lines "streaking" that has been described is classic MCP channel saturation. Channel saturation temporarily reduces secondary emissions/gain which manifests as dark lines or streaks. As the channel/channels recharge (refresh), the lines fade. There's absolutely nothing to be concerned about, but you can speed up the recharge time buy covering the objective while the unit is powered on.”

That makes perfect sense, thanks for finding that :)

The Pelican 1120 is a great hard case for the PVS-14.  It doesn't break the bank either.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007PMYP2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1