What equipment changes in particular did you see and the reasoning behind it?

This! I'm interested as I've already purchased quite a bit of gear. I must say though, Sam has guided me in many of these purchases so I'm feeling very confident in my decisions. I would have waited but, the soonest I can take a class is December is St. Augustine with Don Edwards at Green Line. Until then, I'll be night shooting with a couple of friends at the local range.

Thanks fellas.

I am always interested in learning the little tricks of the trade and with each class its a value add in my opinion.

The high mount is the most advantageous piece of gear I have purchased in the past few years.

Take a hard look at the Unity Fast Micro Mount. It has a BUIS integrated into it which eliminates and extra piece of equipment on your gun.

https://tnvc.com/shop/unity-fast-micro-mount/

Jumping in a bit late, but I wanted to give a big thanks to all the instructors and organizers of this class! Everyone was very safe, there was a bunch of knowledge flying around, and I had a blast overall! Weather in Vegas was fair all-around, and conditions were IMO quite optimal for the class. The range did present some challenges with very rocky/sharp terrain that steered us away from more of the moving and shooting portions of the class due to safety concerns, but there was so much else to do and learn that I personally had no issue with that. The coming wall of text is coming from a newbie's perspective.

TL;DR: If you really want to see what your fancy NVGs can do for you, take this class. It's seriously worth the money, all the people involved are fantastic, and you'll have a great time. This class is a great introduction to show you what works, what doesn't, and what else is out there for you to continue learning, training, and practicing with.


As mentioned in an earlier post, one of the key things to get dialed in and really know the ins and outs of is your laser and optic offset, and really figure out what it is going to do at all your different engagement distances.

Gear:

The instructors made it clear from the beginning that gear was a very large driving factor in this class and NVGs in general. I learned quite a bit about my setup in these couple days that probably would have taken me much longer (if ever) to figure out doing it myself.

1. I was able to snag a UNITY fast mount prior to this class, and I'm very glad I did. Shooting passively under NODs is a very useful capability, and this is one of those instances where the gear really makes the difference between being effective with your setup vs fighting it.

2. Same goes for the pistol-mounted RDS. Night sights are pretty much useless under NODs, so the two options really are a mounted IR laser and/or a mounted red dot. I ran a Holosun 509T and had no problems picking up the reticle and being effective when transitioning to pistol. That also made me really appreciate my safariland holster, which is another piece of gear that just worked. I didn't have to think about it the entire class and had zero issues, which I've really come to value.

3. This class really showed me the importance of having your helmet rig dialed. I had brought a cheap bump helmet as well as a Crye Nightcap, but ended up running the bump helmet the whole time. I had been wary about spending too much on either setup given the wide range and generally high cost of accessories, but I used this as an excuse to avoid properly setting either up. I had previously worn the bump helmet w/ PVS14s with a small set of batteries in the back, and felt fine LARPing around the house. I quickly realized that I needed to make some significant changes.

-First order of business was adding counterweights. I ran DTNVGs for this class, and the extra weight really pushed down on my forehead. Even just standing around was uncomfortable, so the first night I was kicking myself for taking care of this sooner. I bought some lead weights the very next day and my experience did a whole 180° from suffering at the end of night 1 to being positively stoked for each drill on night 2.
-Second priority was ear pro. I did not keep up with helmet trends, and had no idea things like the ops-core AMP or UNITY mounts were a thing. I observed most of the students at the class had these set up on their helmets, and could immediately see the benefits to keeping ear pro on the helmet. I was running a pair of Impact sports, and while they performed great, the headband got very uncomfortable after some time and also tended to move around on me. I was very jealous of people running the AMP mounts, and promptly ordered a set upon returning home (just received them today!)

4. Similar to having your helmet/NVG rig dialed, it was important that you were comfortable with your gear. My main setup was pretty similar to that I've used in other carbine classes, so I didn't really encounter many issues running things at night. Just realize that some things do become much more challenging when you can't see and are only relying on touch to do things. This tied in with the importance of deliberately training your actions for muscle memory, even when performing admin tasks like loading, unloading, and checking your gear. One of the key takeaways here is: If you can do it in the dark then you can do it during the day.

5. Close your dust cover.

There was so much more to the class that I need to spend more time sitting down to really digest and put into words, but that's all I got for now. Thanks again to the whole TNVC team and ProGun Vegas for the wonderful opportunity!

@arboy556

Great write up! Thanks for that. Can you please explain #5 to me? I mean, besides the obvious. I almost never close mine when doing 2-Gun matches.

The reason why you close your dust cover is because of debris. It doesn't take much dirt, mud, sand, and crap to cause you a malfunction when you're running and gunning in a open environment. Most people practice on a square flat range in a safe clean environment where as in the real world you can can trip and fall as you're moving to another location with crap getting onto your bolt carrier to cause a malfunction that could have been prevent by closing your dust cover. The AR platform is a tight tolerance system but unlike the AK platform nice and sloppy therefore is less prone to malfunctions when you introduce debris. Always keep your dust cover closed when you're done shooting or about to move and life should treat you well.

Before I began I would like to thank all of the TNVC/Gun Pros staff members who attended the course and or provided informative instructions. With a large class we had in Las Vegas I was very pleased with the instructor to student ratio and it was not just one instructor working with you but several other instructors would critique your performance by providing you with helpful feedback throughout the class. The class organization was top-notch because we did not waste too much time standing around or waiting on the instructors/students to get set up but everything was all well planned out for the amount of information/range time that was provided in two long nights but two short days.

Pre Night Fighter 101 experience: I’m just your average American who believes in the 2nd Amendment but have the privilege of living nearby a local outdoor range. What helped me prepare for Night Fighter 101 was knowing and understanding my equipment and going to the range to see what works and does not work. If you can practice with your gear it would be beneficial so there is less of a learning curve or being overwhelmed during the class when you could be pre-prepared to having a good time with other dudes doing dude things under NODS. If you can, find every opportunity to wear your NODS by walking your dog at night, trail running/walking, hiking, LARPING in your mother’s basement, yard work, driving, and everything else I have done myself but forgot to list. LARP, LARP, and more LARPING to the point that your wife is waiting on her pair of NODS.

Rifle: Know your rifle, know how to operate it in the dark by fingering it, loading it, and know everything about it to where everything is and how everything operates including optics/IR/laser. Have your gear ready for class, zero your equipment but try to get it situated before the class so you have an idea how everything works, and if you need to make adjustment or clarification you got the expert to dial you right in.

I know UNITY high mount 2.26” is the G-thang these days, but if you can’t find one go with a rail riser like myself or even a 1.96” SCALAR Works mount is just as good. At the end of the night, you just need a high mount for your red dot within the 1.96 - 2.26 inch so you don’t have to go low finding your dot under NODS.

Pistol: Make sure you have a red dot, it's 2021 everyone owns a red dot. I would recommend an enclosed emitter (Holosun 509T) to your traditional open emitter that has the possibility of debris blocking the emitter. I own four 509T if that means anything and it’s the only way to shoot under NODS, not night sights.

Helmet: Unlike my buddy who didn’t have his helmet setup properly before class had a tough first night because he didn’t counterbalance his helmet or helmet mount his ear pros. Have your helmet situated before arriving at class will save you a lot of head and neck pain. Balance the weight and mount your ear pro will make life much easier.

Holster: I have always use the Safariland holster especially with the ALS locking feature. You will learn that the Night Monster loves to snatch your gears in the middle of the woods or doing ninja flips in the middle of the night as your handgun slips out of your holster because you didn’t have an active locking feature.

Know your gears and equipment:
The only issue I had throughout the class was battery issues which are my fault because I have a stash full of old CR123 batteries I wanted to cycle out that bit me both nights.
Night 1: In the middle of darkness I had to change out my handgun light batteries which were challenging but a fun learning experience with several dead batteries in the mix and putting batteries in backward making it even more exciting. During this whole process, I didn’t want to be “that” guy slowing down the class or even be “that” dude but keep calm and fix myself.
Night 2: Got up to the line in darkness NODS wouldn’t turn on and soon realized I forgot to restore the battery from the previous night. In that process of changing out, multiple batteries were to keep calm, use your finger for tactile feel, and life was good.

If you got the time YouTube “SilentSolutions” and “Kinetic Consulting” for gear setup and knowledge bombs.

See y'all at the next class!

Kevin Nguyen

I don't know how many time I heard chip say, "cheap insurance" in that 48hr window.

Between that and keeping  positive upward pressure on the safety AT ALL TIMES!

I even had a comment made to me last weekend about it and why I was doing it during my cqb class. Habits die hard....

Was it a positive comment?

All good information. Thanks all.

I’ve been moved from the wait list to the go list for this course May 22-23 in Great Falls, MT.

Admittedly a noob with NVG as of last fall. I think I’ve got most of my gear squared away to make it through the course, I think, but I know I will learn more.

Two things I don’t have are the high mounts or good electronic muffs for my helmet. Is using plugs going to put me at a huge disadvantage? I don’t have the time or funds to get a integrated earpro set done on the helmet before the course.

Not sure what optic you’re running but American Defense Manufacturing has 2.3” Aimpoint T1/T2 and Trijicon MRO mounts in stock. I ordered an MRO mount last week and had a tracking number within a few days.

Thank you. I have an AP Pro that needs a mount. I see ADM had the 2.3 for the Pro as well. Looks decent for $150.

If you have the factory QRP mount, this spacer from SKD tactical is a pretty solid option for the price.

Helpful, thanks. I do have the factory mount. Unfortunately they are out of stock on the 2.26 height. How do you think the 2.04 will work?

It would be better than the other options for sure.  Or, just wait and see if it ends up in stock.

Thanks guys. The 2.04 spacer shipped out from SKD today.

I am assembling a “back-up night gun” here as I didn’t think I’d get off the waitlist and I forgot to file the silly ATF 5320 form for transport of an SBR in time. I have a nice NV setup on a suppressed 10.3” Mk18. That is minus the tall mount. I’ll run the Pro with this tall mount and I’m sure that will mean more money to replace the low Scalarworks mount on my T2 on the Mk18.

Oh, not to mention I’m sure I’ll want a set of new filmless WP dual tubes after the training. Does it ever end?