I'm just looking for some pics that will help me wrap my head around the whole j arm/dovetail thing.  I just bought a DBAL D2 and I'm about to pull the trigger on a PVS14.  I obviously need to decide on a mount and whether to go dovetail or J arm.  It seems like people say the Rhino II is the best deal for performance & price, and to pick one up on the EE or amazon.  Can somebody post some pics that show these in detail and explain it a little better so I can have my brain process it and get a better feel for what it's about?

Thanks in advance

There are 2 different arm interfaces either horn (most common G.I.) or dovetail. Dovetails are not likely to come off accidentally and takes more effort to disconnect, which is a good thing. The horn can be disconnected very easily and sometimes by accident resulting in your NV hitting the deck. All NV should be tethered with a lanyard regardless of interface.

All J Arms either horn or dovetail have a lot of up and down movement/play, which is ok for standing still but sucks while moving. The best mount for a single 14 is a Norotos Dual Dovetail  Adapter which is a sold mount with no up and down movement.

As for lowering arms the Rhino II is the best for your money but comes with a horn interface. It can easily be swaped out with a Norotos PVS15 dovetail socket from TNVC for around 55.00. For a Rhino II look on ebay new ones go for 39.00 and up. They come in 2 colors black or grey. If your going cheap a horn J Arm will work, but if duals are in your future upgrade to a dovetail.

There are three common ways to attach a PVS-14 to an NVG mount.

The first is the USGI J-arm, it has a bayonet style mount and is the cheapest.  The bayonet mount has a very large latch on it that is easy to bump open and tends to have a lot of slop which leads to a wobbly NOD.



The second is the Wilcox J-arm with a dovetail mount. Its basically the same J-arm as the above, but it has a dovetail interface instead of the bayonet mount.  The dovetail interface is fairly secure and has virtually no slop.



The third is the Norotos Dual Dovetail adapter.  It is a bit different in design as it doesn't have an arm that circles around the tube of the NOD.  It has two dovetail pieces on it; the main one is left-right adjustable and another at an angle for swapping the tube for your other eye.



Next we'll talk mounts.

For bayonet mounts the cheap options are the Norotos Rhino and Rhino II mounts.  Both of these are USGI mounts.  The Rhino II isn't much more expensive and has the ability to adjust up/down.





Dovetail mounts are more expensive but are considered better.  The Norotos Rhino II and Norotos AKA2 can be configured in either bayonet or dovetail interfaces.



The best dovetail mount for a single tube NOD is the Norotos INVG or INVG Hyper.  It is a bit unconventional looking and has some cool features.  The NOD can be flipped up as well as rotated about the main tube on the mount, which allows it to sit very close to your helmet when stowed.  This mount rotates up in a way that puts the NOD very low as well so you don't bang it up against every door frame you walk through.





Another very popular dovetail mount is the Wilcox L4G24.  It has a latch that locks the mount in the up or down position, as opposed to the force-to-overcome of most other mounts.  This seems to be the preferred mount for dual tube users.



I hope this helps understand some of the basic and popular options.  There are more mounts out there but these are the most common ones.

very nice write up!

Yes!  Great info & pics. I now have a much better visual.   Thanks!