I am coming into a windfall the end of November and on my short list is Night Vision. I have been doing a lot of research and think I want a PVS-14 L3 un-filmed white Phosphor.

This is mainly for a SHTF prep but could be used as a weapon light on my M-4orgery behind an Aimpoint. I really don't do any hog hunting (not that I won't) but would shoot a coyote or 2 as we have a lot around. It would be nice to have one mounted on a cap\helmet for night use also.  The only experience I have with NV is I have an old Gen 1 Russian version, heavy and bulky.

So my question is- do I really need to spend 4 grand for NV that I probably won't use that often? I have never even looked through Gen 3 NV unit let alone a White Phosphor Tube but I like the way the pics look. Just seems like(in the pics anyways) that everything is a lot clearer.

What would you all recommend and am I missing something in my research? Is there that much difference in the green and WP.  I am not above building my own as I have the skills but I guess for my first one I would just like to buy a unit already built.

Is there anything else that I should consider?

It all depends on how much money you want to spend. $4k is relative depending if you make $10k/year or a million per year. If you don't want to spend that on something you'll rarely use, buy a used one for a couple thousand off the EE.

It's not that I won't have the money but is it what I need?

Buy once, Cry once and all that.

You're gonna be buying NVG either way, correct?

So go ahead and buy th best you can get your hands on. You're only talking a few hundred $ increase. Maybe find out if they're gonna have another "blew" sale.

I'll just say that if I was going to spend lots of money on night vision, I'd go for a more versatile head-mounted set rather than something I could really only use on a gun.  Then just get an IR laser for your gun so you could shoot if you needed to.

I can think of several times in the last few months when it would have been cool to have NV in a weaponless application, but none when I wished I had it on my gun.

I was in the same boat as OP, I went the used route and bought a PVS14 gen 3. I need to see if I'm going to get to use it as much as I really want to. If I do I'll upgrade to WP at a later date, but for now I'll still have the newer technology. Remember you're still going to spend a couple extra grand on lights, helmets, & IR lasers.

I bought an ATN PS-14 Gen2+ from eBay for $700 a while back, it's more than adequate for scratching the itch, and it allows me to operate at night time. It's light years ahead of gen1. The price was very good, and I can always sell it to someone who wants to get into decent NV for cheap.

The major difference between mine and a $2k PVS-14 Gen3 is resolution, brightness control, auto-off, and field of view. For the price, it's something to look at.

A functional helmet will run you about $300... A decent laser for a rifle will cost about $500, and then pistol for another $500. When you add in IR Torches, from Amazon/eBay, you're still up to about $1500 in just things you need to make it work.


All this is just me saying "Buy the best you can afford, but don't think any of it is going to be cheap." I wish I had a good gen3 tube, but I can always upgrade later.


ETA: I tried the rifle mount j-arm for a while, but decided it wasn't the way to go. Limited field of view and lack of versatility made me wish I'd gone a different route.

You can pick up a nice used unit for $1800-2200 and some with a warranty (and find one without a warranty for ~$1500+ if you are patient). For something that you do not know if you will use it often that is the way I would go.

I saw a couple used PVS14's with good looking tubes used with 1 year warranty this week listed for $2000.

IMO, I look at buying new PVS14's just like buying new boats and new campers. Depending on what you pay you may take a ~25% hit in value the minute your CC clears when you buy it....but then again, I am cheap If you buy a $2000 PVS14 you are likely to never loose a penny when you sell it and maybe make a dollar when you sell it to an uneducated buyer.

I picked up the l3 white phosphor, all I can say is I'd do it again tomorrow.but I gave up on going cheap and wishing I hadn't years ago.

pete

I just put together a pretty nice PVS-14 for about $1400. A really nice Gen 3 MX-11769 tube and housing from UNV. There is one SMALL blemish at the outer edge of Zone 2.

If I was going to blow 4K on something NV related then I think you would do much better building a PVS-14 and buy a Thor thermal, and spend the remaining on accessories to make them more useful, such as IR strobes, IR lights, helmets, and mounts.

what is the advantage to white Phosphor

Brighter and clearer. Easier on the eyes.

Google it.

That's opinion based on a case by case basis at least in some peoples opinons.

That being said the white phosphor tubes are specing out way higher at present so they are more clear with better light sensitivity, etc.

This ^^^

It's going to cost more than just the PVS14. You're going to want a helmet, mount, J-arm, and IR light / laser.

I would recommend just head mounting it from the start. Since I have an IR laser and helmet mount, I cannot think of a reason to use it weapon mounted. You can use the laser or red dot to aim.

Thanks all for the insight, looks like I have a lot to think about. Looking at going with the helmet mount  IR laser and Red dot.

I guess I have a month to decide anyways.

Agreed with everything you said.  I have owned 20+ high and low spec gen 3 systems over the last 10 years and just got my first white phosphor filmless late last month.  Early indications are great, the view is extremely clear and seemingly cleaner if that makes any sense.  That could be due wholly or in part to the ridiculously high specs not the actual color of the screen.  The specs of this unit trump even the best tubes I've owned by ~25%+, no small margin.  My green Pinnacle PVS-14 I used to compare my new one to actually fared quite well despite the vast chasm of performance the data sheets indicated (SNR 26 vs 36, PR 1900 vs 2500, res 64 vs. 72, ebi and HALO similar).  In no way did I feel the green lower spec'ed Pinnacle was deficient for navigating or shooting.  The white phosphor was for sure a cleaner, less noisy image though.  Without seeing similarly spec'ed green and white units side by side it is hard to say if I have a preference, but so far I definitely don't hate it

a PVS-14 is a great NV option for a civilian. I live in the city so I don't get to shoot with NV much but I play night time fetch with the dog at least once a week and I've used it in the past to investigate noises outside, raccoon knocking over trash cans and what not.

$3-4K is expensive but you can find them used for less. It's really not that expensive when you think that people put optics on their rifles that are worth that much if not more.