Just picked up a flir breach that I am duel mounting with my pvs 14. Only had it a few hours but extremely impressed so far!

- What are you guys using as remote battery packs? I dont like how the tnvc battery mounts to the side of the helmet, will any external battery with USB work?

- Has anyone found a USB type C with a 90 degree angle that fits flush to the breach port? The one that was provided is straight and is going to get snagged too easily.

- Breach sacrificial lense??

Thank you in advance!

I’m using this in a tnvc Mohawk it fits good

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-bar-Sized-Portable-High-Speed-Technology/dp/B00P7N0320/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=anker+candy+bar&qid=1557624568&s=gateway&sr=8-4

I would be interested in a sacrificial lens and 90 degree cable as well.

@smeeg - any special cable (or optimal length) required to reach the Mohawk pouch?

3 ft usb A-C cable (with the slack in the Mohawk pouch), lots of options on amazon, several w/right angle plugs. I got an assortment pack, but it's currently unavailable. Second vote for the Anker battery packs. They make good stuff.

I have one that my galaxy s9 came with I will be trying out but will need something ipx67 rated at least. I have been looking at the Amazon options, this one looks interesting but I'm not sure if it will clear.

https://www.amazon.com/ROCK-SPACE-U-Shaped-Braided-Nintendo/dp/B07D13HX3L/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=180+degree+usb+c+cable&qid=1557632782&s=gateway&sr=8-5

Or this one.

https://www.amazon.com/BECROWMUS-Smarthone-Andriod-Charging-Samsung/dp/B07FLWQ3TJ/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvp?keywords=180%2Bdegree%2Busb%2Bc%2Bcable&pd_rd_i=B07FLZVG6J&pd_rd_r=a9f535e6-c603-4dd1-b0fb-d37bf24e3c49&pd_rd_w=uBqJS&pd_rd_wg=LpS3H&pf_rd_p=d006b618-5fac-44e6-850d-a0fdd19f7847&pf_rd_r=91QEMEJ6N236W1S0H368&qid=1557632782&s=gateway&th=1&psc=1

It seems to be usable with a pvs14 when using the on the sepia pallete by just focusing from one to the other. I ordered a Wilcox amber filter to try and match the colors better and the DRT skelitonized bridge with their breach mount. Cant wait to get out coyote hunting with this setup.

Looks like an Anker plus USB a-c is the ticket. Thanks for the help!

Went hog hunting 2 weeks ago and discovered battery pack was essential

Sacrificial lens is going to be tough since 'normal' glass and plastic reflect IR light.

In my experience thermal lens are pretty resilient

This is how I have mine set up:

Attached File


A 3' right angle cable from Amazon. The cables are inexpensive. Buy them in pairs. The right angle connector on this particular is a little tall and I have broken one in a year of usage.

I spend quite a bit of time looking at 90 degree USB type c cables to try and find one that is lowpro enough to not catch on anything, I'm more worried about breaking the plug on the housing. These two look good but they are just some cheap brand. There are a few companies that make kevlar reinforced cables but nothing that is angled so far. I am going to get a couple different options to try out. I can always use them with my phone if they dont work out.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07M8BK819/ref=ox_sc_act_image_3?smid=A3BWMWOGNCBGVQ&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07JK49J3T/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A1065OZJ0SD3C&psc=1

I have seen special sacrificial lenses for thermals and the breach does have a threaded lens on the front. I am more worried about brush scratching it.

I have quite a few hours on my pvs14 / breach bridge and have really been enjoying the combo. I am using the ACT amber filter on the 14 and the Sepia palette on the breach, the colors match perfectly which make it is easier for my brain to fuse the images together out to 50 yards, then I start to get a double vision effect. By adjusting the brightness or gain I can choose which device I want to predominatly focus on for either navigation or scanning.

I am amazed at how many more animals I am able to spot, this is my first thermal and is definitely a game changer for coyote hunting.

Which one are finding you are using as your primary?

If your running an external battery, take extra care to secure cable itself to the breach . I used several zip ties to snug it up, neat the connection itself.  If it does break off in the housing, it won’t work with standard batteries anymore. It will think it’s still plugged in to external source . Theoretically you can dig the broken connection out, but odds are it’ll be wedged in pretty good .  I tried several different brands of cables, and at the end of the day they’re all just made to charge phones, so pretty flimsy.  All available through amazon ect.  Hope this helps

I seem to focus on the breach till I need to get on target with my peq or navigate difficult terrain.

I’d suggest getting one of the usb-c “mag safe” type connectors like this one https://www.amazon.com/Basevs-Magnetic-Converter-Devices-Version-Black/dp/B07G3ZYWDG

That way there’s nothing sticking out that can be snapped off and if something happens to catch the cable, it will disconnect from the usb end that is in the breach.

I tested a few different cables in an attempt to find the best one but in the end I decided to run rechargeable 123s. I get about a hour out of each of these K2 energy LFP 123A 3.2V.

These two would definitely not work  




This Ugreen one was the best I found as far as low profile.

double post

That's a good idea, how strong is the magnet? If I disconnect the external power my screen will flash red and power down.

Wouldn't that magnetic plug affect the built in compass on the Breach?

I believe the breach has a digital compass not a magnetic. I do think I am going to try out the magnetic power cord. Last night I was scanning out the windows of my truck on one of our ranches when I saw a coyote, jumped out to stalk it and forgot I was plugged into my 12v outlet...  Luckily no damage!!

It really is a sweet setup! Its my poor mans COTI

Earth's field lines are magnetic, not digital ;)

Man, I keep going back and forth on doing this set up. A few questions if you gentlemen don't mind:

1. When you guys are running the -14/Breach combo, spot something with the Breach, and bring up the gun with laser/illum for targeting, is it an easy transition to the -14 or do you find yourselves swinging the Breach out of the way?
2. Does a certain phosphor work better? I see people are running the ambers to match Sepia. I've never liked the ambers so don't have em. Do those work better with one or the other (green or white and specifically L3 or Echo)?
3. Anybody running this rig long term? I wonder if the novelty wears off..?

It’s strong enough to not be annoyingly weak, but also weak enough where it’s not going to sheer a usb-c plug. I don’t have experience with that exact model, only used the old school Mac MagSafe jacks on laptops.  I would certainly zip tie the crap out of the usb cable near where it connects to the mag adapter but not in any way that will prevent it from disconnecting or where it will pull on the breach if the cable is snagged. You want it to disconnect if it’s caught and in worst case scenario, you want the usb cable to be broken.

As for it affecting the compass. There is always the possibility. But I would take an inaccurate compass over a $2k paperweight.

I’ll start by saying breach is pretty nice for what it is.  Tiny ass thermal  spotter for 2k . It’s excellent at being just that . What it’s not good at, for killing purposes, is being a dedicated spotter. It got a small front end, and it’s a 336 res. Outside 100yds you’ll know something is there. That’s it .  I bought one with sole purpose of running in conjunction with a 14 .  Things I’ve learned. The flir/mum mount is worthless. It was $75ish , and full of slop . Adjustment range was garbage too. But again, it was 75$......  after learning how to function as mono, I put on a bridge .  I tried green and white( mostly green, that what I had at time) neither one could be run as true duals . It just flat doesn’t work that way. My brain is limited as it is , and apparently can’t deal with both images at one time. Fast forward to actual intended use

My idea was use dedicated spotter, then switch to breach for final stalk . As it works out, you can see pigs with a 14 as well as you can with the breach .  To be clear , you’ll see a hot spot with breach, before you can with a 14.  But by the time you can tell it’s a pig, and read body language/intent of a pig, you can do same w a 14 . So for my particular needs, it’s a fail in that setup, why have 2 devices that essentially do the same job?as to your questions...

1. No it not an easy transition. It’s not super difficult if using LAM, but by the time you reach up to swing out of way , you’ll damn near rip your lid off, and at minimum, have to readjust your view through the 14

2. I will say that white was much better than green, but still not even remotely close to be used in tandem.  As far as color pallets, most folks will find white hot black hot is all they’ll use.  The rest is just marketing

3  no long term for this setup, for me personally.  It just didn’t work for my style

As always, the above statements are strictly my opinion, based on my experience/needs.  If you think about 2k for a thermal you can fit in your pocket, it’s pretty cool. Way better than naked eye in the dark.  It just didn’t work out , set up as described

That is great firsthand experience, thanks for sharing.  I was mulling over this very use concept today and kept thinking that with my WP 14, the images could be reconciled by my brain.  I've been in between thermals for over a year now, but am afraid everything is going to pale in comparison to the AN/PAS-13G LWTS I had before moving out of hog country.

Nobody should be in between for a year.  That’s a bad place to be

Amen!  After reading the Oasys line may become available to civilians, I kept holding out for a SkeetIR with a relatively reasonable pricetag and warranty support should something go tits up.  I've owned thermals from 12 oz to 5 lb and $1200 to $12,000 MAP, what I've learned is that I want a small and light package with easy controls.  The Breach seems to fit the bill and for an unspeakably low price, I just don't want to turn it on for the first time and have Cindarella's "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" start going off in my head after seeing the image difference between it and my LWTS...  even though their price tags are not anywhere remotely close to one another.

That pretty much explained everything I wanted to know from a user’s perspective.

I've noticed while using my breach with the outdoor alert color pallet, that pallet sort of indirectly serves as a range finder.

Walking up to a hog or deer at night when the target animal starts to show up from solid black to orange signals that I am just beginning to get close enough to shoot at it without having to know the exact range. I'm thinking this color switch is occuring somewhere within the max point blank range for my 308. (200 yard zero)

I haven't gotten all scientific with this by measuring the distance to a dead body yet. This was just an observation me and a buddy have had recently.

For me, when the color starts changing to alert, I know to start slowing it down and get really quiet for my final approach. It's also the point where I can see head movements of the animal to know if it is feeding or looking up at me.

I don't have a PVS-14. On a bright night walking around with my unaided eye open I get a nice blended image that matches nicely in both field of view and color when using outdoor alert or black hot. I use outdoor alert 100%.

I obviously can't see terrain detail very far away, but under bright conditions I can certainly see what's in front of me while driving a golf cart or walking.

I've been curious to know how well a duel system could be made to work. Does the PVS-14 have the same field of view as a breach? This seems like its necessary for a duel to work correctly?

It seems that the FOV of the breach is a very close match to FOV of my unaided eye which is why I think this works so well for me.

Thanks.

Yeah skeet would be nice for sure. But no way in hell im spending that kind of money for something without a warranty. At some point in time a 640 breach will come out. That’ll be a little better . And I’ll probably try it out.  But at the end of the day , all things considered, it’s just better served as a small , pocket scanner, not head mounted.  Again, strictly my opinion, based on my time in the dark.

@Ranger993 - another good user perspective. No pigs for me either. I’d be using it for yotes, pests like mice, and spotting animals in general.

As with most things, looks like the only way I’ll know if it’ll work for me is to try it.

1: For me this is easy because I'm in the habit of using one eye at a time. I just close one eye and the other image takes over. I also use the G24 and flip up the 14/Breach to get on the rifle thermal. Super fast and second nature for me. When using the 14/Breach I enjoy being able to walk and instantly get the thermal view for stalking. It's actually quite fun if you don't know what's already in front of you. If you have already acquired the hog the Breach is redundant, but if not it's really useful to scan with, especially in heavy brush

2: I can't really tell a difference between green and WP. My brain only sees one image at a time so I never have the fused view anyway

3: It kind of did for me but not because of the Breach, it's mostly because I ended up enjoying bino's more just for the ease on the eyes. I really enjoy the simplicity and intuitiveness of duals/binos but I still think the Breach and PVS14 combo is solid (as long as you take into consideration they aren't a fused image for both eyes open, and the fact the the Breach will never see as well as higher end thermals)

That's really where the fun is IMO. It can be expensive but I have enjoyed trying out all kinds of different things including the 14/Breach combo. Some I like, some I don't but I suppose I can always sell the stuff that I ended up not using fulltime

Half the battle is learning how things work, the other half is what works best for you

@TX-Zen - thanks for the info brother. This is where the E-COTI or COTI shine I suppose.

I keep revisiting the -14/Breach because as many of you know, binos are hands down the best thing for tromping through backcountry, but it can get old stopping to use the handheld. I stop anyways for SLLS, but I wonder how much more stuff I’d see with the Breach head mounted.

On the other hand I absolutely love binos and used to walking through the backcountry with them I suspect I’ll not like the combo.

Anybody who’s used the COTI with L3 filmless, is it any more damaging/potentially damaging compared to thin filmed? When I was messing with my compasses, the shadow it left on the L3 stayed longer than it did on the Harris/ITT. That was a little concerning.

A few photos of the Breach in action.



PVS14 with ACT amber filter





Flir Breach


Deer at 100 yards


Rabbits at 15 yards


My dog named Ranger

That's really cool and I can see how the Sepia + amber filter might let you have a more fused image

Sweet

Agreed. That looks very doable