I am thinking of buying a set of NVG's with my next tax refund. I've read about gen1 vs. gen3 vs. digital, etc. and the pros and cons of each (with the only pros of digital and gen1 being price). What I am curious about is, what "style" is best? I have seen true "binocular" style NVG's, with a separate "tube" for each eye; I have seen "monocular" ones with only a single tube (leaving one eye without enhanced vision), and I have seen ones that you look into it with both eyes, but only one lens actually looks "out". I want to be able to use these for anything from night shooting to simply taking walks in the dark. Can someone clue me in as to what the advantages and disadvantages are to each style of NVG's, and what style would likely be best for my purposes?

Monocular - good depth perception, can attatch to gun
Binos- the best, good depth perception and no darkness in one eye. Can't attatch to weapon. Very expensive usually.
Pvs7 style sucks no real reason to buy it.

Don't get gen 1 it sucks. Get gen 2+ or gen 3. Don't get Russian made junk either.

This is like a Ford or Chevy question. You will get opinions all over the map on mono vs bino. Hold onto your seat !

Binoculars are the best.

Monoculars are the best.

Hope my input helps. :D

Monocular:
+ you retain natural night vision in the other eye -> wide peripheral vision
+ light weight, easy on the neck
+ after flipping the mono up your assisted eye gets dark adapted quick
- hard to judge terrain shape / bushes etc blend into each other even if they are separated with distance to/from you
- no proper depth perception
- more eyestrain (worse for others, unnoticeable for some)

Binocular:
+ very natural feel, everything seems more detailed
+ depth perception
+ easy to judge terrain shape etc, no longer things blend into each other
- tunnel vision due to losing natural night vision -> cannot see periphery almost at all
- generally heavy, need for a good counterweight
- flipped up it takes a long time to dark adapt
- expensive

Biocular:
+ natural feel
+ cheap on the used marked
- no depth perception
- uses different style tube, cannot upgrade to a binocular and reusing the tube
- the rest minuses from binocular

Both (bino & mono) have their benefits over the other, nobody can say other is absolutely the better. It depends on the person and on the environment / what you're doing. Biocular is not popular anymore. It is a cheap way to get a comfortable view, but has more negative aspects.

I use a PVS-7 and love it !!! It is actually a very good scope depending on what you use it for.

Yup, I guess I grew up on these style of NV so I still use them for general mucking about on foot. They are generally nice for all purpose use. I never weapon mount my 14's so thats a fairly useless feature for me. I have bino's but they are alot heavier than the 7's.

That is news to me as I killed more predators of the night with a pair of Litton's then with all of the other stuff I
have combined. The kicker is I did it while using them to look through the back of a standard day scope
(Leupold 2x7 compact).

You have skills then! I've tried to look through a scope through nods and i find it a challenge.

Honestly I have a pvs7 and it's nice for what it is. My gripe is you can get a nice gen 3 pvs14 on the ee for the same price almost.

I use a milspec autogated Omni VII tube in a PVS-7. I paid about 1500 bucks for it. Show me where I can get the same tube in a 14 for that price. The PVS-7 with all the tube options is the best deal in used night vision. They are very capable scopes at a budget friendly price. Nothing for me to hunt at night where I live except for vermin.

I take out rat after rat in the barn at night with my PVS-7. I use a Wu friendly () laser and a head mounted 7. The rats don't stand a chance...

Old school Gen1, (not commercial "Gen1" which is really gen0) triple cascade scopes are pretty capable at a fraction of the price of "modern" nv, they are just much larger and heavier. In terms of performance they are quite good if the tube is new. The other downsides are streaking from bright light sources (not usually a problem), and short tube life. But in terms of gain and resolution they work pretty well, assuming the tube isn't used up.

Yep , gen 1 cascade is a highly capable scope. Used one for many years. Better options exist now but you can't beat the price vs performance.

This is key.  In Iraq in 2007 I was issued an AN/PVS-1 (no, really) manufactured in August, 1967 according to the data plate.  It wasn't very useful any more


God knows how our supply sergeant acquired them (I think they got 3 or 4 total).

I've used/owned binoc, monoc, and bioc and still prefer a simple monoc due to the pros that the guy a few posts up mentioned.  I owned multiple NVDs for years and years but only used them in binoc config a few times to try it out.  If I wanted duals again I would buy them tomorrow but I really prefer a single.  My opinion would be different if I was routinely driving (>10 mph) or maneuvering around lots of obstacles under NODs.  YMMV

I'm in the "no use for PVS-7s" camp, though I acknowledge and respect that some folks genuinely dislike them.  

To me they have all of the downsides of both a binocular and monocular, with none of the advantages of either, plus, unless you get one of the relatively rare PVS-7A/PVS-7C variants with the built in dovetail mount, you're stuck with the bayonet interface.  Yes, you can get an adapter for them, but still, way too many downsides for me to seriously consider one, unless it was a stupid low price.  

Monoculars are probably the best balance for most people of cost versus performance, though I'm a die-hard binocular guy now.  

I do wear them in such a way as to mitigate some of the stated disadvantages of binocular devices as well, including wearing them high and extended out, so I retain my peripheral vision around and under the goggles.  

~Augee