If I have a pvs14 and a mawl laser, should I put an ir illuminator on my helmet?  I’m sure there are times when I will want illumination without muzzling whatever I am trying to illuminate.

How do you guys like to handle this and what should I look at?  Is a combination white light/ir light preferable?  Thanks

I use an Inforce 700 lumen WL 400 lumen IR helmet light and FWIW I have only used the IR a couple of times

I have an X300V on the left rail of my bump helmet. The IR gets used a lot but the white light is still very useful. Way more convenient than WML or even handheld.

I don't see a lot of need for a high powered helmet light. IMO.

I do often use a small admin light in IR and Red for when working in my barn or other places with no light. The flex head ones are real handy. I cant think of the name at the moment.

I'm a helmet minimalist though, so others way disagree for good reason.


ETA: the princeton tec MPLS lights are the ones i like

Got to agree

I use the vampire for peering into distant dark areas or flipping it up or down to splash IR when inside things and the princeton for close range stuff

I honestly use the vampire more than the princeton but both have their places

I use a Surefire X300V on my Ops Core and am awaiting a Princeton Tec for the other side.  Where I hunt my thin filmed NODS struggle under the very dark canopy and additional illumination is absolutely essential for me to be able to see targets detected with my COTI.  Only downside is the ARC rail adapter for the Surefire isn't strong enough to hold it in place on the rail if I try to "one hand" changing the bezel from "off" to "IR" or "white."  While I'm hunting I generally leave it in IR mode.

I've been doing some night time exploring and hiking. I have a MPLS Pro for walking around and basic lighting stuff, and a M300V on S&S M-Ax when I need more light.

Does anybody know of a white/IR light that comes in a rectangular body? I don't have a need to keep a light on my helmet constantly and sometimes want a handheld instead of helmet mounted. The echo arms velcro light mounts seem like a good idea for moving the light around the helmet or quickly taking it on and off. They don't seem to lend well to handheld use though. A rectangular body light that could just be wrapped in velcro seems to be conducive to handheld or qd helmet mount via velcro.

An X300V is kinda rectangular.. If you get the A model, you can probably quickly pull down on the rail lock and slide it off the pic rail for handheld use.  But since batteries are cylindrical, that's what you are going to find mostly.  Dual spectrum lights also really narrows down the options, let alone being rectangular.

IMO, if you’re running head-mounted NV you should have a helmet mounted illuminator. It’s useful for scanning and navigating as long as you’re not concerned about sending out IR light.

The SF V models are great because they have a wide flood and a decent spot in IR and the white light option can be very useful. For example trying to find something you dropped on the ground.

Running the same set up and a V1 is a must have for me.  Go into a house or commercial building without one and your simply making a mistake.  Pretty much also need the ability to rotate the illuminator so you can umberlla light.  If your working in teams you will not be popular shinning illumination onto others.

I may be in the minority here but I just run a lower power light on the helmet - a Streamlight Sidewinder II.  It is a combined red, white, blue and IR light - more of a task light and each light has 3 different power settings. I mostly use the blue light (1.5 lumens) for small tasks in the woods like changing batteries.  White light (47 lumens) is fine as a non-stealth nav light or for checking targets.

The IR light is not high power but is sufficient for lighting up rooms when working indoors and one nice thing is that it is low enough power that it does not generate a visible signature.  All of the higher power IR lights I have do emit a tell-tale red glow, which might not be ideal indoors.

If I need to illuminate something at a distance, I either use a handheld IR light or the weapon illuminator/laser for a brief moment.

Maybe I'm old school, but the training I received on light discipline is to use the minimal light needed for the task, and only light up when absolutely needed.  Indoors the sidewinder is sufficient, and as an IR or visible task light or even nav light it is also enough.  Outdoors I try to be entirely passive, but if its far enough away that I can't resolve it passively then I don't mind going to a handheld IR or weapon light, but only for a few seconds.

I just don't see many situations where I would be running around outside with a high power IR light blazing from the helmet for any length of time.

This.  

I wish i got the V1 instead of the m300v.  The V1 has the low/high settings and is the tits.

I use the a m300v and a mpls (white/red).  Both the vis and IR is used on the m300v fairly regurally, IR being used mostly.  Use that primarily for anything the factory RNVG illuminator wont reach when hiking and such.

EDIT:  

I also use the m300v for a splash flood in houses and shit as its mounted to a unity remora and can change angle based off need/use.