Cheap Night Vision Sight

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Pitt300

New member
I've been night hunting for some time.
Mostly hogs, raccoons & some coyotes.
A number of friends that I've taken out w/me do not have the cash for Gen 3 or even a nice Gen 1 NVRS w/additional IR Illuminator.
I came across some Sightmark Eclipse Night Vision Monoculars & these units gave me an idea for my cash strapped friends.
The quality of these units is really quite good especially w/extra IR.
Their IR Illuminator is slightly visible to the human eye so it puts out quite a bit of illumination.
I put together the attached videos for them & they said I should post them.
It's kind of a "How to" tutorial of adapting them to your firearm.
I also have some actual video thru the NV devices but I haven't had time to edit it & upload.
These will not replace good NVRSs but they are fun, cheap (I should say inexpensive but of good quality) & pretty accurate if your laser is on.
Please give me your feed back & let me know if it makes sense to you.
Thanks









 
Way to think out side of the box!!!! Can any of the devices you showed be mounted in front of the day time scope, on an AR styled front rail?
 
Not in front I'm sure.
Not sure if it'll focus on the crosshairs of a scope but I'll check.
We've just been mounting them off to the side or in place of the daylight optic.
 
I appreciate the review and how-to. What do think the effective range is in hunting conditions without the IR flashlight mount? although I haven't used one yet, the advantage that NV would give me in my state is not getting the cops called while scanning a field with a light at night. That solar Force while handy, kinda defeats that idea.

Also, I'd be real interested to see if that would work behind a scope. I'm sure I could find a machinist friend to make up a PIC rail type mount for that monocular.
 
There are some flip up IR filters that make the visible light disappear.
Just tried it behind a crossbow scope and it worked but is somewhat dark.
Definitely requires additional IR.
Remember that unit is 2x so you'll want a low power scope and it is approximately 5.5" long so the eyepiece is pretty close to the back of the stock if scope is in normal position.
 
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I should be able to fabricate the same style of bracket to attach to the top of the scope and come to the rear and support the NV from the top and let it hang down.
It will still be a long way back but I'll try it tomorrow.
That way it will be behind your daylight scope.
I do know that with GEN 3 behind a scope with 30 mm tubes ARE brighter than the 1"
 
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pitt300 you are right about the 30mm being brighter.56mm objectives are brighter then 50mm objectives also.i have gen 3 with the scope adaptor and it works like a champ with my trigcon 2.5-10x 56.it gathers enough light that i can use it on 6x.the pigs hate it.
 
Tried it behind a couple of scopes this weekend and it worked but was kind of dark.
Need more IR or a full moon maybe.
Think it's better off to the side.
 
I just learned a new trick for night vision on the cheap that some guy talked to me about the other day..

Buy a head night vision goggles and use a laser on your weapon.
You can buy goggles pretty cheap for about 250. He said he uses a laser on his handgun in the woods,scans with his goggles and works good for him. He said when its really dark, he hangs up cheap IR in the trees 40 to 50 yards away from where he thinks they will be coming from.
 
I was just thinking the same thing. I have been looking at NV goggles on line and don't know which ones are good, which ones are OK and which ones to stay clear of.

Has any one done a side by side comparison of them?
 
This is interesting read and YouTube clips. I'm interested in learning more.

It appeared in one video clip that the image was very good with only the night vision monocular and the lazer sight. That's what I was hoping would work out, but you say it needs more light such as an IR?

One other question since I haven't tried any of these things, how is the eye relief of the monocular? I wear glasses, so will that pose a problem? Does the eye have to be "into" the rear diopter to see well?

Thanks for more input. As I say, it's very interesting.

David
 
David I have a really cheap and really old night vision monocular that I used for various things. I don't think you would have a problem using one with glasses.

My monocular is 1st gen, and you can only get 50 yards with it with a small IR light. But what I did to get out to 60 yards on a dark night was to use exposed camera film and put it on a mini mag flash light. I cant remember, but I think it took 3 layers to get it to a dim red. At the time I was messing around with all this stuff, they didn't make a cheap IR. But they do now. Its call near infra red, you can make your own out of old exposed film or red cellophane or dyekm.

The problem I see with hunting with night vision at night is that you are not protected by a light. So if you picture yourself in the field with night vision, you are always moving to scan and since you don't have the light to protect you, they can see your movements. That's whats in my head anyway.

I know others that have great success hunting with night vision and I would like to learn more on how they are doing it without getting busted.

I tried it last year and it just didn't feel right, I felt like they could see everything I was doing.

Someone needs to start a thread on how to hunt at night with night vision..
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Thanks Dan.

This stuff is very intresting to me and I'd like to learn more. Any night vision equipment I might get would have to be priced for a poor man. I guess I keep thinking that something will come along sooner or later that will be more affordable. Pit300's post got me to thinking, but they say "thinking is a dangerous thing," so there goes more money. Ha ha.

Your point is well taken, that you could easily be spotted without the protection of a light. That makes sense.

I'm thinking that night vision would be good for shooting from a blind, such as one of the pop-ups, and maybe watching bait piles that coyotes are hitting - that sort of thing.

 
Night vision is fantastic for blind hunting, watching bait piles!! This is what I manly use my night vision for.

Here is my set up.. I use that cheap 100 doller monocular to watch the bait pile, so I don't have to hold my rifle all the time. My rifle has a cheap 2nd gen scope which is more like 1st gen that cost 500.

I have one hole drilled into my shack under the window with one IR light installed into the hole. You only need to use them when there is no light at all..not even the stars. My shooting window has a window frame with shrink window film on it. You know the kind you use a blow dryer to shrink the window on. This makes you stink stay inside the shack. You can also shoot right threw it with a bow, or rifle and it will not change your POA.

I set back in my chair and scan with the monocular when I hear them trying to pull on the bait. If I see something I like then I pick up the rifle with the night vision.

This is a nice way to hunt coyote on private property, but its a different ball game out on state land.
 
Well, that sounds like something I might want to try. My family has about a 90 acre farm, and I've taken a few coyotes on it, bobcats too.

I have a blind set up already, overlooking a place on an adjacent hillside at about 130 yards distant. That would work great for day-time shooting, but may be a bit far for night vision.

How far is your blind from the bait pile, and how well does the night vision work?

Today I looked at various monoculars with thoughts of how Pit300 did his. I just wonder how far a lazer would work (well) in that type of setup.

Is there a particular night vision dedicated rifle scope that you recommend that won't break my wallet?

Thanks.

David
 
My bait pile is about 20 to 30 yards, and at that range any night vision equipment would work for you without killing your wallet. It will also work well out to 50 yards if the sky is clear and the stars are out. If its winter time and there is snow on the ground you can see 100 yards, and on a full moon 300 yards in a field. Sometimes it seems like I can see forever in a snow covered field.

The laser set up works good.. but you have to remember a laser shoots a straight line, so you would sight in to whatever distance the bait pile is.

When I started my night vision quest to see what it was all about.. I bought all cheap stuff, just to see how it worked. That was 12 years ago, and I am still using it. I did not see the need to upgrade for what I was using it
for. Plus I don't have that kind of money for gen3 stuff.

12 years ago when I bought this stuff, I called the DNR and asked if it was ok to use night vision to hunt yotes with. He told me that night vision is not all that's its cracked up to be. He told me that a red light would serve me better, but I have found out that hunting for yotes in a hunting shack is the way to go with night vision. If your shack is black inside and you have the window film on the window, and everything is sealed up real good, you can wave at the yotes and they cant see you..
 

Thanks Dan, that's good information to know. Maybe I'll take the plunge before long for some night vision stuff and give it a try.
 
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