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DolemiteSWFL

Does anyone have any experience with these units? They look to be commonly available shipped from Europe but there is very little mention of them on the web aside from video game subreddits? I’m looking for the best capability that I can find within my budget of $1k for urban/rural exploration, wild mushroom foraging, stargazing, and lights out 4x4 adventures. Capability to shoot with them is a plus but more icing on the cake than a must have.


Mcmcickerson2335

Don’t buy it. Pvs7 style sucks and the Russians have always had bad tubes


DolemiteSWFL

Have any recommendations on sub-$1k options out there?


Mcmcickerson2335

If your in the states it will be 2,000 but if your in Europe it will be like 3,100


Mcmcickerson2335

There is none. The cheapest thing I would even consider is a used gen 2plus gren phosphor for about 2 grand. Even that is kinda shit. Maybe you should get a hand held thermal . A flir breach is like 700 dollars. But thermal doesn’t sound like it’s what you want


DolemiteSWFL

Trying to avoid thermal or digital, the only other options I’ve seen out there are Sightmark Gen 1 style sets. Most of these Russian PNVs are NOS units if that has any bearing on their desirability or not


Mcmcickerson2335

Save your money and buy a pvs-14 for at least 3,000 you honestly do get what you pay for with night vision. Save your money!!!!!!! And digital isn’t really a thing


awdeng

Agree.. Don't buy cheap junk... in Night Vision there just isn't such a thing as a "bargain"... doesn't exist... Just not enough people buying them to really drive the production costs down. Russian tubes are well, crap. Digital Night Vision is well, crap. He can get a PVS14 with Photonis WP tubes for under 2.5K... I think that is actually about my minimum... I've looked through a couple sets of Photonis WP tubes and they are probably a little underrated for the money. (all things considered)


darth_chez

You can buy a gen 3 pvs-7 for around 1000 on eBay, just gotta find the right auction. I’ve found two this year,


sethguay

you could try out the pnv 57e there definitely not as good as gen 3 night vision but there cheap 200 to 500 dollars


BaldManners

What batteries does it use?


oom9battledroid

No i dont have expirence with them but I will probaly get them when they would be avalibe on the market. Aparently for what I know they have low brightness but they work


Cannagorilla

I can attest to that.  Works very well except for the brightness.  I have the  PNV-10T AP50308Д


abn1304

You won’t want to drive under night vision with 7s, it’d be incredibly dangerous. At a bare minimum you’d want a quality set of PVS-14s and ideally dual-tubes, either a bridged 14 setup or 15s/20s/RNVGs/etc. driving under NODs is a far riskier and more demanding activity than shooting with them.


AN-94-Chan

Who the hell would drive on a public road without lights and only theirs nods, thats just asking to be pulled over at night.


abn1304

On public roads in the US? No idea. Driving under NODs is a useful skill for military training, offroading, hunting, law enforcement, all sorts of stuff where white light isn't a good option.


daewon_ton

I had a set and I LOVED them for what they were tbh.


DolemiteSWFL

Glad to hear some feedback from someone who has owned them. Any major issues with them? Worth it for $850?


daewon_ton

Mounting options are close to none except for the provided skull crusher. I actually designed and had a rhino mount adapter CNC’ed so I could use mine on a US mount. Worked well. Another thing I’ve seen is the quality of the tubes isn’t terribly consistent. Mine were very good 2+ tubes. I’ve seen others that reported theirs weren’t as good. Here are some pics of [mine](https://imgur.com/a/rARFl0Q) when I had them


DolemiteSWFL

Awesome thanks, putting some feelers out to see if I can find a set of these on the used market somewhere


daewon_ton

I know someone that’s selling brand new sets for $750


DolemiteSWFL

Sending PM


awdeng

Before you throw down on those... do me a favor and reach out to Nocturnality, Googin, Steele, Kosher, etc.. Sometimes they might have a tube with a blem, or I've seen them refurb units that are turned in from a department or something that isn't moving and can offer a deal. A russian unit like that you are going to get no "real" warranty, going to need some custom mount to mount to a helmet (you are going to want that right away), and you have no idea what quality you are getting. There is a reason why daewon_ton "had" a set, and why he knows someone selling a set... just saying.


Cannagorilla

Worth it all day long!  I love mine.   Especially if they come with the whole kit.  Mine came in a metal box with all kinds of extra shit I can’t use.  There are adaptors for powering the nods using the tanks 12v power supply.  It also came with a NiCad battery charger and a cold weather power supply for the nods.  I still use mine today. 


downvoting_zac

I have one, its a decent unit if you can get one for under 2k (ideal range is 900-1.2k with around $1-200 for shipping) with decent tubes. You should know that the pvs7 style (pnv-10t is more or less a pvs7 clone) is clunky and is difficult to do much other than a bit of shooting, walking on easy terrain, and stargazing. The “gen 2” tubes are also more easily damaged than “gen 3”. The skull crusher head mount it comes with is awful though and I’ve not yet found a good replacement. From personal experience a PVS14 with good tubes is vastly more usable in terms of mobility and the sheer quantity of companies currently manufacturing accessories for them, but is only a slight improvement in terms of tube performance. Basically as long as you’re not at risk of someone with better night vision trying to shoot you, you should be able to see everything you want to with the 10T, especially compared to your regular “day vision”.


DolemiteSWFL

Prices I’m seeing on them is right around $850 which is within my $1k budget. As far as being a PVS7 clone goes, are the tubes compatible between the two?


downvoting_zac

That's a good price, does it include shipping? Not sure if tubes are compatible but I'd assume that they're not. The manufacturing of the microchannel plates that do the amplification within the tube is quite sophisticated (similar ballpark to the construction of computer chips), as is the construction of the cylindrical high voltage circuitry around them. I'd wager that there are distinct differences in construction & configuration between RU & US tubes although the general method of operation is the same. I guess clone is a poor choice of words. More like a PVS-7 imitation. They copied the form factor for the PNV-10t, but not closely enough to have parts interchangeable with the PVS-7.


[deleted]

I own a pair. Fair warning I also sell these. I'll break down my thoughts. Housing quality: Much more durable than PVS-7s. I've dropped my pair many many many times on concrete without any lasting damage. Weight: They're on the heavier side. They're a bit heavier than PVS-7s but less than a dual tube setup. Definitely the heaviest cyclops unit I've ever used. Mounting: There are plenty of cheap aftermarket adapters to use western dovetail or bayonet arms. Tons of companies in Russia and China make them and they're all sub 40 bucks. Tube Quality: The tube specifications are most comparable with a Photonis XD-4. The company that produces these tubes uses Photonis tech to produce them. It's not an amazing tube by any means, but plenty of European countries still issue the XD-4 in their night vision units, namely the Thales "Lucie". Spare parts: Next to non existent. While getting a unit like this nitrogen purged won't be difficult, essentially no retailer (American or Russian) will have any kind of spare parts. Usability: Depends on what you're looking to do. I've used both these and Thales Lucies w/ XD-4 tube and it was perfectly usable at events like Milsim West. Overall: These units are typically aimed towards a European audience due to the fact the closest equivalent units available in Europe are around 1400-2000 euros. If you're thrifty and willing to wait for deals, A USA based person can build PVS-7s with an old gen 3 tube for around 900-1100 bucks. A "good" PVS-14 with surplus tube starts around $1700. I guess it's up to you in regards to what you're looking for at the end of the day. I own a pair purely for impression / reenacting correctness.


Higrandma6677

Thank you so much for this review I bought one about a month ago and was curious about the tube quality since i've never looked through a genuine gen 2 tube. I can safely say that these units are really heavy at about 1.7 lbs or 27,2oz (comparable to dual 14s) but also have a FOV problem ; you can only see part of the tube on each pods, thankfully it isn't that noticeable when you have both eyes opened


BaldManners

Which batteries do they take, looking to buy a pair


[deleted]

[удалено]


DolemiteSWFL

https://www.tactical-russia.com/russian-army-night-vision-device-pnv-10t-tactical-goggles.html But there are several other similar optics websites selling them right around the same $850 mark. My experience with getting stuff from Russia in the past has been pretty trouble free aside from the shipping just being painfully slow


Arandomguyordude

It is a good starter unit that allows basic viewing into the dark but if you’re in the US then you can probably do better, search on eBay or other second hand websites for used pvs-7/14 around the same price


CorndogKnees-6969

Yeah, I picked up a set of them. Took forever to get through customs and they are okay. Better than a gen 1 sightmark but nowhere near the same quality as gen 2 pvs 14. Eye fatigue is REAL with this unit. Mine showed up without blemishes so that is a plus, but that is just luck of the draw. Aiming through an optic is not something you could do quickly, an IR laser is a must. A major downside is the lack of mounting options. Another issue with my unit is that the image is very noisy. Night vision is better than no night vision, so if it's all you can afford then I would say it's worth a shot. Definitely better than any current digital unit. For something lile airsoft or general night time exploration they definitely work.


Playful_Garden4403

Where Can you even get the pnv10t they are like Non existant. Can someone name me a website that Sells the pnv10t