Military Night Vision Goggles

Military night vision goggles are indisposable during times of combat. They allow their wearers to move stealthily and, hopefully, safely through the dark.

• Depth perception
• Rugged exterior
• Preferably lightweight
• To not emit light. Some have infrared light options.
• Long battery life

If you opt for binoculars instead of goggles, they'll need the ability to be handheld or mounted on a helmet.

Military night vision goggles are meant to take the place of artificial illumination and fire when nighttime combat or military applications are necessary. This offers a degree of safety (comparatively speaking) to the men and women in combat. They can maneuver and shoot without being detected in the dark.

There are two types of night vision goggles used in the military.

These take the existing light—starlight, moonlight, the flashlight of an enemy, etc, and magnify it so that you're effectively seeing daylight. The major disadvantage of these is, if there's a bright light source present, it may overwhelm and white out the image. The advantages include: they're inexpensive, they are lightweight, they offer more detailed images, they're small, and they don’t need much power to run.

These work by accessing the infrared spectrum and converting it into visible light. The major disadvantage of these is the relative lack of detail you get. Also, if two objects have the same level of heat, it makes it hard to distinguish between the two (so you may not be able to tell a friend from a foe). You can also sometimes see through walls with infrared goggles. The advantages to these are that they work anywhere since they don't need any ambient light to function—only the ambient heat from the objects.

According to Global Security, the downsides to all night vision goggles include:

• At best, 20/25 to 20/40 vision
• Tunnel vision/monocular vision (which means you need to keep turning your head to scan for danger because peripheral vision suffers)
• Larger objects appear closer than smaller ones that are the same distance away from you
• If you take off your goggles in the dark, your eyes have to readjust to the lack of light, just like when you enter a dark room from a lit one

If you're not in the military but you want some military night vision goggles, there are a few places online to look. If you are in the military—especially if you're in charge of buying the goggles—you may already have a preferred vendor or two that you use for your goggles, but it doesn't hurt to look around for information on the newest technology or the best prices. Here are some sites to check for the night vision goggles you need:

• Optics Planet has a section that exclusively sells night vision goggles for military and law enforcement use. The ATN Viper Night Vision Goggles are hands-free and inexpensively priced ($268.95 on sale). The Cougar Night Vision Binocular Goggle will run about $529.00. They're dual-eye, lightweight, comfortable, and hands-free.

• Infrared1.com has a few sets of goggles to choose from. The TIG Thermal Infrared Binocular-Goggle System offer incredible vision. If you visit the site, you can see examples of how well they work.

• Mans-Toys.com has another selection of night vision goggles to sift through. Quite a few of these are on the very expensive side (check out the ATN PS-23 Gen 2,3,4 Night Vision Goggles. Their price range runs from $3,295.00 to $4,190. Before considering these, make sure you absolutely need top of the line goggles. You may be able to go with something like the more reasonably priced Night Cougars for just $529.00.

If you're in the military, night vision goggles could save your life. If you're not, you may want to consider the less expensive models since night vision goggles run the risk of getting pretty pricey. Shop around and see what you can find once you decide if you need infrared or image intensifiers.

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