3 of us in AB have them, takes some adjusting to get them lined up but well worth the money if you have a large disposable income.

mount your anvis on AF helmet, that'll be more legit.

Agreed, it'll be 10x more awesome on an Airframe. Or at least add a cover on that Basejump :)

If I can find a cover other than multicam I might throw it on.

May just pick one up and spray paint it

Why are people going after ANVIS instead of PVS-15/ PVS-23? I thought ANVIS are rarther fragile (meant for helo crew)

I don't think any NVG system will stand up very well to a direct bb hit. And it may have something to do with having access to the Anvis and not the pvs system.

My next investment might have to be thermal though, those look fun.

ANVIS are indeed more fragile. A good hit can break the shelf requiring replacement parts. However ANVIS can be found very, very cheap in a lot of cases, have some pretty decent tubes, and the optics on them are very nice and provide an insanely crisp image. They are also really, really light weight and the battery pack serves as a counter weight.

If the shelf wasn't so fragile - oh and if they were water proof / resistant as well... That would be nice - they would be preferable to PVS-15's in a lot of ways.


It's not BB hits thats the issue. You should have lexan shields for all your night optics anyways. It's actual general use. You drop a PVS-14 from three feet onto grass, you can be 100% it will be fine. An ANVIS may not survive that fall. You fall on your face, hit a door, have a big branch swing back because your teammate didn't hold it? All things that could potentially break the shelf.

ANVIS are just as hard to acquire, and from a retail perspective are more expensive. They are just as expensive as PVS-15's in that respect. If you look into the price of second hand ANVIS in the US though, you'll see why many people down there opt to pick one up. They can be found stupidly cheap.

Deltastone, have you look into potential of homebrew a PVS-15 through GSCI's PBS-15? (Have you ask if its possible to purchase the PBS-15 minus the I2?)

your Canadian source here: http://www.alphaopticsinc.com/nv_goggles.html

Yes I have. If you look at the current version of the PBS-15 it really is just two MUM-14/Mini 14 styled monoculars with a bracket in between. The price on the individual monoculars is insanely high then you need to add in the cost of the bracket. I might do it myself because I like wasting money but it's really something to start looking into.

There are international options I am currently trying to investigate having access to, as there are some pretty damn cool mono's / binos out there... But that brings me back to having a whole new world of paperwork once I start trying to import a military grade optic. Also many international manufacturers will not sell to an individual for private ownership, stating their unit is exclusively for MIL/LE purchases.

If I could replace all my PVS-14's with Mini N/SEAs I would do it in a heart beat.

http://ronintactical.blog.com/files/...Magnifiers.jpg

If you look closely that is not an actual AN/AVS 6 or 9, but a very high quality facsimile. The optics are good from what I have seen, but they are also equally as fragile. They are also just as expensive as an actual ANVIS housing if not more so. The price gave me the chills.

Sod Gear makes a pretty cool cover in HCS. http://www.sodgear.com/product-detai...met-cover-hcs#

Awesome setup by the way, I love seeing avation/Anvis systems.

By any chance have you seen the newish Adams Industries Sentinel BNVS housing? It would be a sweet upgrade for the fragile Anvis housing.

http://tnvc.com/shop/images/116323/Sentinel_BLK_af.jpg/

I want a system built with these almost as much as I want a Pvs-21's or a DSNVG. :D

Adam Industries (Sentinels) are pretty decent units. They use PVS-14 common parts also, so if you happen to break the objective or eyepiece you won't need to destroy your wallet replacing it, or sit in a 3 month queue for a part replacement.

One thing I did notice though is that the ANVIS power track is still present, and although the shelf itself is sturdy, the power supply wires for the tubes are still exposed to the elements under the units shelf. Which means if you get caught in a massive downpour there is a very good chance your nods are going to short out. This is one of the primary flaws of the ANVIS system being used for land warfare, the adjustment itself is still designed to be used in a controlled environment (such as a cockpit) where BNVS/BNVD units which use a joint based system have severe advantages over this design.

EDIT: I just noticed that the newest version of the Sentinel is listed as waterproof to a depth of 66" - so I'm guessing they were able to correct the power track issue which was observed last year. If that's the case these are definitely the go-to system.

Looking at the Adams Industries Surface mounts there is no way those things will keep water away from the pins that connect to the Sentinel/ANVIS. They are only listed as "Water Resistant" anyways. It might be completely waterproof only while using the Dovetail mount; where you power it with a CR-123 and cut the whole external battery pack thing out of the picture.

I took a look at the Summit Night Vision spec sheet and it doesn't say either way but I assume you are right. To me it only makes sense that they are able to get that rating using the on board power supply and the dovetail.

Still the unit has a >30 hour run time with a single CR123 which is pretty good. That being said a complete Sentinel seems like a great alternative to the BNVD-SG, though the BNVD can be ran like a monocular which is a plus. I prefer the Sentinel though because of the ANVIS surface mount.