Night Vision Guide for Canadian Airsofters

[ThunderCactus]

If you want really great high quality NV brand new, Actinblack.com in Europe would be the place to look.
Brandonoptics carries their stuff if you want to buy local.

[pewpew69]

Originally Posted by riley_A

When people outside of the US advertise devices as ITAR free they're implying that they are purchasable by individuals outside of the US. However many "ITAR-free" devices will still fall under ITAR restrictions if they were to be brought into the states. When dealing with ITAR it does matter what the place of origin of the item was, all that matters is whether or not the device falls under ITAR restrictions when you try to leave the US, even if you brought the device in legally. So even though GSCI advertises their devices as ITAR free, if you brought most of their devices to the states you technically would not be able to bring them back out without an extensive amount of paperwork that is difficult to obtain.

Regarding the devices that you'll find here in Canada, you'd be hard pressed to have someone tell you how exactly those devices came into their possession. I like to assume that the devices were acquired legally, but we're in no position to accuse someone of illegally importing/exporting devices. Unless something is unquestionably stolen then I wont worry about it.

Ok thanks for the clarification. It sucks how you cant bring it into the US. There would be a lot of stuff to see there at night.

I guess I was more curious about how it came into their possession and wondering if there was a legal way to procure them from the US.

The stuff on Brandonoptics looks cool, thanks for the link! Next time I'm in Vancouver I will need to swing by to play around with the different NODs they have from ACTinBlack

[Cortex]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

If you want really great high quality NV brand new, Actinblack.com in Europe would be the place to look.
Brandonoptics carries their stuff if you want to buy local.

Would rather support GSCI as a Canadian company myself. They'll build units to the same specs as ACT.

[ThunderCactus]

They'll put in a TUBE with the same specs as ACT, but do they have lenses that aren't shit?
I'm unaware if they have different lens options for their PVS14 clones

[Jaeger_CDN]

There are rental places in the States for NVG so you won't have to worry about the ITAR paperwork if you go down there to play

I make no claims on quality or value but I got it from a US based airsoft Youtuber video, nightvisionrentals.com

[Delta_Charlie]

Originally Posted by Jaeger_CDN

There are rental places in the States for NVG so you won't have to worry about the ITAR paperwork if you go down there to play

I make no claims on quality or value but I got it from a US based airsoft Youtuber video, nightvisionrentals.com

Only US citizens can rent the NVG Units in the good old USA. How do I know, because I tried to rent them while in the states.

[Derpystronk]

Originally Posted by Cortex

Would rather support GSCI as a Canadian company myself. They'll build units to the same specs as ACT.

This is questionable, and even buying through Brandon Optics you are still supporting a Canadian company.

For me, I've cut GSCI out of my supply chain personally for all but like, 1-2 things, simply because I no longer feel like their products are competitive in the market for what they provide. I've been waiting for their glass to become competitive with PVS-14's, but considering they fall below even the Armasight NVM-14 style monoculars, I have no reason to ever offer their stuff anymore.

Originally Posted by riley_A

So even though GSCI advertises their devices as ITAR free, if you brought most of their devices to the states you technically would not be able to bring them back out without an extensive amount of paperwork that is difficult to obtain.

Important thing to keep in mind is the device becomes captured under ITAR regs the second it crosses the border. So if you take your Canadian acquired device into the United States, you are immediately committing a felony (assuming you don't have a US Green card or dual citizenship of course) just by being in possession of the item.

If you wanted an NVG you can use both inside the USA and in Canada, possibly taking it back and forth, any NVG you can get an export permit for will stay exported, so to speak. So for example, there are a number of export Gen 2 units in the US that simply require a commerce department permit for export - if you purchase that unit, it remains exported and can be taken in / out of the USA for the most part.

If you managed to get a unit that requires a Department of State permit, and have that permit issued, the device is "exported" even while on US soil so you can continue to use it down there without any issues.

Just make sure to keep the paperwork handy.

Originally Posted by Jaeger_CDN

There are rental places in the States for NVG so you won't have to worry about the ITAR paperwork if you go down there to play

This is dangerous advice. Mere possession of an NVG captured under ITAR is a felony. So you and the entity renting are both are going to jail. If they figure out you are a Canadian during the process it's also a pretty good chance you'll get arrested.

[ThunderCactus]

Actually that brings up an interesting point
If ITAR reg states that no foreign citizen can look through gen 3 devices, aren't all photos and videos of gen3 tubes violating ITAR?

[Derpystronk]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

Actually that brings up an interesting point
If ITAR reg states that no foreign citizen can look through gen 3 devices, aren't all photos and videos of gen3 tubes violating ITAR?

Oddly, no.

Also the specification sheets that come with L3/ITT units falls under ITAR. Posting a photo of the sheet is not allowed, as it counts as an export. However you can transcribe pretty much every piece of information from the sheet and be totally 100% in the clear.

[Mwellow Uellow]

This is such an amazing reference thread. This broke down the jargon into terms I understand. Big thanks for this.