Night vision binoculars

[Mickeyrouse]

I’m contemplating buying a pair of night vision binocs. I know zilch about them, other than they give you an enhanced monochrome view. When they first came out they were so expensive that rough service on a boat- always the case- totally discouraged me. Now they seem to be less expensive, some brands, at least, but there could be corner-cutting going on there. What reviews I’ve found sound more like infomercials.
Anybody out there have any current experience?

[Ram]

What about the new thermal vision? This is even better. I think we’re going to check floating objects in the water ahead of you and night.

[PUDDLE JUMPER II]

I know of a couple of folks who have installed these cameras on main mast... FLIR MD625 Fixed Thermal Night Vision Camera...

[SailingHarmonie]

I have tried a couple of "night vision" products. Truly technological marvels. and fun to play with BUT...

I found them quite useless for a cruising boat, in most situations.

For situational awayness, finding buoys, identifying ship lights, a good pair of 7x50 binoculars work well. They are robust, and useful during the day too. They really do gather a lot of light, and when my eyes are dark adapted, they do everything I need.

For something like weaving through a field of trap buoys at night, I found none of the electronic tools useful, because the only way they could be used in this case was to constantly stare at the screen, which destroys my night vision--just when I need it the most. Sailing is not a video game! If I had the extra crew available to dedicate on to watching a screen, maybe... but screen watching like this is off limits to the helmsman on our boat.

For me, by far better, is getting my eyeballs AWAY from lights, and that includes chartplotters, backlit instruments, video screens, tablets, smartphones, and nightvision tools. It has been a generation or more since people have understood that you CAN see at night, even by startlight. You just have to have the discipline to avoid blasting your eyeballs with light.

I am not saying they are useless, it's just that they come with complications. For most boats run with limited budgets for safety and navigation gear, there are a lot of other things that should come first. But, they ARE fun!

[Drunkonwatch]

I’m so old I remember fielding the pvs14 from the 7 series after years of air assault these things would be dangerous to react on a boat. The monocular would offer better reactions but almost need to have a crewman that fields the starlight gatherer as a primary function or you’ll fall overboard adjusting your eyes. If you do use them planting a Giant IR illumination lamp on the bow would be stellar. As for the thermal the cheap ones are garbage and the civilian fler set ups are ok but again I find using it a distraction until there’s a real need to spot something and then thermal is just that are buoys for instance that much warmer? But fun factor 10 on them looking around at night!