night-vision monoculars??

[maestro]

are night vision monoculars worth it?? I''ve seen some early generation Type I and type II monoculars for around $150. Are they worth it?? Do they work in the daylight as well. My problem is that I am blind in one eye and do not need a pair of binoculars. I have not been able to find a decent monocular in my price range ( no more than $200)

[RichH]

Yes they are definitely worth it - but you need TWO eyes in good working order. I sail a lot at night on the Chesapeake where one has to negotiate through ''mine-fields'' of crab pots and fish traps. The cheaper ones are probably not worth it as they have low resolution and poor optical quality. They DO NOT work well in daylight as you will destroy the circuitry when you overload the light gathering and amplification and will destroy the light amplification cells. You CANNOT use a night amplifying monocular in daylight - will destroy itself.
I havent found a ''good'' night vision monocular under $300. Some of the ''cheaper'' Russian technology night vision monoculars are quite good.

With single eye vision, you will probably not benefit from using a night vision monocular as your normal night vision will be greatly reduced (visual purple), so when you stop using them your normal night vision will not recover for quite a few minutes or longer and you will be essentially blind (with one eye) for quite some time. When using such a night vision monocular you really need two eyes as the eye that used the monocular wont see very well for quite some time due to the internal brtightness of the monocular - one eye for the mnonocular and the other eye for ''normal'' night vision.

[hamiam]

I have a Gen II ITT device and it works quite well. I actually had the opportunity to test Gen I, Gen II, and Gen III devices in a ITT Nightvision display a few years back. I would have to say that I would not even bother with a Gen I device; the resolution is simply not there. You can pick out large objects but something like a lobster pot will get downed out in the background noise. I have the Gen II monocular and like it very much. I actually bot it used on ebay; a risk, I know, but it has lasted me several years without fail. The Gen III device is light years ahead of the Gen II. Its like looking at green daylight. Truly outstanding. I understand the militart has Gen IV devices the quality of which I cant even imagine. I do need to warn you, however, that they are best used on a moon- or starlite night; they dont work well in pitch black and if there are lights behind the object you are looking at, these lights may drowned out your display. An example of this would be trying to spot a mark outside a brightly lit harbor; the display becomes a series of green blobs. Obviously, going with a handheld spotlight - rechargeable or wired - is an idea but I have found that given the typical level of moisture in the air at night on the water there are of little usefullness unless you are searching for an ojbect with reflective tape.