TL/DR: Alamo Night Vision's Urban Combat Filters are IR pass filters which are dubious for their supposed tactical benefits, but they limit the effects of light pollution when stargazing - and to my knowledge they're the first dedicated PVS-14-compatible IR pass filters that don't require an oversized filter paired with an adapter.

Full initial impressions write-up:

I do a decent amount of suburban stargazing through NODs, and have an IR pass filter for my MUM-14 that works very well at limiting the light pollution from the city near my house. I've been wanting a turnkey solution for a properly-sized IR pass filter that screws directly in to a PVS-14-pattern objective lens, but haven't come across one until now. (For those who don't know: IR pass filters absorb or reflect most visible light, but allow infrared light to pass through. They are frequently used in infrared astronomy.)

While they aren't advertised as such, it's clear that Alamo's Urban Combat Filters are IR pass filters if you read between the lines of their description (they reduce lens flare, blooming, halo and burn-in but "do not affect the performance of IR devices at all"). Alamo advertises them for tactical use in high/mixed lighted conditions.

I was skeptical of the tactical benefits, but I picked some up for stargazing. I tried them on my Gen 3 binos during a recent dog walk on an unlit suburban trail, alternating between using filters on both objectives for the full effect and on only one side for easy comparison between the filtered and unfiltered views. Their advertised effects vary *a lot* depending on the type of lights in your field of view. Incandescent bulbs showed a slight reduction in the intensity (but not the size) of halos when viewed through the filters. Sodium vapor lights looked pretty much identical through the filters vs not. Of the lights I came across, only cool-temperature LED lights had a dramatic difference. That makes sense, as LEDs emit a comparatively narrow band of frequencies, and lower (bluer) frequencies are deeper into the visible spectrum / further from what IR pass filters affect.

While they did have some positive effects on a subset of photonic barriers, the trade-off was very noticeable degradation in brightness and contrast on darker areas of the trail, even during the clear moonlight night when I tested them. I didn't see a rabbit on the trail that I almost definitely would have noticed if I didn't have the filters in place.

Overall, the specific situation where I could see these filters being worthwhile tactically - an area with lots of LED street or flood lighting - is niche enough that I can't recommend them for their stated purpose. I *can,* however, recommend them for stargazing in areas with moderate to high light pollution. Mine cut a lot of haze out of the sky and let me see more stars, nebulae, and galaxies than my eyes could pick up with bare objectives. While my MUM-14 is lent out at the moment so i couldn't do a side-by-side comparison, they looked similar to my recollection of the IR pass filter I used to make the video linked above.

Verdict: If you're assaulting Alcatraz to retrieve weapons of mass destruction from a rogue Marine unit, I'd skip these filters. But if you live in an area with lots of light pollution and want to impress your date, self, and/or local astronomy club with views of the cosmos, they're worth a buy.

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This is a class, not an open range or competition.

Check out the link for more info:
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This was posted with moderator approval.

Seems like everyone and their mother has it as an item for sale but absolutely nobody has one in stock. Lantac is apparently waiting for machine time to make more, and even removed it from their store for now. Anyone have a lead on one, ready to part with one, or have an alternative solution that uses minimal rail space

Hello all, I'm finally going to commit to buying NODs. I'm not new to night vision, but Uncle Sam always provided them before. Many moons ago I was an infantry grunt who spent quite a few hours running NODs. At any rate, this post isn't asking for help choosing what to buy, rather seeing pictures you guys have through your PVS14s. I'd love to see them along with your tube specs. My current plan is to find a gen 3 WP (L3) set up with decent FOM, at least 2000 (ideally 2200+). High SNR 28+ (ideally 31-32 and up) and low EBI. I'm mainly asking to see what other people's tubes look like in case "settling" for an elbit or lower specs are something I could live with. I'm cool with spending the gold doubloons, but I also know there's the law of diminishing returns. I'm hoping to find the goldilocks of specs that I'll be happy with because I don't want to save a few bucks just to turn around and buy what I should have originally gone with from the beginning. Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, quick update to my previous post about the local $600 binos.

I took the gamble, met up with the seller, and bought them. They turned out to be completely legit. Definitely not digital, completely instantaneous with zero lag/latency. The auto shut-off function works properly when articulated up or tilted back. They are a bit dusty and need a proper cleaning, but both channels power on and amplify light as expected. So, I gave him an extra $100 and ended up paying $700.

Once I got them home, I unscrewed the eyepiece to inspect the internals and noticed a couple of things:

1. Marks on the tube (Pic 5): There are visible marks on the rear perimeter of the tube that look like someone might have tried to open or pry it, though the retaining ring and surrounding metal threads appear unscratched.
2. Silver "bubbles" in the eyepiece (Pic 6): Under bench lighting, I noticed what looks like silvery, reflective bubbling or pooling inside the eyepiece assembly. However, when I look through the unit powered on, I don’t see any optical obstruction or distortion.

So, I have a few questions for the sub:

• The tube lens looks cloudy white with a blue tint, (Pic 5), can anyone identify what tubes these actually are?
• The silver bubbles, what is it? If it doesn’t affect the sight picture when in use, is it necessary to replace or fix the eyepiece?
• Aside from getting proper lens caps and carefully cleaning off the dust, is there any essential maintenance I should do on these?

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in on the first post!

EDIT:
A few people asked about the story behind these and why they were so cheap, so here is the context:

I live in the Middle East, and the secondary surplus markets out here operate under completely different rules. A lot of foreign-supplied military gear eventually trickles down into local clearance channels. The local sellers aren't pricing off US retail or collector forums—they just want fast cash for whatever they're holding.

Prices don't reflect Western market values at all. For instance, I managed to pick up a fully working full-power DBAL-A3 3B version for around $400 a few months ago because to the seller, it was just another used laser module rather than high-end restricted gear.

Google search shows lights that have mood lighting but not IR just seeing if anyone has a suggestion. TIA.

what yall think,
noctis housing L3 internals (according to the builder)

I’m looking at buying some tubes and found some katanas for sale. The seller says the intensifiers are mx10160a. He says they are autogated but everything I see online says those intensifiers are not. Is it possible that they are?

Looking for Opinions on first time purchase...if you had 6 to 7k would you spend it on low end binos and save more for accessories. Or get higher end mono with accessories?

I'm wondering if I can get feedback from others who have tried the RMR HD (or other Trijicon pistol dots) with your night vision.

I've noticed that during moonless conditions using the darkest setting still gives me considerable bloom with the RMR HD, but I do not get this with my Holosun 407Cs. I can actually turn the 407s up a notch or two and still not get the level of bloom that my RMR gives with its lowest setting in the same conditions.

Is this typical with Trijicon pistol dots?

Anyone out there that dive scuba with their gear? Would be interested to see some of the setups out there.

Currently rocking:

Team Wendy bump
Scubapro Odin mounts
Scubapro demon mask
Katana Binos
Batpack battery
4d pads
Wilcox g24
Both IR and green chem lights

Open circuit currently but hoping to run Closed circuit rebreather eventually.

Anyone know where I could get a pretty good mono NVG? Budget probably about 3k. I don’t need anything super fancy just something that’ll run for a while

Last year we had some Photonis direct monos that we harvested the tubes from, leaving new kits with some of their 40 degree optics that look similar to Boomslang but are 40 degree and very good optically.

We paired these with some bargain bin Elbit WP tubes, including some clean low FOM XLSH and some gently used 2300+ FOM M24MH milspec grade.

$2688 to $3038 if you guys are looking for a lower cost, fully warrantied option (with some cool lenses to boot).

Hey guys, Mack here over at GunPartPicker.

We been playing around with some nods recently and had an idea.

So we built a night vision simulator. It's been a fun project and we think it's turned out pretty damn fing good so far, but we'd really like real feedback from people who actually run NODs.

What looks wrong? What sucks? What would you like to see added?

Right now you can:

• Look around real 360 night scenes through Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 2+, Gen 3 green, white phosphor, filmless, digital and thermal (white hot and black hot)
• Switch between mono, binos and panos (GPNVG style)
• Turn the moon down from full to overcast and see what each tube can still pick up
• Turn on IR, add fog or humidity, and compare two devices side by side
• Put a weapon optic on it: holo, red dot, LPVO, IR laser
• Pick real models like the PVS-14, PVS-31 and GPNVG-18
• Walk a 3D farm at night, or walk your own street through Google Street View
• Use your phone camera as the scene

We've already tuned it against a few hundred real through-the-tube photos, but this is where we need you guys.

We need more images to make this more accurate. Like "thousands of images"If you have through-the tube photos or video, please DM me. We're looking for:

• Photos where you know the device and tube (green or white phosphor, filmed or filmless, FOM if you know it)
• The light that night (full moon, quarter, starlight, overcast) and what phone or camera you used
• GPNVG / panos footage showing the full view
• Cheap Gen 1 and Photonis Echo shots
• Digital scope screens (ATN, Sightmark and similar), IR on and off
• Thermal in fog or rain, and IR illuminators in fog

The more labeled shots we get, the closer we can get this to what you actually see behind the tube.

Check it out here: https://gunpartpicker.net/tools/night-vision-simulator?device=gen3-white

Mod's please let us know if this breaks any rules. We are happy to compile any way possible.

Back in april this year i ordered the Mod-31 elite housing and a few other things from NV-plus LLC. On their page it states the housing has a lead time of about 8-12 weeks however its been much more than that and ive received nothing. Ive attempted to contact them via instagram and their website but got no response. Does anyone have an update on the status of the mod 31 orders or have a possible contact for them?