They aren't always on. When stowed they are supposed to shut off because you're breaking the power circuit in the mount. Even if turned off they snag on things all the time and can easily be switched on by mistake. Plus, why strain your neck unnecessarily and obscure your field of view? It's dumb. I always store mine during daylight in an armored pouch.
When I was a soldier and later a cop, NVG’s were this mythical beast only used by tier one guys. I think light could damage the intensifier tube without being turned on in older models 1st gen exc. but don’t quote me on that.
Back in the 70s and 80s that was true. First they developed "bright light shutoff". Then they created "auto gain" to adjust the light magnification in the presence of bright light (works amazing). But, daylight still will destroy them if they get turned on in direct sunlight or if the circuit cutoff from flipping them up fails (very common). If the sun is coming up, I put them right in the bag as soon as I can start to see half decently. Generally I stow them about an hour before full light, and always set a sunrise timer in case I get into an early morning gunfight in milsim and lose track of time. Between 3 and 5 am you can always count on a night raid by an opposing force, especially if they know you've been out all night hunting.
They aren't always on. When stowed they are supposed to shut off because you're breaking the power circuit in the mount. Even if turned off they snag on things all the time and can easily be switched on by mistake. Plus, why strain your neck unnecessarily and obscure your field of view? It's dumb. I always store mine during daylight in an armored pouch.
When I was a soldier and later a cop, NVG’s were this mythical beast only used by tier one guys. I think light could damage the intensifier tube without being turned on in older models 1st gen exc. but don’t quote me on that.
Back in the 70s and 80s that was true. First they developed "bright light shutoff". Then they created "auto gain" to adjust the light magnification in the presence of bright light (works amazing). But, daylight still will destroy them if they get turned on in direct sunlight or if the circuit cutoff from flipping them up fails (very common). If the sun is coming up, I put them right in the bag as soon as I can start to see half decently. Generally I stow them about an hour before full light, and always set a sunrise timer in case I get into an early morning gunfight in milsim and lose track of time. Between 3 and 5 am you can always count on a night raid by an opposing force, especially if they know you've been out all night hunting.