Night Vision

xxVickyxx

Im not sure where to put this. But I reckon you guys would probably be the best to ask.

Just getting straight to the point, my boyfriends birthday is coming up and I'd love to get him some night vision gear. Not binoculars. Just regular unmagnified lenses would be great. I haven't a clue about this sorta stuff, so I was hoping maybe somebody could advise me on what to get him. He doesn't have any night vision, so I guess something basic enough maybe. I'm on a budget of about E300.00

Incase it makes any difference, he does lots (and I do mean lots) of fishing, hunting, camping, survival, boating etc... Though Im guessing the camping would be his main use for it. Anyway any ideas, or even if anyone could point me in the direction of a shop (between Dundalk and Dublin preferably) that stocks this stuff would be great. Id rather buy from a shop then a website if at all possible.

Deerhunter2

Absolute mine field. Forget it. Fishing/ Outdoor shop voucher for €300 = happy man.

Tackleberrywho

xxVickyxx wrote: »

Im not sure where to put this. But I reckon you guys would probably be the best to ask.

Just getting straight to the point, my boyfriends birthday is coming up and I'd love to get him some night vision gear. Not binoculars. Just regular unmagnified lenses would be great. I haven't a clue about this sorta stuff, so I was hoping maybe somebody could advise me on what to get him. He doesn't have any night vision, so I guess something basic enough maybe. I'm on a budget of about E300.00

Incase it makes any difference, he does lots (and I do mean lots) of fishing, hunting, camping, survival, boating etc... Though Im guessing the camping would be his main use for it. Anyway any ideas, or even if anyone could point me in the direction of a shop (between Dundalk and Dublin preferably) that stocks this stuff would be great. Id rather buy from a shop then a website if at all possible.

To be honest the quality for €300 would be very poor.
If you spent €300 on a Jacket or even a realy fancy hunting knife.
You'd get a buck knife for around €150 that was really pretty with perhaps a nice bobne handle or hardwood timber.

http://www.shoot.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2&zenid=bcd5d9beb2fee8cad0b8009023c83bcb

A good place for ideas.
http://www.shoot.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=34&zenid=bcd5d9beb2fee8cad0b8009023c83bcb
Nice prezzie well under budget

The Nightvision glasses can go up to €3000 so be aware there is a reason some thing similar is sold for 1/10 of the price.

You would get him a really good pair of hiking boots for that budget either.

Meindl, Le Chamea or haix I would reccomend ~ €250 mark but his feet would be toasty in the great out doors

FISMA

Vicky,
Whether xx or xxx, he's lucky man to have a woman like you!

I only wish I could exchange the plethora of ties sitting in the bottom drawer for anything shootable.

Wouldn't be too bad if they would just sit there, however, I have to take them out and wear them, begrudgingly, at least once a year. It never ceases to amaze me how wrong women can get something as simple as a tie. Does she buy them for spite? Or to take the piss? Perhaps, I will take them to the range and use them as targets... No, she's got a photographic memory for these things. Anyhow, back to the post...

The lads are correct, optics are a tricky business. Trying to buy something like this is very difficult and we would need to know much more about yer man to give educated advice.

I second: stay away from optics, especially nigh vision. Unless you plan to spend a few thousand euro, the stuff you get is useless. Don't buy something just for the sake of buying it, you'll probably be disappointed. You really have to do a lot of research and understand what the device is intended for use.

What kind of hunting is he into: deer, lamping, ducks, or what?

Never underestimate how great it is to get ammo. If he owns a 12ga shotgun I am sure he would be happy with 500 rounds of ammo.

The more specific you can be, the more we can help. For example, does he shoot a rifle or a shotgun. What caliber? Does the rifle have a scope, if so, what brand/model magnification.

Granted, such questions may arise suspicion.

Tackleberrywho

http://www.eiromedia.com/

Every man loves a manly gift that he can show his mates, and can use.

If he likes knifes these are excellent and Irish

Vegeta

Lads surely there are some acceptable night vision kits for that money

I have tried the cheap lidl monocular ones in the past and in a pitch black shed I could identify everything on a shelf 20ft away and read the labels.

This guy sounds like an outdoors kind of guy, he might have more uses than spotting animals at night with it.

I know johngalway had a yukon digital ranger (I think) and they are not meant to be tooo bad considering the cost.

Buy an IR laser or a filter for your lamp/torch and the range suddenly goes way up

Grizzly 45

What you pay is what you get.But you wont get much for 300 quid in this land for NV.You would want to be looking at Ebay.co.uk or.com for somthing in that price bracket.I've seen crappy Russian 2nd Gen active IR being sold here for 500 notes,when by rights it is worth about 200 notes.
Then it is buyer beware with ebay as well.What looks brilliant on the blurb,might be rubbish in the field.Going by some of the Russian military stuff,if that was the quality of their equipment in the cold war...We really hadnt that much to worry about.Some of it looks like it was assembled by somone who was utterly drunk all the trime.

By and large I would concur with the lads here,unless he has expressed an intrest in some NV for his outdoor activities,I would be more inclined to get him somthing that he can use or chose for himself.

johngalway

I disagree with there being no decent NV for the price, there's at least one, the Yukon Exelon.

Yukon Exelon 3x50 is likely to be your best bet in that price range. It has a tube, so it can be damaged by exposure to light. Good field of view being 3x.

The next one is probably out of your price range, that being the Yukon Digital Ranger. It's digital, so no tube, and won't be harmed by light. However it's 5x magnification so the field of view you get is limited compared to the 3x.

If he's going to be using it in places where there's very little to no man made light then the Exelon is the clear winner. But, instances like prolonged exposure to even distant street lights will damage a tubed NV unit.

The Exelon (which I have not used) MAY require an additional IR source, such as a laser (expensive for good ones) or a regular lamp/torch with the lens completely covered by IR filter - available from alanaecology.com last tiem I heard.

The Ranger will eat batteries, so either get a stock of rechargeable ones, or even better get the lead which allows it to be hooked up to a small 12v battery, such as a 5 or 7 amp.

Google for it and shop around, including Ebay. Careful about buying from outside the EU as extra import duty often offends. The UK will most likely give you better prices than here, XE.com is a good site for currency conversion.

Darr

Yukon 5X42 Ranger Digital Night Vision Scope On ebay.com $344.09 inc shipping to Ireland .. but as with all ebay stuff buyer beware ..

lucky chap he is indeed .. have to admit I would go with a pair of really really good boots/jacket over the NV ...
good luck with what ever you decide
Dar

kildare.17hmr

:DAny more girls like vicky out there????

jwshooter

for 300 bucks you will not get great kit ,you money might be better spent else where .

if it does not work out with your boyfriend ,your on the ball hear ...

riflehunter77

Vicky try this company there are great to deal with, you can get everything and anything that he likes from it.
http://www.heinnie.com/default.asp? If he is big into the outdoors this will cover it. They even have night vision if you want to go that way.http://www.heinnie.com/Optics/Yukon-Night-Vision/c-1-100-474/. They usually have the goods out to you within 2 to 3 days.

Rosahane

riflehunter77 wrote: »

Vicky try this company there are great to deal with, you can get everything and anything that he likes from it.
http://www.heinnie.com/default.asp? If he is big into the outdoors this will cover it. They even have night vision if you want to go that way.http://www.heinnie.com/Optics/Yukon-Night-Vision/c-1-100-474/. They usually have the goods out to you within 2 to 3 days.

...beat me to it. Excellent company to deal with and good prices:D

xxVickyxx

Ok so theres alot of mixed reviews on the night vision. I might just leave it. Thanks for the other ideas, Im loving some of them. A few people mentioned a knife, he has a ton of them already. And he's particularly fussy when it comes to knives aswell, if its not Gerber he wont have it :L Someone asked what hunting hes into. Hes got a double barrel shotgun and he mainly hunts for ducks, pheseants and some rabbits the odd time.

1 or 2 people mentioned boots, and I often hear him complaining of sore wet feet. Maybe I could get him a pair of Doc Martins. I saw a pair today on sale in town, they are calf height (maybe 6/8 inches above the ankle). ANy reviews, opinions on these..??

http://www.schuh.co.uk/images/product/320094/3200947020_exlg.jpg

Nearly forgot, dont be getting too excited lads. I dont *support* his shooting. I go fishing myself and I might shoot a few targets with him. But thats as far it goes really. Hes being warned hes not to take any pheasants, rabbits or anything into the kitchen until they have being skinned, gutted and 100% completely washed. Hand on my heart if I saw a pheasant on the work top I would have to bleach the whole kitchen down. I would be so scared of germs or parasites

kildare.17hmr

Doc martins would be more for the rocker neo nazi type, not the hunter:D a good pair of hiking boots, and with your budget they will be top class and last for yrs!! if your near kildare head to TOG24 in kildare village, they are having a sale at the moment and have some really good boots, i got a pair the other day that had a price tag of €299 and a sale price of €169(a good mate works there so got his 50%discount,I paid €84:D;)!!)they are Hi-tec boots and top class. 164 is a great price to pay for these boots and he would have them a very long time.
here is a link to them

http://www.hi-tec.com/uk/47968-product-rainier_event-mens.html

Vegeta

Hey Vicky see this thread on boots if you want to know peoples opinions on them

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055956832

Tackleberrywho

Vegeta wrote: »

Hey Vicky see this thread on boots if you want to know peoples opinions on them

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055956832

http://www.lakelandshootingcentre.ie/trade/trade.php

Go shooting clays together with this 20gauge, both can licence this shotgun!;)

20gauge is preferred by ladies as has lighter kick than 12g

Sparks

Vegeta wrote: »

Hey Vicky see this thread on boots if you want to know peoples opinions on them http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055956832

+1
And don't forget to reserve a few euros to buy a pair of gaiters to go with them.

locum-motion

xxVickyxx wrote: »

... until they have being skinned, gutted and 100% completely washed...

Poultry and game shouldn't be washed before cooking, AFAIK. Apparently it's more dangerous than just cooking it unwashed. Certainly the guy who taught me to pluck/gut/prepare a pheasant (who's a poultry wholesaler by day) told me not to wash the fezzie.

Sparks

That doesn't make sense if the bird's been trimmed and gutted already locum. There's a concern if you're washing poultry in the kitchen sink, yes, but that's a concern that the water can splash off the chicken and land on a food preperation area, thus transporting unpleasant pathogens around the kitchen. But getting poultry wet isn't harmful in and of itself - otherwise you'd make yourself sick every time you brine a turkey or marinate chicken or make chicken stock or soup. Was there any specific reason ever given for that warning at all?

jap gt

Sparks wrote: »

That doesn't make sense if the bird's been trimmed and gutted already locum. There's a concern if you're washing poultry in the kitchen sink, yes, but that's a concern that the water can splash off the chicken and land on a food preperation area, thus transporting unpleasant pathogens around the kitchen. But getting poultry wet isn't harmful in and of itself - otherwise you'd make yourself sick every time you brine a turkey or marinate chicken or make chicken stock or soup. Was there any specific reason ever given for that warning at all?

i kill all free range chickens, they get dipped in hot water plucked and hung, when gutting i always wash of in a tub of water, hasnt killed me yet and is easier sell clean

Tackleberrywho

jap gt wrote: »

i kill all free range chickens, they get dipped in hot water plucked and hung, when gutting i always wash of in a tub of water, hasnt killed me yet and is easier sell clean

A friend of mine lived in Haiti for 2 years.

Chicken had bird flu to name a few diseases.

Boil chicken, then deep fry.

My friend used to call it wooden chicken.

Kills all known germs!

locum-motion

Sparks wrote: »

That doesn't make sense if the bird's been trimmed and gutted already locum. There's a concern if you're washing poultry in the kitchen sink, yes, but that's a concern that the water can splash off the chicken and land on a food preperation area, thus transporting unpleasant pathogens around the kitchen. But getting poultry wet isn't harmful in and of itself - otherwise you'd make yourself sick every time you brine a turkey or marinate chicken or make chicken stock or soup. Was there any specific reason ever given for that warning at all?

Nah, he didn't tell me why.

Sitka

keep an eye on Aldi or Lidlle web sites.
I picked up a monocular in NV for €160 a few years ago, a German make and I get 200 yards out of it. I will PM you the make when I go home. Works for me.