Increase a night vision devices range/distance

Customers are always asking us how far can they see with a night vision device? This depends on many factors such as what generation, image tube quality and type of device your using, with ranges of 20 yards for department store models to over 2000 yards with one of our long range binoculars. These distances will vary greatly depending on how dark of a night it is. On a full moon clear night you feel like you can see forever with a good gen 2 or gen 3 model. But those dark cloudy nights with little or no moonlight can cut your range down dramatically. Were talking less than half the range you would have on a quarter moon clear night. You see, those stars that don’t seem to give off much light really do when it comes to  light amplification. Night vision works off of “image intensification” so the little bit of starlight enters the device and gets “amplified” by tens of thousands of times. This is why they call it “starlight technology” and when the clouds are covering the stars much less light gets down to the earth thus lowering the amount of light available for the device to work with. There is a solution to this problem however. Utilizing an external long range infrared illuminator, not to be confused with short range built in IR illuminators,  will dramatically increase the range of the device no mater what generation or model you are using. These long range illuminators allow you to bring your own, invisible to the naked eye, spot light to boost the light your night vision unit has to work with.  The increase in range is most dramatic on the darker nights and the IR illuminators vary in power and distance with the IR K2 illuminator being the most powerful and versatile model on the market.  These night vision accessories  can be hand held or weapon mounted on a weaver or Picatinny rail with the addition of a 1913 adapter. The only downside of using an IR illuminator to extend your range is that they are extremely visible to any kind of night vision, even the cheap models, which will give away your position and potentially make you a target. So if you need to be covert and there is a chance that you would be going up against someone else with a night vision device we recommend staying completely “passive” meaning without the use of infrared and that includes built in IR as well. To the naked human eye as well as “most” animals this infrared light is invisible so for hunting it can be a great asset as it will shine the eyes of many animals helping you to find them in cover. So as a night time operator you need to know when to use IR and when to shut it off so you can “disappear” into the night.