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Night Vision Devices
Many nights in the backcountry are far from dark. Darkness can fall fast when there are clouds, mountain, or trees. When you need to see in the dark, you have two choices - you either turn on a light, or use one of the many available night vision devices (NVD). The NVD could be the ultimate backcountry toy.
Choosing the right NVD will depend on how you'll use it. When most people think of night vision capabilities, they think about spy movies, the military or law enforcement - applications where it is vital for the good guys to see without being seen by the bad guys. Over the years, more and more people can afford NVDs. However, high-end devices used for specialized purposes remain quite expensive.
Night vision devices have two broad categories. Image Enhancement devices collect small amounts of light and amplify them to the point where the human eye can observe the object. Thermal Imaging devices capture the high end of the infrared light spectrum which is emitted as heat by objects. While Image Enhancement devices give you an image with more detail, Thermal Imaging devices give you images with regions of heat. As of now, there are five generations of NVD. Generations 0 and 1 are very affordable, but give poor quality images. Generations 2, 3, and 4 increase in image quality and in price accordingly.
Applications for NVD are actually quite diverse. Some examples are: military, law enforcement, security, hunting, wildlife observation, surveillance, navigation, hidden-object detection, spelunking and entertainment. NVD can be found on helicopters, rifles, camcorders, cameras, boats....just about anywhere. There is even a new craze in up-scale gathering called "A Dinner in the Dark Party", which involves guests wearing NVDs the whole time.
Many outdoor enthusiasts are beginning to discover the wonderful world that can be found after darkness falls in the backcountry. If you like to camp, hike or hunt, chances are good an NVD will be perfect for you.
Choosing the right NVD will depend on how you'll use it. When most people think of night vision capabilities, they think about spy movies, the military or law enforcement - applications where it is vital for the good guys to see without being seen by the bad guys. Over the years, more and more people can afford NVDs. However, high-end devices used for specialized purposes remain quite expensive.
Night vision devices have two broad categories. Image Enhancement devices collect small amounts of light and amplify them to the point where the human eye can observe the object. Thermal Imaging devices capture the high end of the infrared light spectrum which is emitted as heat by objects. While Image Enhancement devices give you an image with more detail, Thermal Imaging devices give you images with regions of heat. As of now, there are five generations of NVD. Generations 0 and 1 are very affordable, but give poor quality images. Generations 2, 3, and 4 increase in image quality and in price accordingly.
Applications for NVD are actually quite diverse. Some examples are: military, law enforcement, security, hunting, wildlife observation, surveillance, navigation, hidden-object detection, spelunking and entertainment. NVD can be found on helicopters, rifles, camcorders, cameras, boats....just about anywhere. There is even a new craze in up-scale gathering called "A Dinner in the Dark Party", which involves guests wearing NVDs the whole time.
Many outdoor enthusiasts are beginning to discover the wonderful world that can be found after darkness falls in the backcountry. If you like to camp, hike or hunt, chances are good an NVD will be perfect for you.