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Had a very "interesting" call yesterday. It was from a guy that bought a PVS14 from us back in 2016. Him and I have clearly talked before several times on the phone.
He was concerned with the "shelf life" of his PVS14.
Usually when I hear the "shelf life" question in regards to NIGHT VISION, I know it's one of our "prepper" customers.
I started off by telling him the cardinal rule- don't leave a battery in the unit, take it out EVERY time when you are done using it, don't care what kind of battery it is, get in the habit of taking it out every single time.
He was really concerned about the "shelf life" (his words) of the tube and unit. I asked him how much he had been USING the device.
In typical "prepper" fashion he told me how he doesn't really use it, turns it on once or twice a year to check it, turns it back off and removes the battery.
Evidently he was "told" by someone that the tube will just go bad in storage. That person (NOT ME) was clearly just trying to sell him a new device.
I told him the data that 3rd Gen tubes are rated to 10,000 hours MTTF. MTTF stands for Mean Time to failure. This essentially means they test tubes and after 10,000 hours of constant use, a small handful of tubes in batches of 100 or so will fail. That's an extremely small percentage!!! And note the important part- "10,000 hours" that's TEN THOUSAND HOURS for maaf challenged folks.
This dude was worrying that his unit that I doubt has 2 hours of total time on it was going to just 'go bad' somehow in storage. In my typical blunt fashion, I told this was a very stupid thing to worry about.
Then I dropped the real hammer on him telling him bluntly- "your obviously one of our "prepper" customers and your clearly not USING this device. You need to understand that Night vision CAN do a helluva lot for you if TSHTF but ONLY if you have been training with it, used to using it under various conditions, etc. I asked him how he was employing it? Helmet mounted?" Silence, crickets. I told him "your obsessing about the wrong things, which is VERY COMMON with "preppers", you need to get out and USE your device and learn it. You wouldn't have rifles you expected to use for SHTF but have never shot."
To give you an idea of how RARE tubes failures are, I looked back at our warranty file checking the last about 1,100 PVS14s we have shipped in the last year and a half or so. We had exactly ONE incident where a tube failed. And it failed within the first month and was REPLACED under warranty by Elbit.
I shared a story with him of how we recently replaced a PVS14 housing for a customer- he had bought his green phosphor PVS14 in 2007, used it here and there and had NOT heeded the Cardinal Rule and left the battery in the unit. Sure enough, the battery went to crap and ruined the battery compartment. We replaced the battery housing for him and upon powering up the unit his 2007 tube worked just fine.
For our buy it and put it away and never use it "prepper" crowd- Here is my personal message-
It's ok to just "store" your device- just be 100% sure the battery is out and the lenses are covered. If your worried about EMP, put the device in an ammo can. If your really paranoid about EMP pad it inside the ammo can.
AT THE VERY MINIMUM- these "store and never use it" types need to figure out how they are going to EMPLOY the device if they are expecting to use it if TSHTF. This means helmet mounting the unit, having the correct MOUNTS, ideally modern dovetail mounts and not old skewl military J arms. You need to know how you will employ your rifle in conjunction with your NV device- use an IR aiming laser that you will need to ZERO mounted on your rifle, or use passive aiming (see article here for intro) or be able to do both. We have articles here on the NV forum to explain this in a very basic, easy to read format.
Two minutes after TSHTF is not the time to try to source the mounts, helmets and IR lasers you will need to make your NV effective....
You DO NOT WANT TO MOUNT THE 14 TO A WEAPON DIRECTLY. The recoil can harm your tube and it is literally the worst way to EMPLOY your NV to fight with.
But the REAL TRUTH is you need training and experience with your device. Just "having" a NV device that you have little or no experience with is about as worthwhile as having a rifle you have never shot- you may THINK it will all work out for you fine when the time comes, but in reality you won't know WTF your doing with it. Simple. Blunt. Truth...
My like minded riends (I call myself a "survivalist" BTW, I highly dislike the "prepper" moniker)- You are KIDDING yourself if you think just HAVING a piece of gear you have no experience with is going to get you through bad times, you absolutely have to get some practical experience with it. That has been and will remain the bottom line on the subject.
Get out and use your gear, even if it's just walking about the backyard for 10 minutes. Learn to adjust the gain properly, learn to focus it, learn how you walk around with it, learn to observe with it.
If TSHTF, the only other option will be "on the job training" (OJT) and that will present a much steeper learning curve where failure could cost lives....
He was concerned with the "shelf life" of his PVS14.
Usually when I hear the "shelf life" question in regards to NIGHT VISION, I know it's one of our "prepper" customers.
I started off by telling him the cardinal rule- don't leave a battery in the unit, take it out EVERY time when you are done using it, don't care what kind of battery it is, get in the habit of taking it out every single time.
He was really concerned about the "shelf life" (his words) of the tube and unit. I asked him how much he had been USING the device.
In typical "prepper" fashion he told me how he doesn't really use it, turns it on once or twice a year to check it, turns it back off and removes the battery.
Evidently he was "told" by someone that the tube will just go bad in storage. That person (NOT ME) was clearly just trying to sell him a new device.
I told him the data that 3rd Gen tubes are rated to 10,000 hours MTTF. MTTF stands for Mean Time to failure. This essentially means they test tubes and after 10,000 hours of constant use, a small handful of tubes in batches of 100 or so will fail. That's an extremely small percentage!!! And note the important part- "10,000 hours" that's TEN THOUSAND HOURS for maaf challenged folks.
This dude was worrying that his unit that I doubt has 2 hours of total time on it was going to just 'go bad' somehow in storage. In my typical blunt fashion, I told this was a very stupid thing to worry about.
Then I dropped the real hammer on him telling him bluntly- "your obviously one of our "prepper" customers and your clearly not USING this device. You need to understand that Night vision CAN do a helluva lot for you if TSHTF but ONLY if you have been training with it, used to using it under various conditions, etc. I asked him how he was employing it? Helmet mounted?" Silence, crickets. I told him "your obsessing about the wrong things, which is VERY COMMON with "preppers", you need to get out and USE your device and learn it. You wouldn't have rifles you expected to use for SHTF but have never shot."
To give you an idea of how RARE tubes failures are, I looked back at our warranty file checking the last about 1,100 PVS14s we have shipped in the last year and a half or so. We had exactly ONE incident where a tube failed. And it failed within the first month and was REPLACED under warranty by Elbit.
I shared a story with him of how we recently replaced a PVS14 housing for a customer- he had bought his green phosphor PVS14 in 2007, used it here and there and had NOT heeded the Cardinal Rule and left the battery in the unit. Sure enough, the battery went to crap and ruined the battery compartment. We replaced the battery housing for him and upon powering up the unit his 2007 tube worked just fine.
For our buy it and put it away and never use it "prepper" crowd- Here is my personal message-
It's ok to just "store" your device- just be 100% sure the battery is out and the lenses are covered. If your worried about EMP, put the device in an ammo can. If your really paranoid about EMP pad it inside the ammo can.
AT THE VERY MINIMUM- these "store and never use it" types need to figure out how they are going to EMPLOY the device if they are expecting to use it if TSHTF. This means helmet mounting the unit, having the correct MOUNTS, ideally modern dovetail mounts and not old skewl military J arms. You need to know how you will employ your rifle in conjunction with your NV device- use an IR aiming laser that you will need to ZERO mounted on your rifle, or use passive aiming (see article here for intro) or be able to do both. We have articles here on the NV forum to explain this in a very basic, easy to read format.
Two minutes after TSHTF is not the time to try to source the mounts, helmets and IR lasers you will need to make your NV effective....
You DO NOT WANT TO MOUNT THE 14 TO A WEAPON DIRECTLY. The recoil can harm your tube and it is literally the worst way to EMPLOY your NV to fight with.
But the REAL TRUTH is you need training and experience with your device. Just "having" a NV device that you have little or no experience with is about as worthwhile as having a rifle you have never shot- you may THINK it will all work out for you fine when the time comes, but in reality you won't know WTF your doing with it. Simple. Blunt. Truth...
My like minded riends (I call myself a "survivalist" BTW, I highly dislike the "prepper" moniker)- You are KIDDING yourself if you think just HAVING a piece of gear you have no experience with is going to get you through bad times, you absolutely have to get some practical experience with it. That has been and will remain the bottom line on the subject.
Get out and use your gear, even if it's just walking about the backyard for 10 minutes. Learn to adjust the gain properly, learn to focus it, learn how you walk around with it, learn to observe with it.
If TSHTF, the only other option will be "on the job training" (OJT) and that will present a much steeper learning curve where failure could cost lives....