Night Vision in Metal Detecting/Teasure Hunting

TreasureGrabber

Full Member
Jul 6, 2006
164
7
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS/
Minelab Explorer SE (with Coiltek WOT spider, Coiltek Joe, SEF 10x12 )/Bounty Hunter Land Star.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello Friends,
I think it would be great accessory to treasure hunting Night Vision Equipment. Do you think it is a good idea for night hunting?
I think it would be ok for this purposes passive night vision. I mean night vision with infrared projector and goggles.
(because military night vision equipment is expensive:( )

Do you know any of this kind of equipment which has high resolution and is relatively cheap?

In advance thank you for any comments :)
 

Guys :), don't you know anything?
 

tonight on the 10 o'clock news....

treasure hunter causes homeland defense uproar!


honestly, doesnt sound like a good idea.
 

thank you for the reply Re-Tek,
I'm not going to tresure hunt on anybody's property, the idea is to hunt privately, without being detected by curious human eye... to not get myself asked different silly questions...
 

Might see more than you want too......distraction.....
 

I've used military night vision (several versions) for years... I've read by it, fired many weapons using it, conducted basic and tactical night ops using it, driven Hummers around Kuwait and Saudi using it... been an observer in helicopters using it... and I'll be damned if I would ever use it for detecting! It's NOT convienent, NOT comfortable, NOT better than a light, and NOT cheap! Also... it's generally vision in 2-D, not 3-D.

It also wouldnt seem safe depending on where you were, you would have to adjust the optics everytime you took a knee to dig, and then again when you stood up to walk...

Unless you had an awesome pilot's single lense monocular - but then you would have to learn to use both eyes in a different capacity...

That's my advice... :P
 

??? Why would you need them? Not like you can see into the ground. ;) And then you would need a flash light to see your newly dug item.
Maybe I am missing something?
 

Montana Jim Thank you very much for your valuable advice. :)
It seems you have had a big exparience in night vision usage. I know that military night visions are not cheap, but I have heard there are night visions which work on different principle, I mean passive night visions, which include source of infrared light and optics for seeing the objects. This night visions are not so expansive, but they work on low distance(up to 10 meters). Have you heard anything about them or can you recommend any?
 

I was a battlion night vision goggle instructor at Ft Carson, for the 704th MSB 4th Infantry Div. Let me echo what Montana Jim has said. Your depth perception is basically shot when dealing with something as close as you will, while digging.

if you need to see at night, stick to the flash light headsets, better light source and a lot cheaper.

I sure hope you do not want to use NVG's to hunt an area that is off limits....
 

Mike Thank you for the reply. :) I'd use flashlight, but imagine on some area neighbouring where you are living/walking, at night somebody is appearing with metal detector and flashlight, you suspect that there is truly something valuable to be found and you begin to watch the treasure hunter, meanwhile he doesn't see you since the flashlight light blinds him in the darkness and so he is totally incapable to do anything in case you are a bad guy... and all this when treasure hunter just wants to detect privatly on legal area... do you think it is still secure to hunt at night with flashlight? I think no, so I'd prefer to use night vision instead... can you recommend any passive night vision high resolution equipment with working distance up to 10 meters?
 

???
 

Not to mention, Parks are usually closed at night and people can face fines if found in them after dark. I just dont think it would be a good thing to try, not to mention everyone and thier mothers will be calling the police on you. Plus it just doesn't look got for the hobby....Sneaking around with night vision and all. Overall, I think it would be a bad idea in general...IMHO.
 

TreasureGrabber said:
Montana Jim Thank you very much for your valuable advice. :)
It seems you have had a big exparience in night vision usage. I know that military night visions are not cheap, but I have heard there are night visions which work on different principle, I mean passive night visions, which include source of infrared light and optics for seeing the objects. This night visions are not so expansive, but they work on low distance(up to 10 meters). Have you heard anything about them or can you recommend any?

I cannot recommend any.

But a head strapped flashlight and use that. My recommendation if you must hunt at night. (like AeroMike said)

A 10 meter night vision? Man - talk about shuting down your situational awareness! NOT recommended.

I don't understand the draw to that technology for this hobby... but I guess toys are toys! You stated it's a shut-off area where nobody can see you anyway - light that place up man!

Storm is right - even if your NOT sneaking around - the perception is that you ARE!
 

Thank you guys for all your advices.
In case I use a flashlight, which colour should I use to be less noticable for a human eye?
 

TreasureGrabber said:
Thank you guys for all your advices.
In case I use a flashlight, which colour should I use to be less noticable for a human eye?

blue lense is least noticeable for others to see you... but horrible for you looking into a dirt hole

but white is best for you to see what the hell you are doing!

I got your mail - will respond soonest.
 

In the other thread you posted I replied to the question about why Blue and not Red lenses... I'll cut and past the same reply here... with a great link!

The following colors are all fanstastic at night: Green, red, blue, amber, orange. However, depending on WHAT you are reading, or WHAT you are doing that color need might change. Hospitols use blue light to preserve night vision because red will hide the any fresh blood color. Military uses red because they read maps, and there are no red marks on military maps, they use dark brown. Can you imagine looking at a contour map with a green light? It would be a blank page. Hence my reply for digging in the dirt - blue. Thats just my experience which is stated in the other thread - 25 years of night vision equipment use and colored flashlights and glowsticks. BTW - Submarines use blue lights now, not red. Surface ships still use red. Blue-Green is actually suppossed to cause the LEAST amount of stress on human eyes at night.

Also as stated - use a white light or don't hunt at night, the whole "hunting at night with sneaky equipment" thing seems strange to me anyway.

Having spewed my own thoughts - I found this link, Check it out... good stuff and a MUST read if your interested in this stuff for any reason: http://stlplaces.com/night_vision.html
 

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