... How important is it to have a pvs14 to pair with a thermal on one side? Will it not balance correctly/feel weird ? ...
I've been running 14 and thermal side by side on head since late 2015.
Back in those days, people told me I would get dizzy, fall down and die and other similar things. When I got my first head mounted thermal, those sorts of words had me worried, so I spent the first few nights out with the thermal real near the house, so my wife could find my body more quickly, if I died.
But I didn't get dizzy, fall down or die. And I could navigate fine with just a thermal up there.
It took a little longer ( Feb 2016 IIRC) to get a head mounted thermal side by side with a 14, but I did get it done. And that had been my dream. This meant I could scan with the thermal hands free while moving. Even while rolling on the 4-wheeler and essentially I've been doing that ever since.
I also use a COTI type device to clipon to the 14, sometimes and that improves shooting with the laser.
So that gets back to the main reason I put a 14 up there, so I can see the laser. The thermal can't see the laser, so you can't effectively shoot with an IR laser with just the thermal up there. The 14 addresses that.
Beyond that, in snow and ice conditions, the 14 can see REALLY well, because the luminosity of of the snow/ice is super and reflects a lot of the ambient light. Whereas for thermal, everything (except the critters) is about the same temperature. So its hard seeing the terrain in snow/ice. The 14 helps with that.
Driving the 4 wheeler down trails in the woods and across narrow pipe bridges and such ... USUALLY the thermal can see better - but there are times, usually colder times, when the 14 can see better.
So I also like having both up there, in case one can see better than the other.
Do the images merge so you see one fused image ? They never have for me, but then I never expected them to. A tiny few people have reported they've gotten their images to merge, but I never have and again, never expected to.
But, the alternative used by most, is to put the thermal in their pocket. Then when they want to use it, they stop, take thermal out of pocket and hold it up with their hand to scan. So, they aren't moving and they are consuming a hand. Whereas if its mounted on my head already, I don't have to stop moving or consume a hand.
If I only want to see with one or the other and not both, I can close one eye lid and I do that on rare occasions, like when driving thru a narrow area on the 4 wheeler, to make sure I know what I am seeing. Some people like to flip one side out, so they only see one at a time. I've been able to use my eyelids for that.
Will it not balance correctly/feel weird ?
I will say a lot of people HATE IT ... so be aware !!!
I love it - but I am "n=1" ... and I would say, over the years, the "herd" has generally felt like "it sucks". So if you're a "herd critter" it probably isn't for you.
I really wanted it to work for me and it has - from day one ... and every day afterward. I've never regretted putting both up there together. There are use cases for doing other things. But in general. I like both up there together. And I believe if you want it to work for you - it will work for you - I has for me !!
Here are the 3 primary setups I use.
From left to right.
14 with chinese ecoti on cry night cap. This is a very minimalist dual band setup and I like it for when I need to optimize mobility and can afford to deoptimize long distance PID, like when I'm mostly in the woods.
a pair of 14s with a vectronics 320 coti. This is primarily used when driving a vehicle with a glass windshield, but when I'll still be getting out to move, see and shoot at night. The dual 14s aid in driving (or navigating in really rough terrain in some lighting conditions). This is the setup I use the least, but I do use it when called for.
Over the years, the herd mantra has been that dual tube night vision is the ONLY way to go at night - hence the folks telling me I am a nut destined to die, if I put thermal on my head. But I've never told anyone else what they must do, and I just do what works for me.
We've experimented wearing this setup in the woods, versus setup #3 below ... and no one I go out with felt setup #2 worked better - and that goes against conventional wisdom, which says we have to have the 14 to "navigate". Our experience actually indicated the thermal can see to navigate better, in creeks and woods. It can better see the pools in the creeks for instance vs the 14, especially on nights with no big moon overhead.
#3 - a thermal monocular, and a 14 with a vectronics coti. This setup has enhanced longer distance PID over the other two. So for working in open pastures, this is what I use. The 14 and coti add the ability to shoot quickly with the laser.
And that gets us to the coti, what is it good for ? Most people get COTIs and hate them. I consider them to be essential for optimizing shooting with the laser. I've killed just shy of 500 critters on my land since late 2015 around my chickens and calves and about 1/3 of them with the laser. That's because there's a lot of woods around and the laser with coti is very fast at short distance where by the time you engage, the critter is usually moving away from you. So speed is essential. With the coti and the 14, the coti detects and tracks and the 14 sees the laser. You don't even have to pull up, so you save that time (if you're using 556).
