Sunlight, my friend… or enemy!?
As there is quite a bit of false or misleading information out there, a bit of knowledge on sunlight vs night vision is being dropped right here form the pros in the business over at ACTinBlack. Enjoy the read.
Turning on an NVG during the day without day caps, training filters or other light protection is never great for the health of a tube. However, if you are in the shadow and just quickly checking the unit not much will actually happen to it.
Direct exposure to the sun, meaning your objective lens pointing towards the sun without protection, can and will leave irreparable damage. This can occur within seconds or might take a while.
This does apply as well for your NVG being turned off! Exposure to the sun will leave damage even if the device is off.
The image is from a unit that was off mounted on the helmet without day caps.
Simple rules of night vision use during the day:
1 Always use protection.
2 Being cool with your NVG mounted on your helmet during the day (without protection) may cost you your tubes.
3 When not necessary, put your NVG away in a pouch, hard case or other storage option.
