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Kickstarter – IO Cover: One-Handed, Built-in Lens Caps for Micro Optics

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

Joseph Chen came up with a rather interesting idea. in a nutshell –

IO Cover built-in lens caps – always ready. Open, close & stow with one hand. Rain or sand, see when you need it most.

The name IO was inspired by the way the cap and optic look head on when the cap is stowed. You flip the front and rear caps open, and they lock together so there’s no flapping in the breeze. Additionally, the optic is now armored against minor damage and camouflaged in a variety of colors.

Chen turned to Kickstarter to crowd source his funding, so let’s give him a hand. SSD put their money where their mouth is.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/719698632/io-cover-one-handed-built-in-lens-caps-for-micro-o

Tags: Kickstarter
Posted in Optics | 22 Comments »

Maneuver Conference – Wilcox Industries

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

Wilcox exhibited their new one-hole G11 mount developed for the US Army.

www.wilcoxind.com

Tags: Wilcox Industries
Posted in Helmets, Optics, Sensors | 1 Comment »

TNV/PVS-14 Line Released

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

TNVC has just announced the release of the often-requested and long-awaited TNV/PVS-14 Night Vision Monocular! It’s their own, in-house take on a PVS-14 program designed to meet the needs of their customers with options for everyone. The TNV/PVS-14 is available in three tube configurations, three body colors, and three packages. They are assembled by TNVC’s professional staff in-house, using only brand/factory-new parts. Each TNV/PVS-14 is built using a specially selected tube that meets or exceeds the minimum OMNI VIII spec. All systems come with a factory data sheet for the installed-tube and a full 5-year TNVC Warranty for the tube and system from the date of purchase.

Tube Configuration Options:
•L3 U.S. Gen3 Factory MILSPEC Current Contract OMNI VIII Tube
•ITT U.S. Gen3 PINNACLE Factory Current Contract OMNI VIII Spec Tube
•Gen3 U.S. New Commercial OMNI VIII Equivalent Tube

Kit Options
•Basic Kit (includes goggle and basic goggle accessories)
•Weapon Kit (includes Basic Kit + TM14 Weapon Mount, Aimpoint Twist Mount Base)
•Full Kit (includes Weapon Kit + ACH/MICH Helmet Mount Assembly)

Housing Color Options
•Basic Black
•FDE
•Officially Licensed Crye MultiCam

www.TNVC.com

Tags: Tactical Night Vision Company, TNVC
Posted in Optics | 1 Comment »

Shield Close Quarter Battlesight (CQB)

Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

The Close Quarter Battlesight (CQB) from UK producer Shield is a nonmagnified (1x) Mini Red Dot Sight. It is offered in 3 different red dot sizes:
1 MOA + 65 MOA ring
4 MOA dot
8 MOA dot (NSN 1240-99-555-2800)

It features variable intensity settings that at the low end can be seen with night vision devices and on the high end make the dot discernible in full day light. Battery life is from 1 to 3 years depending on the setting.

Shield has supplied over 20,000 of these CQBs to the British Army since starting production in 2010. The Shield CQB is subject to UK Export Control. Interestingly, it was developed from the Mini Sight which is NOT Export Controlled.

Here you can see the Shield CQB mounted to a 4 x 32 Browe Combat Optic.

shieldpsd.sharepoint.com/Pages/CQB

Tags: Browe, Shield
Posted in Optics | Comments Off on Shield Close Quarter Battlesight (CQB)

John Paul Discusses the Trijicon JP Model ACOG

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

This is an excellent video featuring John Paul discussing the advantages of the Trijicon 4 x 32 Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight in general, as well as the features of the JP reticle variant. The ACOG is a great sight. I used one mounted to the fixed carrying handle of an M16A2 in 1994 during my Haitian vacation. The magnification was very handy for use as a surveillance tool to determine what was going on a block or more from our location in the city as well as while scanning rooftops.

He also mentions the use of short range sights such as the flip up style in combination with the fixed magnification ACOG to cover a wider range of targets in short order as he doesn’t have to mess with changing magnifications like with a variable power scope.

Finally, John Paul briefly discusses the “optical triangle” which consists of three key elements; magnification, eye relief and field of view. In the case of the optical triangle, you can have more of one attribute but must sacrifice the other two. In the case of the 4 x 32, the 4 is the magnification of the scope and the 32 is the field of view. You end up with a short eye relief but with the low recoil of a 5.56 mm weapon, it’s not that big of a deal. Additionally, the wide field of view of the 4 x 32 lets you see what is going on so you weren’t looking through a soda straw.

www.jprifles.com

Tags: JP Rifles, Trijicon
Posted in Optics | 4 Comments »

BROWE Introduces .300 Blackout Reticle

Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

BROWE Optics has released their new reticle pattern for the 4×32 BROWE Combat Optic (BCO) consisting of horseshoe and dot for the .300 Blackout cartridge.

The 4×32 BCO .300 Blackout reticle is based on the popular horseshoe and dot style reticle and provides a bullet drop compensated (BDC) reticle for both the subsonic and supersonic ammunition. The 7 MOA horseshoe has a 5 MOA inner dimension and provides an illuminated 2 MOA wide ring for quick target acquisition. The center 1 MOA dot gives the operator that precision shot and was designed to be zeroed at 100m with the supersonic round or 25m with the subsonic round. For long range precision, the 4×32 BCO .300 Blackout reticle features a BDC reticle that ranges out to 900m for the supersonic and out to 400m for the subsonic. The horizontal stadia lines represent 19” at the indicated ranges. The reticle also offers a horizontal mil scale that has an overall length of 30 mils, with indicators every 5 mil.

The reticle is available in four color options including amber, blue, green, or red with illumination controlled automatically with the BCO Target Light Sensor Technology which adjusts the intensity of the reticle based on the amount of light reflected by the target.

www.browe-inc.com

Tags: BROWE Optics
Posted in Optics | 2 Comments »

LAV Talks Aimpoint

Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

LAV explains the various attributes of Aimpoint sights.

Tags: Aimpoint, LAV, Vickers Tactical
Posted in Optics | 6 Comments »

Pivothead Introduces Recon Model for Tactical Market

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012

Awhile back SSD introduced you to Pivothead, manufacturers of eyewear embedded with cameras. Now, they’ve introduced a new version of the Recon model designed specifically for the tactical market.

Featuring full 1080P HD video collection, the Pivothead Recon comes with three sets of interchangeable lenses: shooting yellow, clear and grey. Prescription lens services and ANSI 87.1 rated lenses will be available this Fall. Additionally, they’re working on live, wireless streaming technology, which should be released in a few months, so keep an eye out for that as well.

The Recon is currently available in a matte black color with a universal camo pattern being launched later this month. Pivothead eyewear retails for $349.

www.pivothead.com

Tags: Pivothead
Posted in Optics, Sensors | 4 Comments »