Ah, the PVS-14 – a monocular, goggle, and oft-used weapon sight.
But who is TRYBE Defense?
They’re a brand dedicated to manufacturing quality parts so that shooters always have the best experience when they’re doing what they love best or protecting the ones they love most.
The TRYBE PVS-14 is a high-quality Gen 3 that can alternatively be rated as a Gen 3P or Gen 3+ unit.
For the quality, price, and performance, it’s a unit that must be part of your NV setup.
If you’re a PVS-14 weapon-mounting kind of person, you’ll understand why it can be counted among the ranks of the top night vision scopes to date.
The details are in the specs. Check it out.
Quick Overview...
What We Like: Gen 3 Pinnacle WPT IIT
What We Don’t Like: PVS-14
Best Uses: Night Shooting, Tactical Use, Hunting, Scouting, Varmint Control, Monocular, Head/Helmet Mounting, Weapon Mounting, Professional Use, Close to Mid-Range Detection
- IIT: Gen 3
- Magnification: 1x
- FOV: 40-degrees
- Resolution: 64-82 lp/mm
- Eye Relief: 25 mm
- Color Modes: White Phosphor
- Battery: 50+ hours
- Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.5 x 2.75”/10.8 oz
Our Verdict: TRYBE Defense lives up to their promise of making quality optics. The PVS-14 goes far beyond just regular specs as it has features that promise high-end tube performance. TRYBE doesn’t disappoint, and as a monocular that can do a little bit of everything, it’s worth the price.
Who is the TRYBE PVS-14 Gen 3 WPT Best Suited to?
The TRYBE PVS-14 is best suited to anyone who needs night vision. It performs exceptionally well for goggles and handheld use. If you’re not yet decided on what type of night vision gear you need, start with a PVS-14. It’s not just a monocular - it can wear many hats with reasonable limitations.
While it’s not a dedicated weapon sight, it can perform as one for a short period of time, and when other gear fails, you may need it as a backup. It’s perfect for those who want the an awesome night vision monocular, but it can also work as a temporary unit for hitting steel at extended ranges or for coyote hunting every now and then.
But if you’d rather look for a dedicated weapon-mounted unit for use with a red dot or magnified optic right from the start, consider the ATN PS28-3 clip-on or the AGM Wolverine Pro-4-NL1. They’re in the same price range, although, they won’t have the high-end tube quality or specs of the TRYBE PVS-14.
How Does the TRYBE PVS-14 Gen 3 WPT Perform?
Not only is the TRYBE Defense unit a PVS-14, it has a Gen 3 Pinnacle/Autogated thin-filmed tube with white phosphor imaging. This is top-end monocular night vision. If you want the best performance from a versatile NVD, this is the type of quality you must have.
There are both hand-selected and non-hand-selected models available. Non-hand-selected models may have some barely noticeable blemishes in zones 2 and 3, but hand-selected models are typically blemish-free.
This is a hand-selected model with incredible night vision performance in near total dark conditions. With the type of tube quality this PVS-14 has, the detail, contrast, and clarity of WPT far outperforms the epochal green night vision seen in lower Gen tubes. Regardless of one’s view on WPT, this model shows how it’s done right – and it works.
With an ultra-compact and lightweight build, you can see why it will be a great addition to head gear and even a light caliber rifle. It would make a great night vision sight for an AR-15 for when you need it weapon-mounted.
Features & Benefits
Gen 3 Pinnacle WPT IIT
TRYBE Defense goes all out with their night vision gear. This PVS14 has a Gen 3 Pinnacle thin-filmed IIT with a white phosphor screen. As a PVS14, it also has a manual gain knob, and as a Pinnacle tube, it also has autogating.
The combo of these features makes for a very durable, reliable, and efficient night vision unit for multiple applications. The autogating protects the tube from excessive bright light sources and reduces the negative effects of blooming and halo around them.
The white phosphor image is a lot more comfortable and clearer for many to use. The Hand Select models offer up units with SNR values of 27-30, FOM of around 1800+, and exceptionally high resolution of 64-82 lp/mm. You could say that you now know what it feels like to look through SOCOM-issued night vision.
Versatile Monocular
The PVS-14 is the ultimate monocular for multiple uses and applications for both mission-minded operatives and hunters. With its incredible lightweight, compact size and close focus, it’s excellent for helmet/head mounting when used as goggles for mobility, reading, field dressing animals, administering first aid, and performing vehicle maintenance. It’s extremely versatile and promotes mobility.
Weapon mounting the PVS14 does take away from some of its versatility benefits. Even so, there are plenty who are accustomed to shouldering their weapon to move about short distances (30-70 yards) in the dark or hunters who shoot from a fixed position while calling in prey or baiting them in with a feeder.
Weapon Mounting
The TRYBE PVS-14 has standard housing for mounting options, so there are multiple mounting assemblies that you can purchase to equip the unit. This is a noteworthy mention because there are some proprietary PVS-14 monoculars that are made in such a way that they are only compatible with brand-specific mounts, gear, and accessories. The TRYBE isn’t one of them.
The PVS14 sits behind an optic on a weapon because it’s not collimated like a clip-on. Consequently, it’s best suited with a night vision compatible red dot sight that is parallax free and has less lenses to reduce light loss by the time it reaches your eye.
What about recoil? You don’t want to test the limits of any PVS14 on a rifle as they’re usually only rated for small arms like the 5.56x45mm NATO for max recoil resistance. This is also true of thin-filmed tubes such as this unit.
Great Detection
You can bet that the TRYBE PVS-14 will be a workhorse in the field. It’s provides excellent identification under 200 yards. Of course, with the quality of the IIT and high tube specs, detection and recognition will be much further. For under 200 yards, you may not even need any IR illumination as its passive performance in little ambient light is impressive.
Its PID (Probability of Correct Identification) works concurrently with the monocular’s design. Without magnification and sitting behind a red dot sight, it provides a well-matched identification range of 100-200 yards needed for close-combat fire and hunting. With its unforgiving eye relief, it’s best suited to small arms with little to no recoil that perform excellently under 300 yards.
With magnified optics in front of the monocular, you will be able to see further with some compromise on image quality, but you still can’t get away with using larger calibers with heavier recoil.
Limitations
PVS-14
The PVS-14 is a night vision monocular that can be mounted in several ways, and of course, there will always be those who want to weapon mount it because they can. Weapon mounting a PVS-14 is not its primary function, and it’s not shockproof to recoil. They are not designed as weapon sights although they can be used as such.
So, while a PVS-14 can be a great night vision backup behind a red dot, it’s not their primary purpose to be used in such a way. This is an expensive route to take if you’re not planning on buying more night vision gear in the near future.
Popular Questions
The PVS-14 is not a weapon sight. However, when weapon-mounted, they may have different ratings for different types of tubes. This specific TRYBE PVS-14 unit has a thin-filmed Pinnacle tube and would only be rated for use with small arms with small caliber recoil with the 5.56x45mm NATO as the max.
Unfilmed L3 tubes these days can handle much higher recoil up to .50BMG.
A PVS-14 is well-suited for hunting. The TRYBE Defense PVS-14 allows the user to positively identify targets out to 200 yards. Detection and recognition can be much further.
When weapon-mounted, you will be limited in what you can use it on as it has limited eye relief and low recoil resistance.
The PVS-14 comes with a soft carry case, shoulder strap, and neck cord. It also comes with a head mount assembly, J-arm, and brow pads. Small accessories like an eye cup, objective lens cap, demist shield, and sacrificial filter are also included. Other items such as a data sheet, manual, and battery is provided.
Night vision products from TRYBE Defense are covered with a 2-year warranty on both the tube and housing. It is non-transferable and applies only to the original owner.
Conclusion
Mounting a monocular/goggle to a rifle is not the best option if it’s your intended application. But it does solve issues in a jiffy and is a temporary fix while you decide on a clip-on or standalone scope in the meantime.
With quality this good through your head set, you can see why you can hit steel at a few hundred yards if you’re testing out the distance capabilities of your 22LR. You can also pop off some rodents and coyotes with your AR-15 while you’re at it.
Mount this back to your helmet, and you can move through buildings, bushes, and fields with the crisp clarity of Gen 3+ WPT.
Further Reading
