Best Night Vision Goggles For The Money: ATN PS31

This is a summary of my process of finding the best night vision goggles for the money. My search eventually led me to the ATN PS31-3w, but "best" and "for the money" are both subjective terms. Is this unit "just as good" as something that costs twice as much? No. But, it's more than "good enough" for my needs.

It's hard to shop for night vision because it's rare to find a good selection locally where you can try them all on and use them in real world environments. Also, lack of product availability, high cost and complexity make it very difficult to objectively shop.

Due to the high cost and rarity of NVG, you may not be able to simply buy a few sets and sell the ones you don't prefer without incurring significant costs/losses. Also, it's hard to create good night vision content online, so there aren't nearly as many quality videos about NVG.

While they're getting better, digital NVG are simply not ready for prime time. By the time you buy a Sionyx Aurora and a helmet mount, you might as well get real night vision. Also, the Aurora's form factor is still a long tube, so you don't get any of the hypothetical advantages like better form-factor that digital could offer.