After browsing SHOT Show all last week, one thing is for certain: there has never been a better time in history to see what goes bump in the night. From innovative new helmet designs to lasers, thermals, and night vision, there was a lot to see. We rounded up some of those items below for you to see. Not all of the items below have been released yet, so you will have to keep your eyes peeled on the respective companies’ websites and social media.
Nocturn Industries
I am no stranger to the offerings of Nocturn Industries. I have a couple of their Tanto monoculars with the Daisho Bridge. It’s a great setup to go from a monocular to binoculars. They haven’t been resting on their laurels, though, and have several new products out.
U.N.V.M. Talon
The first new product in the video below is the U.N.V.M. Talon, which looks like a slight upgrade to the Tanto. Made of carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic, this thing is light. Fully kitted out with Nocturn parts, you can see in the video how light it is compared to an issued PVS-14. The other benefit is that the monocular is programmable to determine how it shuts off. There are also plans for a thermal variant later this year.
Mini Bat Pack
While not released yet, this is a pretty cool concept. It’s just a small external battery pack for night vision that uses 2x CR123a batteries. This is especially useful in vehicles or if you have a large counterweight on the back of the helmet.
U.A.P.N.V.G. “Chimera”
Panoramic night vision or quad nods, as some people call them, seemed to be a big theme this year. Nocturn is finally getting close to releasing the U.A.P.N.V.G. “Chimera”, and it seems the wait was worth it. The lens system on it alone is pretty awesome, as it helps merge the images from the two tubes in the eye.
Low Light Innovations
Continuing on with a common theme among the night vision companies, we see Low Light Innovations with their lightweight options, as well as a panoramic offering.
MH-1
The MH-1 is a magnesium modular night vision system. You can change out things like what battery powers it, and remove a pod and make a monocular. They recently introduced the panning arms LLPA, providing a larger 69-degree field of view. This is a setup I personally would like to try at some point.
UH-1
The UH-1 is not released just yet, but it is a polymer non-modular night vision housing. It keeps a lot of the features of the MH-1 while removing the modularity and magnesium build to remove some of the cost.
MARS-1
It wouldn’t be a trip into a night vision booth without their version of a panoramic night vision device. The MARS-1 pano utilises a unique bridge that the pods rotate around at an angle. This is in pre-production, so keep checking back for more.
Holosun
Over the past few years, Holosun has really solidified itself in the night vision accessory space. They have made affordable and solid lasers, culminating with the IRIS laser, which they recently released, along with their digital night vision and thermal sights.
ARO and AEMS EVO Dual
For rifles and PDWs where rail estate is lacking, Holosun came out with the ARO EVO Dual and AEMS EVO Dual. These optics are based on their already popular bodies but include a visible and infrared laser inside the optic itself. They operate using a standard crane port to use whatever switch you want, or the newly designed ones from Holosun.
American Animal Arms
I had never heard of American Animal Arms before seeing the SHOT Show press release. They have a unique design for cable management, so I figured I would give them a look.
Lights Out Rail
When mounting lasers and lights to a rifle, you often have to mess around with the cables so they do not get snagged on things. American Animal Arms came out with their idea to manage this with the Lights Out Rail. This rail utilises special cover plates and dovetails on the diagonals of the handguard. These have a screw in them to wrap the cord around and keep everything contained. The rail also utilises a novel design for mounting the rail to the barrel nut.
Kali Protectives
While Kali Protectives is no stranger to the action sports world, they are relatively unknown in the military/police/SAR. I saw the prototype of their helmet offerings a couple of years back and was pleased to see they are finally in production.
The interesting part about these helmets is that they didn’t go with the standard option of making a polymer/carbon fibre version of a combat helmet; they went with their cycling experience. The helmet has all the normal ratings you would expect of a bump helmet, including being cycle rated. As a fan of night vision bike rides, I appreciate this. Modern ebikes would make for excellent scouting options.
BMP and SAR-606 Helmets
Kali Protectives has two variants of their new helmet, the BMP-606, which is a more military-specific bump helmet that comes standard with full side rails and an NVG shroud. The SAR-606 has smaller rails on the side but can be optioned to have an NVG shroud if required. When you look at the helmet, their different approach to building the helmet becomes obvious.
Wrap up
There was entirely too much to cover from this show. Above are only a few of the items I did videos on; there were loads more helmets, night vision devices, lasers, and accessories we saw but didn’t have time to record.
