Does anyone have any experience with this night vision monocular?

Night vision monocular

I've read great reviews online and youtube videos show a great image that can be used up to 300 yards. It has an IR toggler but most people state that it isn't even necessary on moonlit nights. The primary purpose would be to spot hogs from the ground or an elevated blind and initiate a stalk. Once we're withing reasonable distances (50-100 yards) I would use an XLR250 to finish the job. Night owl states that this unit is comparable to Gen 2 / Gen 3 optics. I've considered a FLIR unit but there is no way the fiance would allow me to spend that much money.

The unit has a one year warranty which turns me off a little bit. If I'm going to spend 500 bucks I like some more assurance.

Figured THF is the way to go because y'all seem to know a lot about this kind of stuff.

I read the same great reviews as well. I ordered one from Cabelas when they ran them on sale late last year and was VERY disappointed. I wanted it just to see what was moving around early in the morning before the sun came up while in the stand. Mine didn't work right out of the package......wouldn't even focus. Sent it back and got a refund.

On the other hand a guy on the same lease as me has one and he says his works great.

On edit: I just clicked on the link and that's not the same one I had.

I have an early generation model and it has very little magnification. Mine was $199 I believe. They are tempting but I'd save up for what you really want instead of spending money on something you want to improve. (I don't have money for a Gen5 model but would like something more than I have now). I use mine in my bow blind and I can make out critters from 30-40 yds. Good luck.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=688359&Q=&is=REG&A=details

I have the 5x version above and for an inexpensive unit, it works pretty good. On a good moon lit night, and in open areas, it can go several hundred yards maybe a bit more, but for most use probably 100 yards is max. I sit a stand within hammocks for the most part, or in ground blinds on the edges of hammocks and it does pick out the hogs pretty well.

My partner bought a binocular type night vision and it is way more comfortable using two eyes rather than one, but the unit is larger and heavier than the monocular.

I don't have experience with that particular model, but in general, Night Owl is more of an economy brand which is one of the reasons it only has a one year warranty. Also, I would be very careful about buying a device that costs $500 and claims to surpass "Gen 2 and Gen 3". I promise you that if you take a quality Gen 3 device and compare it side by side, you would strongly prefer the Gen 3 device. Higher end digital devices (the night owl device you linked to is digital) typically have reasonably comparable quality to lower end Gen 2.

If you are looking in the $500 range, for your application I would recommend a digital device rather than traditional night vision (Gen 1/2/3). The device C'mere linked to uses traditional night vision technology and works completely differently than digital. Traditional night vision usually has better performance than digital in the $200-$400 range but digital catches up and passes it in the $500-$800 range.

Bushnell would be the current top brand I would recommend for a digital device in the price range you are looking in. Also, if you are willing to wait a bit, there are some really impressive new products that will be available soon. I got to see some of them at SHOT show this past week and was really impressed with their quality vs. pricepoint. ATN has the X-Sight for around $600 and the Bino-X for around $400-500. Sightmark also had the Photon coming out soon in that price range which looked really nice.