Natural Night Vision: An Introduction

by now the tactical community is well aware of the advantages of using night vision devices simply put night vision devices might not guarantee mission success but not having night vision will result in a person being seriously disadvantaged at night or will it are there situations in which natural night adaptation is superior to having a night vision device and how does natural night vision work in conjunction with traditional night vision devices today we're going to examine the world's first night vision device and see what techniques can be used to improve the natural night adaptation of the human eye as one might imagine there is a lot of urban legend surrounding the concept of natural night vision so hopefully today we can provide a well-rounded explanation of the topic and encourage everyone to take a closer look at old school doctrines surrounding night adaptation and up first some science the human eye and its arrangement in the dome piece is host to many fascinating processes so let's take a look at how the human eye works normally under normal conditions light originates from the sun bounces off of an object and gets blasted into your noggin the light gets refracted by t ormally under normal conditions light originates from the sun bounces off of an object and gets blasted into your noggin the light gets refracted by the cornea through the pupil and enters the meaty bits of the eye through the lens once the light is inside your jelly roll it slams against the back wall hitting the retina the retina is responsible for converting light or anime if you're in the marines into electrical signals electrical signals that are then passed to the optic nerve and then shot up to your old meatloaf up top now there are a lot of things that can affect this overly simplified process age disease injury diet all of these can affect how efficient this process is but by far the number one factor for impacting how well you can see is darkness i know strange concept but bear with me for a moment during periods of darkness a lot of interesting stuff takes place inside the eyeball when it gets dark it is obvious to some of us that there is in fact less light less light bouncing off of objects means less light getting beamed into your peepers and when that happens well some interesting stuff takes place you see the retina contains two types of photoreceptors photoreceptor into your peepers and when that happens well some interesting stuff takes place you see the retina contains two types of photoreceptors photoreceptor is just a fancy name for the type of cells that can convert light to electrical signals the retina contains two types of photoreceptors rods and cones cones are the pretty boys cones only work out in bright light where everyone can see them there aren't many of them only 5 million cones to over 100 million rods but they get all the credit because cones are what allow you to see in color but when the spotlights turn off and it's too dark to take instagram photos cones become totally ineffective that's where rods come in rods are the hard workers they function in darkness just fine the always forgotten but never by the vc rods are the workhorses of the night they are also what allow us to see in black and white this is why when your mom flips the light off in your basement you can't really see colors only the outlines of highly contrasting objects or different shades of gray this is due to the purkinje effect also pronounced perchini by those more cultured than i the purkinje effect is sometimes also referred to as the purkinje shift e o the purkinje effect also pronounced perchini by those more cultured than i the purkinje effect is sometimes also referred to as the purkinje shift effect this is the phenomenon of the human eye tending to have higher sensitivity towards the blue end of the electromagnetic spectrum at lower illumination levels in other words the human eye has trouble distinguishing between certain colors under progressively dark conditions remember the internet sensation of this particular image this dress a while back some people see a black and blue dress and other people say the color is white and gold the purkinje shift effect has been offered up as an explanation of why people have different reactions to seeing the photo based on how dark adapted their eyes are in other words the ambient lighting in which a person is located might determine what image they see if the brightness on their phone is turned way up they might see a white and gold dress but if their brightness is turned way down and their eyes are beginning to adapt to the darkness they might see a blue and black dress sure this specific example is an optical illusion in many ways but the purkinje effect is one explanation that has y might see a blue and black dress sure this specific example is an optical illusion in many ways but the purkinje effect is one explanation that has been offered up for this internet craze and examining how differently colors appear to the human eye under varying lighting conditions is very handy for the field of camouflage but as we mentioned dark adaptation takes time this is because our mighty rods need a special chemical to function just like we all need a mighty scoop or three of protein to grow big and strong the rods in our eyes also need a little sip of protein to function but instead of consuming protein our rods make it themselves this go-go juice is comprised of a protein called rhodopsin now rhodopsin is a bit shy and only likes to work out in complete darkness in fact any light whatsoever will cause a adoption to decay away pretty much instantly rhodopsin also takes a while to produce usually several hours this is why it takes a long time for your eyes to reach peak effectiveness for seeing in the dark this will be important to remember later so to recap for those that are a little slow on the uptake like me in the human eye we have two types of photoreceptor cells co tant to remember later so to recap for those that are a little slow on the uptake like me in the human eye we have two types of photoreceptor cells cones and rods cones allow us to see in color but don't work that well in the dark rods allow us to see better in the dark but only work in black and white rods need a special protein called rhodopsin to function and rhodopsin takes a long time to make so taking all of this science stuff into account how does the night adaptation process work well it's pretty simple just stay in the dark for a while that's really it the eye will naturally adjust to darkness as best it can the rods in the retina juicing up with rhodopsin to reach peak effectiveness in a few hours remember rhodopsin decays away to nothing pretty much instantly upon the eye taking in light so when you're trying to adapt your eyes to the darkness go sit in the dark for 30 to 45 minutes oh and one more thing stay off of your phone i know how much of a challenge that might be but tiktok and snapchat can wait for half an hour even if you pull out your phone for just a second to see who liked your post on instagram that is enough to ruin your natural night adaptation no turning n if you pull out your phone for just a second to see who liked your post on instagram that is enough to ruin your natural night adaptation no turning down the brightness on your phone will not work it will help for sure but no phone screen on the planet can get dim enough to allow you to use your phone in the dark while retaining your natural night vision but for those of you who actually have to use your phone in the dark for tactical reasons fear not there are a couple of things you can do to make it so that you can use your phone in the dark without blinding yourself too much we will talk about that in just a minute when it comes to biology the human eye is a fascinating bit of engineering and you can see the sort of primal origins of how the human body has evolved for example our eyes are forward facing they're situated to look forward in the skull this allows us to have better depth perception and allows for natural range finding skills that might be needed to throw a spear for instance and at night well that's where things get super interesting for instance even though the rods and cones are both present in the eye they are concentrated in different zones different places in super interesting for instance even though the rods and cones are both present in the eye they are concentrated in different zones different places in the eye remember how the cones are the pretty boys of the eye well where else would you expect to find them but right up front if we use parlance from night vision tubes the cones are mostly concentrated in zone 1 right in the center of our vision obviously cones are spread throughout the eye but most of them are concentrated here rods on the other hand are mostly concentrated in zones 2 and 3. this is very very important this means that your natural night adapted vision is most effective in your periphery unlike during the day your peripheral vision is best at night this is especially important to remember for trying to observe objects at night rather than trying to look directly at something look beside it or around it you can try this yourself and i guarantee the results will be surprising remember that the human eye is predisposed to seeing movement as well so when you're using your peripheral vision to see something in the dark don't just stare at a single point off to the side of it constantly keep your eye moving all around th peripheral vision to see something in the dark don't just stare at a single point off to the side of it constantly keep your eye moving all around the target you'll find that if you stare at a fixed point beside an object and don't move it tends to disappear from view so keeping your eyes moving is an effective way to use your peripheral vision to view something in the dark remember the process of your eyes adapting to the darkness takes time it usually takes several hours for the rods to produce enough rhodopsin to be effective this is great biologically as the human eye can adapt at the same rate that the sun goes down more or less so that by the time the sun is set your eyes are adapted to the darkness it makes sense for the caveman right but in our modern world we don't have time for all that so what can we do well as usual history provides the answer human beings fought two global wars without the use of night vision devices and came up with some pretty interesting tricks the first of which is the concept of rigging for red ever since electrical lighting became common on sailing vessels the use of lighting has been a hot topic especially in the field of naval warfare generall since electrical lighting became common on sailing vessels the use of lighting has been a hot topic especially in the field of naval warfare generally speaking red lighting has been accepted as the standard for preserving the natural night adaptation of the human eye and the reason is pretty simple red light has less effect on the production of rhodopsin than white light remember how white light causes rhodopsin to decay well red light doesn't cause this decay the receptors don't react to red light technically it still does but to a lesser degree that's why red lighting has been touted as preserving night vision for over a century this is why all military naval vessels have the practice of rigging for red or turning all the lights red in certain areas this is usually done on the bridge lookout staging areas or really any compartment that directly leads to the exterior of the ship red lighting is frequently used for other reasons besides preserving night vision as well a lot of times red lighting is used because it's simply not as bright the human eye is less sensitive to red light so if you have a hundred lumen white light and a hundred lumen red light the red light will look a lo ght the human eye is less sensitive to red light so if you have a hundred lumen white light and a hundred lumen red light the red light will look a lot dimmer to the human eye it's simply softer on the eyes in regular white light that's why red lighting is frequently used in open bay temporary building or birthing areas in deployed environments it allows for 24 7 lighting that is bright enough to see by but not bright enough to ruin people's sleep but there are some downsides to using red lighting which we will cover in a separate video on tactical lighting but the cliff notes version is that red lighting when used all the time causes some serious problems eye fatigue depth perception problems psychological problems and the difficulty of reading maps are all issues that come from red light use red light will not solve all of your problems just using red lights or staying in red light only areas before going out into the darkness will help a lot and it's recommended to do but you will still need some time in the dark for your eyes to finally adjust despite these problems red light is still the standard and red lighting should generally be used whenever possible if you are trying to inally adjust despite these problems red light is still the standard and red lighting should generally be used whenever possible if you are trying to preserve your natural night adaptation a great tool to use that will help you with this are red light goggles basically just goggles that are tinted red this has been a standard tactic of naval lookouts for many many years and is a good way to start the process of adapting your eyes to darkness with red filtered goggles you can put them on about half an hour before you need to conduct operations and conduct your pre-mission checks get your gear together or whatever else you need to do this way you don't have to build a red light only staging area and you can use the normal lighting you have in your home red filtered goggles are also very handy for driving at night when trying to preserve night vision for me this is especially important since everyone in my area seems to prefer driving with their high beams on all the time so if i'm driving out to an observation post and for whatever reason i wanted to preserve my natural night adaptation wearing some red tinted goggles or glasses while driving really helps with this still not ideal an on i wanted to preserve my natural night adaptation wearing some red tinted goggles or glasses while driving really helps with this still not ideal and no amount of red filters will totally preserve your night vision but it does help a lot and since it's at night nobody will see how much of a weirdo you look like while driving with red tinted goggles as far as specific red light goggles these cannot be easily purchased because not many companies make them specifically for preserving night adaptation you can find goggles and glasses that are marketed towards the laser pointer crowd usually sold under the label of laser safety glasses you can find these high school science class wrap around glasses for really cheap we got these for about a dollar a piece from china as far as providing adequate safety against lasers i highly doubt it but they do provide a lot of benefit for night adapting your eyes they're not perfect because of the gaps they leave around the eyes and how cheaply they are made but it's better than nothing what is vastly more effective is to build your own red light goggles from an ordinary set of ballistic goggles these here were built from a set of us military issue more effective is to build your own red light goggles from an ordinary set of ballistic goggles these here were built from a set of us military issue good enough to get the government contract but not really that great revision locust goggles pretty much everyone that has deployed overseas in the past five to ten years has several sets of these lying around you can take the clear filters which come with the goggles and cover them with red tinted color correction light filter gels these are filters for photography lights and are again found everywhere for really cheap just as a side note since photography light gels are usually heat resistant they're really great for making your own red light filters for flashlights as well but back to the goggles all you have to do is draw the outline of the lens on the gel cut it out and put the goggles back together again using the clear filter sandwiching the red filter in wherever you can some goggles allow for this easier than others so you might need to tinker around with it for a bit on these particular goggles the filter fits on the outside a bit better than on the inside you could of course just leave out the clear filter as well but i fin articular goggles the filter fits on the outside a bit better than on the inside you could of course just leave out the clear filter as well but i find the clear filter adds a little bit of structural integrity that you really need plus it keeps your ballistic writing if that matters to you but whatever you do when you get everything assembled and jammed together you'll have a really effective set of red filtered goggles that you can still use during the day by taking the red filter off and if you have a little bit left over red tinted photography gel works as a field expedient cover for your phone's screen like we mentioned earlier phone screens are really really bad at allowing you to preserve your night vision but in the modern world where atac or offline mapping apps are the new hotness the use of smartphones is only going to increase in the battle space for better or worse especially for tasks like flying drones turning the brightness down can help using a night mode which tends to screen red also helps but what's really effective for us has been to use red photography gels on some phones and with some gels your ability to use your phone screen might be impeded but if you monk e for us has been to use red photography gels on some phones and with some gels your ability to use your phone screen might be impeded but if you monkey around with it for a bit you can probably get it to work we tried several very cheap photography gels and we were able to get the phone screen to work just fine remember though it's not a good idea to have some janky construction getting in the way of using combat tools it would really really suck for you to crash your drone or not be able to see a troops in contact location because you taped up your phone screen poorly but if you're using your phone for less potentially life-threatening reasons jury rigging a red screen cover can be an effective way to keep your phone screen from ruining your night vision too much so to recap using red lights wherever possible and using red filtered goggles if you need to interact with normal white lighting are all effective ways to preserve one's own night adaptation now let's talk about some of the more controversial options that might or might not work in helping your natural night adaptation the first of which is what's generally called the pirate eye patch method and this one takes a bit of e work in helping your natural night adaptation the first of which is what's generally called the pirate eye patch method and this one takes a bit of explaining several years ago this theory sprang up on the internet out of the debates surrounding the traditional stereotype of a pirate wearing an eye patch research has been done on many levels on this topic everyone from mythbusters to the always correct quora internet expert has weighed in on this theory the theory is that pirates wore an eye patch not because of an injury or disability but in order to maintain night adaptation for instance a pirate with two perfectly good eyes would then cover one of them up with an eye patch during a boarding event then when heading below decks on the captured ship the pirate would take the eye patch off or switch it to the other eye depending on what version of the myth you want to believe so that he would at least have one darkness adapted eye this way he could be more combat effective in the darkened areas of a ship again i must stress that this for the moment is a myth there is zero historical evidence to support this no historical records whatsoever that kind of indicate this might be true t for the moment is a myth there is zero historical evidence to support this no historical records whatsoever that kind of indicate this might be true the only people that seem to consider this theory are the kind of people who also have a time slot on the history channel at 3 am so not exactly the best academic source to me this theory sounds exactly what you'd find in the depths of reddit or somewhere else on the internet meaning that it makes a lot of sense on paper but in reality it makes very little sense for one the interior of ships during the age of sale was not completely dark it was perfectly bright enough to conduct combat in if sailors were completely blinded upon going on deck that would present some serious hazards also internet warriors often forget the importance of depth perception when engaging in hand-to-hand combat i know it's a strange concept but swinging a katana around in your room alone does not accurately replicate the combat conditions of the 18th century sailor as with most internet-based combat theories the eye patch to preserve the night vision theory ignores a lot of the well-established doctrine and historical records on vessel boarding a person wearin eye patch to preserve the night vision theory ignores a lot of the well-established doctrine and historical records on vessel boarding a person wearing an eye patch to preserve night vision in just one eye is creating so many problems for himself while only partially solving one minor issue that has little to no effect on actual combat depth perception and the loss of a significant portion of his field of vision is a major limiting factor in combat and all of that is given up just to see slightly better on a slightly dim lower deck i don't know it just doesn't seem very likely so sorry for the digression but this was worth talking about because this inevitably comes up whenever we're talking about natural night vision another series of myths and some quasi truths is in the field of supplements different vitamins or other supplements that might improve one's ability to see in dark conditions first up the myth that accidentally might have some actual validity and that myth is that eating carrots increases one's ability to see in the dark this myth is a gigantic can of worms that goes back to world war ii allied authorities mostly the british issued dozens of posters urging citizens t k this myth is a gigantic can of worms that goes back to world war ii allied authorities mostly the british issued dozens of posters urging citizens to eat carrots because it would increase their ability to see in the dark during the blitz famous flying aces attributed their kills to their diet of carrots allowing them to see german aircraft in the dark skies over britain but this as some would say was a lie the entire story of carrots causing better night vision at night was a total propaganda story from the very start the reasoning behind this propaganda and mass cover-up is for two reasons for one encouraging people to eat carrots at a time when food insecurity was a significant threat for britain was very important just like famous athletes who have been selling bowls of wheaties for decades the idea was that a super cool flying ace could sell the idea of victory gardens to the general populace but that was really a side benefit the main reason for concocting this lie was to cover up the fact that the allies had finally created functional radar radio detection and ranging or radar in its early days was one of the most classified military projects of all time for both the allies nctional radar radio detection and ranging or radar in its early days was one of the most classified military projects of all time for both the allies and the axis both sides had been working on radar during the interwar years and during the war the battle of britain hastened the efforts to build better more accurate radar systems in the later years of the war the allies figured out a way to make radar equipment small enough to fit inside the nose of a fighter aircraft finally night fighters would have a way to find german aircraft in the dark skies over europe german aircraft which never stood a chance against radar but there was a huge problem if the germans realized that the british had radar in fighter aircraft they would certainly change their tactics which could make this significant advantage less effective but arguably the more significant risk was for the americans aircraft-based radar sets could also detect the periscopes of submarines for years german u-boats had thrived off the american east coast and the graveyard of the atlantic to this day stands as an attestation to their effectiveness but we can clearly see a sharp dip in the effectiveness of the german u-boat righ atlantic to this day stands as an attestation to their effectiveness but we can clearly see a sharp dip in the effectiveness of the german u-boat right around the summer time of 1943. this is due to a combination of things changes in convoys and advances in technology the cracking of the enigma code really helped but also the development of aircraft-based radar which could spot the periscope of a submarine even before they got close to a convoy and if we examine the diaries of u-boat sailors they were baffled at the time they frequently remarked that they would be sailing along in the roughest of seas or under an overcast sky and suddenly an aircraft would come out of nowhere heading right for them in the later parts of the war u-boat captains recall crash diving much more often usually in bad weather conditions when previously they had been able to sail on the surface without any trouble whatsoever obviously something was up the allies efforts to explain it away as simply high doses of carrots was a way to cover up the existence of radar for just a bit longer giving the allies a significant advantage whether or not the germans believed this or not who knows the germans had been wo adar for just a bit longer giving the allies a significant advantage whether or not the germans believed this or not who knows the germans had been working on radar for many years so they had to suspect something but in any case this historical tale has been an interesting story over the years however it turns out that this propaganda story might actually have some truth to it in retrospect the idea is that carrots contain a compound called beta-carotene which helps in the production of vitamin a and in the years since world war ii vitamin a has been medically proven to have positive impacts on cataracts as well as the treatment of night blindness so one can see the plausibility of vitamin a helping one's own natural night vision however the research that has been done does not really indicate this yes vitamin a can help someone with night blindness but medical research does not indicate that vitamin a will make a healthy person have superior night vision vitamin a can really only help someone who has an injury or disease it can't make a healthy person superman but if you are like me and don't trust any medical research these days you can try it yourself in a completely unscientifi e a healthy person superman but if you are like me and don't trust any medical research these days you can try it yourself in a completely unscientific test i personally have taken vitamin a supplements for a few months and i have noticed no improvement on my night vision either in the time it takes for my eyes to become dark adapted or my visual acuity when fully dark adapted i've noticed no difference a few times i did notice a slight improvement in my ability to make it through the snell and eye chart but those effects were not repeatable or attributable to the vitamin a it could have been some other supplement i'm taking it could be that i simply drank more water that day who knows in other words it might have worked a little but i myself did not really notice any spectacular results so at least for me supplements to improve natural night vision are kind of hit or miss they might have some benefit in a clinical setting but in a tactical environment anything increasing one's night vision by margins that are only noticeable in a lab setting is not beneficial in other words if i did not notice a significant increase i'd say it's probably not really worth it but that's just me and setting is not beneficial in other words if i did not notice a significant increase i'd say it's probably not really worth it but that's just me and that leads us to discussing the more boots on ground applications and considerations of natural night adaptation namely how natural night adaptation can be useful in real world scenarios and how natural night adaptation might still have some use in a world where night vision devices are the standard in warfare and for those of you that thought that natural night adaptation might be comparable to a night vision device i'm going to have to burst your bubble in a tactical setting natural night vision doesn't hold a candle to any modern night vision device there are no advantages of using natural night vision over modern night vision devices in most cases so trying to compare natural night vision to actual night vision devices that's kind of a non-starter there's really no debate there any night vision device is superior to even the best knight adapted eyes especially since natural night adaptation doesn't last long in warfare all it takes is a flare or a few muzzle flashes and that natural night adaptation is pretty much useless and once ptation doesn't last long in warfare all it takes is a flare or a few muzzle flashes and that natural night adaptation is pretty much useless and once natural night adaptation is compromised that's pretty much the ball game in a firefight you would then have to either use supplementary white light flares or revert to a night vision device anyway for the rest of the fight also night adapted eyes do not pair very well with night vision devices using a night vision device will decimate your natural night adaptation normally this doesn't matter because you have a night vision device so why would you need night adapted eyes that's why natural night vision has been all but forgotten in the tactical community for such a long time so all of this being considered does natural night adaptation have a place in modern warfare well that's up for you to decide based on your own situations and to help make that decision let me tell you how i myself and the rest of the team here utilize natural night adaptation for me the stars quite literally have to align for natural night adaptation to be preferred nights that are super bright or in locations where there is a lot of air glow in the atmosphere a o align for natural night adaptation to be preferred nights that are super bright or in locations where there is a lot of air glow in the atmosphere are great for this airglow also called night glow is a topic that we will be discussing further but this is a phenomenon that occurs in the atmosphere that ensures that the night sky is never completely dark think of this as light pollution that is caused by the planet itself ordinarily this is not noticed by most people but in areas with zero human light pollution the effect is quite spectacular and using air glow to observe things at night has some potential another scenario is if i'm in a location and my mission is to spot aircraft these conditions can be great for using natural night vision because i can see aircraft silhouetted against the night sky from a long way away and doing traditional air searches of sectors with a night vision device that has a very small field of view would result in the aircraft's detection being delayed but if i'm just chilling in an observation post looking at the entire sky at once i can see aircraft even blacked out aircraft from a long way away and by the time the guy with the night vision device se ng at the entire sky at once i can see aircraft even blacked out aircraft from a long way away and by the time the guy with the night vision device sees it well it's already on you right this is especially the case when trying to spot quadcopters or other small uas platforms the ukrainian war has proven how deadly these things are and by the time you hear one you don't have time to scan the whole sky for it and since these are usually really close to you you've got to deal with the focus of your night vision device and the small field of view to find a really small moving target it's just easier to keep your eyes dark adapted and use the naked eye to spot these devices in most cases but again that's just me and my own limited experiences granted in most situations a night vision device even with a small field of view might be preferred by some for this task but sometimes you need to see the whole sky at once to track multiple aircraft multiple uas platforms and if the night sky allows naked eye observation to be effective i prefer that of course keeping a night vision device close by just in case another time that traditional night adaptation might be preferred is camouflage detect t of course keeping a night vision device close by just in case another time that traditional night adaptation might be preferred is camouflage detection now this one gets a little bit into backyard flood science so bear with me under the right circumstances detecting camouflage is easier with a dark adapted naked eye than with a night vision device again this is not true on lights that are so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face but i myself have been quite surprised as to how much farther out i can detect a stationary camouflaged target with my naked eye than through my night vision device especially if you're not running dual tubes so you have severely reduced depth perception but again this is just my own experience coupled with the experiences of the rest of the team here so it's not an exact science just wanted to point this out because night vision devices are serious force multipliers on the field but they are not magic and an over reliance on technology is perhaps not the best mentality to have these days another situation in which natural night adaptation might be preferred is when using binoculars now you might say hang on you can't use binoculars at night r situation in which natural night adaptation might be preferred is when using binoculars now you might say hang on you can't use binoculars at night well actually you can you just have to have the right kind of binoculars night adapted eyes and a bit of moonlight is also preferable if there's interest we can cover using binoculars at night in a separate video but by and large magnified optics and night vision optics don't really mix that well yes it can be done and i myself am especially fond of using magnifiers with night vision optics however just using a regular pair of binoculars with objective lenses that are as large as possible that's just way better regular binoculars are way more crisp and sharp than using a night vision device with a magnifier and it's easier to overcome focusing issues in the darkness which is a really big problem with most optics in the dark it's really hard to focus on really fine details at an extreme distance it's a lot easier to do with a pair of regular binoculars if the conditions are right you know even if binoculars require a lot more light to be effective and do not work in all cases i still prefer them if i can use them so all in all yes ther even if binoculars require a lot more light to be effective and do not work in all cases i still prefer them if i can use them so all in all yes there are situations that having no night vision might be preferable but there are some general tips number one is to recognize that night vision devices are superior in 99 of situations and in 99 of night time conditions so keep your expectations realistic and number two because of number one always keep a night vision device handy in case your natural night adaptation gets ruined and you need to conduct operations immediately also number three if you do not have a night vision device there are things you can do to improve your natural night adaptation avoid white light entirely and only use as much red light as you need when dark adapting your eyes use red tinted goggles or red light only areas for at least 20 minutes followed by at least 10 minutes in the dark to maximize your night adaptation and in conditions where the moonlight or air glow is significant such as in remote areas or at sea using natural night adaptation might be preferred over using a night vision device particularly for observing aircraft or very large sectors the bo ea using natural night adaptation might be preferred over using a night vision device particularly for observing aircraft or very large sectors the bottom line with all of these examples is that everything that's been said about night vision kind of gets blurred and this kind of goes back to the nature of modern warfare and the popularity of night vision devices on the internet just think back over the years and remember how the tactical community has changed things have changed and now night vision devices are solidified as an important piece of gear right up there with medical gear and rifles themselves but even though night vision devices are super popular these days we also have to keep things in perspective yes we here and countless others have been singing the praises of night vision as a concept and stressing the need for it in modern warfare as far as we're concerned there is no debate over night vision you definitely need it but in using such strong language we forget the second part of that sentence yes you need night vision devices but that alone will not save you and if there's one lesson that must be learned right now by all armed forces around the planet it is this th devices but that alone will not save you and if there's one lesson that must be learned right now by all armed forces around the planet it is this the nature of warfare has changed in a fifth generation war rigidly adhering to paragraphs in a warfare publication will get you killed now more than ever all of the warfare doctrine that has been taught over the years is more of a guideline than actual rules especially in terms of things like night vision so the next time you're at ntc sitting in a fighting position with your battle buddy bored out of your mind try letting your battle buddy scan the sector with the thermals or night vision device and you take the binoculars and start night adapting your eyes and see what happens if you're a platoon leader on a training night patrol and the conditions are right try having every third guy run without their night vision device and see what benefits that brings or what problems it causes you might be surprised with the results or you might not you never know until you try the next time you're out training or even just camping and the moonlight is pretty bright try hiking without your night vision devices and see how it goes again until you out training or even just camping and the moonlight is pretty bright try hiking without your night vision devices and see how it goes again until you try you'll never know how effective that might be this practice is vital to understanding the next topic knowing when to switch from night adapted naked eyes to a night vision device one of the biggest risks of using natural night vision is changing light conditions that go unnoticed in other words the night getting so dark that you can't see threats coming and because your eyes are dark adapted you don't notice understanding when dark adapted eyes become a liability instead of a benefit is a skill that will only come with practice too often our doctrine tells us that as soon as it gets dark go on nods but a person truly skilled in warfare will be able to operate without nods for quite some time and if necessary switch to nods at the exact moment that dark adapted eyes are no longer beneficial and this entire process being fluid natural and automatic without any degradation of combat capabilities is the goal that we should all work towards so try it out yourself and see what happens try honing your skills now while you still can espe pabilities is the goal that we should all work towards so try it out yourself and see what happens try honing your skills now while you still can especially knowing when it gets too dark and when it's time to switch to night vision devices and remember to have fun learning these skills too over the past couple of years we and many others have stressed how desperately we need to learn things but at the same time everyone gets to the point that they've grown at training opportunities especially since everything is a training event these days so keep it casual practice these skills when you're hurrying up and waiting or when you're otherwise not doing much you don't have to drag out a powerpoint full of bulletized learning objectives every time your team has 20 minutes of downtime and you don't have to live your life by memorizing warfare publications that are 20 years out of date sometimes questioning those manuals in a productive professional way is the better move so try it out and see what works you never know sometimes it might be more beneficial to fight in the shade