Cross posted from NV tech because @lowdown3 requested it.
Ok first I play paintball and also ref it, the group I ref with was asked to ref an airsoft event in PA over the weekend. It was done at an old prison that is shut down and has no power. There are tunnels and basements in buildings, some absolute darkness with no light, some places with light coming in. I would not be surprised if there was not a few arfcommers there.
There where quite a few players with nods, some very high end stuff and lower end stuff. I am talking guys running stuff from pvs14's to full on newest specs rnvg. Lasers of all sorts, lights of all sorts. Talked to one guy using a real peq on his airsoft gun, lots and lots of somogear stuff there as well. The reports on the somogear on airsoft was fine, but a few guys said they did not hold up on their real guns.
Being the only ref that had night vision, I spend most of the two days in the basements and tunnels. Wearing nvd duals for 2 days on an amazon bump helmet ( with a counter weight ) was fine once I got the straps adjusted right, and I spent 12 hours on saturday, and 6 on sunday with them on. Watching all the ir lasers for those that had them was fun, the night game was really wild. Once it truely got dark the guys with NV where able to be sneaky, but the guys running white light where able to hold their own. Where the NV made the difference was in the tunnels, they where able to move up the halls with out light. While the white light guys would flash their lights to be able to move, and while shooting they would use em. I would say over all the nods users where slightly more effective, but the handicap was not so much that it made all the difference.
The amount of cheap amazon ir and white lights mounted on helmets was funny as not a single person used em.
There where a few times where a guy with nods and laser would post on an opening, and as a player would stick their head out to look down a hall they would get blasted. I of course could see the ir light and laser, but the player could not. Where is really did pay off was doing security, and area denial. With everything from total darkness to total darkness with light spilling down thru the stairs there was a fair amount of light barriers to try to blast ir light thru. I never had a problem seeing thru them, but I also was also able to pick where I was standing.
I have two videos I am uploading to youtube right now to show the darkness, one does have a few seconds of my nods infront of a cell phone taking video. The other does not have any night vision but I was standing next to the guy filming, the amount of ir lasers going down the hall was wild. I am posting them with permission of the guy who shot the videos, and am doing it just to show what fighting in the dark can be like and what can be seem on NV at least for second. Both are short videos, no monitized or any money for me.
https://youtu.be/NP2o8EFaIJY?si=0uW2BoklUdLoV75S
https://youtu.be/56mCcTdSysg?si=wNMpDU3eSCDGbgLg