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Binoculars have become very popular in recent years. They have moved beyond military, police and surveillance use and become a common piece of equipment for recreational purposes. Beyond bird watching, they are increasingly being bought for use in hunting, fishing, boating, camping, hiking, in fact they can add to the pleasure of most outdoor pursuits.

You can do most of these activities, in poor light or even in darkness. This makes night vision binoculars an attractive proposition. But they vary widely in price and function and you could easily make a costly mistake.

There is a difference between binoculars that make best use of low light conditions and a true night binocular. For use at dusk or dawn, low light binoculars could be suitable. Let’s look at the concept of Exit Pupil.

This is the diameter of the beam of light as it leaves the eyepieces. If you hold the binoculars at arms length, you can see these small circles of light in each eyepiece. To find the actual size of the exit pupil, you divide the diameter of the lenses by the magnification. e.g. The binoculars are 12×50. 50mm divided by 12 is just over 4mm. A bigger exit pupil will do better in low light, but there are other considerations.

But for nighttime pursuits like hunting, you will need binoculars with an infrared light source to be able to see anything in almost total absence of light. The range of these light sources varies so you need to consider what you need. They are no use for hunting if you can only see 10 yards.

Different optical devices have different uses. A monocular, sometimes known as a spotting scope, does just that. Do a quick sweep of the terrain or the sea. Spot movements in the trees.

A bi-ocular has two eye pieces but only a single front lens. This feels more natural to use but is a compromise. A true night vision binocular has two front lenses meaning that each eye is equally adjusted to the night vision viewfinder. If your activity involves long periods of use, these binoculars will feel more comfortable.

Before buying night vision binoculars, think about how you will use them. Will it be mainly in true darkness and for extended periods? Will you use them often? A true night vision binocular can run to hundreds of dollars and more. Be sure that it is what you really need.