Last Updated on March 9, 2021
Can night vision goggles blind you? Well, night vision goggles are designed for special purposes. Therefore, they are used for hunting, surveillance, military operation, and expeditions. Similarly, they are not meant to be used all the time. Rather they are used in the place where they are meant to be used. And you can’t use any night vision device in daylight.
Exposure to heavy light may permanently damage your night vision goggles or other devices. While using quality night vision goggles, you may wonder can night vision goggles blind you? Well, that’s a very important question. In the below section, we will try to know the facts along with you.
Can Night Vision Goggles Blind You?
To properly understand whether NVGs can harm your eyes or not, we would like you to know some additional information about NVGs. Hopefully, that will help you grab the overall scenario easily.
The Design and Use of NVGs
Since eyes are one of the most vital and sensitive organs of our body, eye-related gadgets and gears are designed to secure the eyes. The same rule applies to the night vision goggles. You can use NVGs with various options like handheld, head mount, or both.
NVGs are designed for a specific use. Nobody will wear them all day long. Rather, you will wear them only where it is necessary. The time duration can be a couple of hours ranging from 5-7 hours depending on the condition. Now you may wonder whether NVGs can harm your eyes in that range of time. Well, as long as you have a well collimated and calibrated NVGs in your hand and have no weakness in your eyes, NVGs will never harm your eyes. Once you are an adult, only physical accidents can damage your eyes.
The Green Color of the NVGs is Safe
To keep your eyes safe and protect from fatigue, all the night vision devices use green color. The green color is also the result of phosphor. The military uses NVGs for a longer period than the civilians. So far there is no report that there is eye damage among the military due to the NVGs. Therefore, there is no chance of eye damage to the NVGs. Moreover, the green color is less intensified and therefore, the safest option for the eyes.
Can Night Vision Goggles Blind You or Harm Your Eyes?
If we review the basic working principle of NVGs, the device collects the ambient light or uses some sort of IR to enable us to see in the dark. This process has nothing to harm our eyes as long as we use the correct devices and we don’t have any eye weakness. So NVGs will never blind us, for sure.
But there remains another question if extended use of the NVGs can harm our eyes or not. We have already mentioned that the Army uses NVGs for more period than general people. And there is no report of eye injury or slightest damage due to NVGs. Since the military has no issue after using NVGs for an extended time, NVGs can hardly affect our eyes. So there is no reason for worry.
Temporary Problems After Using NVGs
Though there are no permanent issues while using NVGs, some temporary side effects may occur after using NVGs for an extended time. They are
- Headache
- Shorter field of view
- Disorientation
The headache occurs because you are experiencing a different viewing while looking through the goggles. And when you are putting off the goggles after extended use, your eyes will take a least period to habituate with the normal viewing. In between headache may occur.
Normally, the field of view is narrower in optical devices. When you are using NVGs for a certain period, you will face some issues after putting off the goggles. Since the normal field of view is way wider than that of optical devices.
But all these problems are very temporary and with the time you will be habituated with these issues. Moreover, these occur mostly with the military for extended use.
Final Words
Night vision goggles can hardly harm your eyes, as long as you are using the right device and have no issues with your eyes. With the right device, you can use NVGs without any worry. Good luck!
Kalman is a hunting expert who has a vast experience with wild game hunting. Though night time hunting is his favorite, he masters the art of daytime hunting and shooting. Being a nature lover and outdoor enthusiast, he wants to pass the knowledge acquired over time to the next generation.
