BNVD-1431: A True Chinese Odyssey

[pestobanana]

Argus BNVD-1431 Review: A True China Experience



Overview:

The BNVD-1431 is essentially a Chinese clone of the PVS-31 housing except it takes standard 10160 format tubes and PVS-14 lenses. It also does not have a central gain control like the real 31, instead it uses fixed gain tubes but does retain the electronic power switch. I acquired a pair of MX10160C's on loan for the purpose of this review.

I have a good relationship with Maple Airsoft Supply, who sells this unit and acquired one for me to review. Overall, it is quite good. It is decent for the price, the unit functions as it should, and the construction quality is honestly not worse than similar injection moulded units on the market. Of course, up armoured fixed bridge units will be significantly more rigid than articulating housings like this one.



Initial Impressions:

The first generation of this unit did not have a compartmentalized and sealed battery compartment, the current generation does. However, the original generation came with a clone PVS-31 pouch, mine did not. It came with a padded hard case that was absolutely useless because it was only large enough to fit the empty housing, the unit would not fit with lenses installed. Clearly someone "China'ed" this batch, and I was eventually sent the proper pouch. After complaining to the factory, all current units come with the proper pouch. I really, really like the PVS-31 style carrying pouch. I actually bought an extra one to use with my other NVGs. Though, it is annoying that the "MOLLE" on the back is off spec. Thanks China.

The quality of the plastic used in the injection moulding looked to be about the same quality as injection moulded US housings. That is to say, it looks kind of garbage but is sufficient for its purpose. Real PVS14, PVS15, and AVS housings are pretty poor quality in terms of construction. I noticed that the low quality screws used were kind of cheapening the look and felt partially stripped, so I immediately replaced them with higher quality screws with a proper heat and chemical treatment.

Overall, the initial impressions were quite good for the price.



Assembling the Unit: A True China Experience

The experience of getting "China'ed" is basically buying something and having it either poorly thought out or just off spec/not fitting because the person that cloned it had no idea what its intended purpose was. That's how I felt with this unit during assembly. Though, I think a lot of the blame goes to American stubbornness and the use of Imperial threads that are extremely difficult to copy without the proper tooling. Essentially, all of the threads on a real PVS-14 are imperial, but the Chinese factory did not have the correct tooling so they always went with a metric thread that was "close enough" - to varying degrees of success.

Ocular Lens Thread - Off spec but poor consistency. I have one pod where a lens and locking ring thread on no problem, and one pod where they initially thread on okay, but begin to get stuck after 8 or so turns. I was able to force it on far enough to be useable. I tried a different 1431 housing and had the same issue.

Tube Retaining Ring Thread - Completely off spec. Standard ones will not work. After complaining to the factory, they now come with a pair of retaining rings that thread on with varying degrees of tightness. They also now come with proprietary light pipes, standard ones will not fit.
Objective Lens Thread - Close enough that it works, but takes a few turns of the lens to break in. No real issues here.

Infinity Stop Thread - Completely off spec. Standard ones will not fit, however they are included with the housing. My housing did not come with set screws for the infinity stop so I had to source my own. Current ones come with them. The proprietary infinity stop rings are also slightly larger but close enough to spec that aftermarket parts such as COTI's are still compatible.

For those of you assembling these units yourself, please be aware that you must detach the pod from the bridge via 4x 1.5mm socket screws before you insert your tube, otherwise you will bend and possibly break the powered contacts. They are not angled like other housings that will let you slide them in from the ocular side. I was able to confirm function using both ITT and L3 tubes.


Actually Using the Unit:

Despite getting kind of bent over while assembling the unit, it doesn't really make a difference when it comes to the end user. The threads being off spec only affect the assembler and piss off the builder, actual use is perfectly fine. I did not experience any issues with tube alignment, and I was able to collimate to a reasonable degree. It is not like other cheap units I have seen where the tube alignment is so poor that you end up looking cross eyed.
The dovetail fits in real Wilcox mounts, however it did not fit into a clone Wilcox mount I was given as a sample to test. The clone mount worked fine with AB, Norotos, and Wilcox dovetails, so take that as you will.

I took the unit out on a jog for about 2 km in the winter to see how it held up. It was fine, I just noticed that I had to set my mount significantly higher than I had it set for my fixed bridge housings. The pods in the up position tended to flop down until I tightened the tension screw, and it was fine afterward. IP stops are a bit loose, but this was not an issue for me because I have a big head and I screw them in all the way and they stay in place.



Next, I used it at the range for a shoot. I did not have any issues. I did notice that when I stowed the pods up but did not flip the mount up like Instagram operators do, the battery compartment impedes your field of view when aiming down sights and you really have to make sure your head is held in an upright position. But really, just stop being an Instahoe and flip the god damn unit up. I did also notice at this time that it was extremely easy to accidentally press the power button, which I do not like as I don't like tube damage. I also inadvertantly found a solution to this, as when I had a friend try the housing he couldn't turn it on. Turns out the battery cap only makes a connection when the unit is screwed on tightly and securly, if you bump it out of position the unit will not turn on. So now when I stow the unit, I turn it off and then unscrew the battery cap a quarter turn, just in case.



Lastly, I loaned this unit out to a buddy for a winter airsoft night event. The unit had no issues in the sub zero temperatures, and there we no concerns that the unit would break when it hit a branch or got caught in the bush. He had no complaints, and said the unit were perfectly sufficient and intuitive to use. He said that when it was time for him to get binos, this would likely be the housing he went for. He mentioned that it felt heavy, because he was used to running monoculars. I didn't notice anything, as they are the same weight as other common binocular setups. Heavier than DTNVG, but similar to Mod3B.


Final Thoughts:

Assembling the unit was a pain in the ass, but after a bit of back and forth it looks like many of the issues are being resolved. In any case, I have sent off some pods to get measured, so that I can work with my friend at Maple Airsoft Supply to produce better aftermarket parts for the 1431 housing, such as upgraded screw kits, D-ring infinity stops, and possibly a modification for it to take AVS lenses instead of 14 lenses.

Most of the cons with this unit are related to the assembly process. With actual use, the end user would have no idea given the builder was competent. During use, I think the housing is sufficient for the price and provides adequate utility. Is it better than a DTNVG? Probably not, but its half the price and has IP stops when DTNVG does not. At the end of the day, it holds tubes, it powers them up, and you can see in the dark. I would definitely say this unit is worth a look.

[pestobanana]

Assembly tutorial

https://youtu.be/vYyYlNBU4UA