r/NightVision Jan 15 '26

I am Getting Sued for a Quarter Million Euro

385 Upvotes

A lot has happened since the last time I published a blog post and I think we’r due for an update.

Ever since I published my article on the backstory of ACTinBlack ACTinBlack Filed For Bankruptcy and This is How I Fucked Up I’ve been swamped by an outpouring of support from all over the world. Your outreach and encouragement really kindled a fire inside of me to jump back into the industry I am so passionate about. This in turn lead to the creation of the now released DT-2 by my new venture Kauffmann-Bremin.

Shortly after that initial article is when the development of the DT-2 began. I proposed the idea to Dean at the time and we soon after went right at it, sketching out the initial ideas and began prototyping.

I want to thank the people who are supporting me on this journey and into this new exciting chapter, it would not have been possible without your help and encouragement.

In 2025 the DT-2 release was the most exiting moment of the year for me (apart from getting engaged). I wanted to stay true to my own values and went all-in into what I believed in by completely pre-producing the first batch before launch day. The launch was an immense success, as we sold out in the first 3 weeks and have been scrambling since to finish the second batch of devices.

DT-2 worn by myself Mounted on trusty old reliable Ops-Core Carbon Helmet

But soon after I was hearing rumours going around that the DT-2 was built on stolen files and intellectual property. I was getting word from multiple sources that a familiar competitor was alleging foul play and that we should brace for consequences. I had some big customers shy away because of this, as they felt it was not worth the risk of getting involved. Understandably so.

I spent a couple weeks trying to figure out the best way to counter these claims, as up to this point I had not gotten any written allegations or any communication at all other than just whispers behind my back coming around.

The answer to this fell in my laps just about two weeks ago. Something I could counter. ACTinBlack has filed a civil lawsuit against myself, Dean and the KB distribution subsidiary for the European market. This is Materialising the claims and rumours and is giving me the opportunity to counter them in full. The lawsuit is a long list of flimsy allegations. I won’t bore you with the details but there are some truly amusing gold nuggets to be found in there.

Excerpt from the Lawsuit, alleging the DT-2 has a rounded shape and a V shape similar to the DTNVG, also it uses a battery similar to the DTNVG
Excerpt from the Lawsuit, alleging the DT-2 makes use of a dovetail mounting interface, similar to the DTNVG

Just imagining them actually winning on claims like this makes me cringe, the case law that would be established by this would have industry wide impact, not only on night vision but many other hardware product oriented companies. Functional Design would be able to be protected and it would create monopolies overnight, across many industries. And anyone with a similar design to the DTNVG would be in violation of ACTinBlack’s alleged IP rights and at risk of being litigated dare they set foot in Europe.

There was a striking moment while reading the lawsuit, when I realised, I could have design any other dual tube night vision device, with a completely different design, and I would have gotten the same lawsuit making the same empty claims against me.

They also claim and mention in the lawsuit that the DT-2 caused and is responsible for a huge loss in revenue for them across both the US and EU markets even tho the DT-2 is entirely different from the DTNVS and shares virtually no similarities. To note is that they haven’t sold any DTNVG devices since mid 2020. So its difficult to understand their logic here, given that they allege we copied the DTNVG but they haven’t sold any for the past 5 years and somehow this is damaging their revenue because we’r in competition with a product they no longer think is viable to commercialise and therefore this caused them economic hardship.

The entire lawsuit is over 50 pages long not counting the annex. Its quite clear to me that the intention of the lawsuit isn’t to actually win, but to intimidate and drain me financially via legal costs. They probably hope I’ll cave and halt the DT-2 project and beg for out of court settlement. But let this be clear, neither is an option for me. I won’t be intimidated by legal bully tactics and I’m not shying away from fighting this in court to the bitter end.

What is so striking to me is that they have invested so much money into this lawsuit, they must be really perceiving me as a serious threat which I take as a compliment more than anything. I too think the DT-2 is a great product.

In order to build a strong case against them and defend our rights, we are looking for witness testimony around the launch of the DTNVG back in December 2015. I have a bailiff report on old facebook posts but ACT has been trying to delete any evidence, such as the pictures attached to the pre-order announcement and all instagram pictures. They did so because they attempt to secure design rights which they tried to register shortly after I had left the company. However these design rights are invalidated if so called “prior art” can be proven 12 months or earlier, prior registration date. So they had to “undo” history and the fact that the DTNVG was released 2 years prior. They are really playing it dirty.

Picture deleted but they forgot to delete the text. Link: https://www.facebook.com/actinblack/posts/785003578294493 Archive link: https://archive.ph/tAROE

I learned early on in life that you have to stand up to your bully and fight back. You can’t cave in and fold, the weakness just draws in more aggression towards you. So additionally to the criminal lawsuit I filed against them back in 2017 alleging bankruptcy fraud and money laundering I’m also working on filing a counter lawsuit for alleged defamation, for this I would ask you for your support. If you have been made aware of such claims that we stole files and that the DT-2 is illegitimate, reach out. I’d be immensely grateful for your written testimony.

I have come to accept that I have to spend a lot of time and money on this. Because I would much rather have that energy flow towards building and creating. Focusing on the business and on innovating. But I just can’t let them get away a second time. I won’t allow it. And the alternative, the failure of KB, failing a second time, is not an option.

I’ll keep you updated as the case initiates and starts moving along, as I coordinate with my lawyer how I can share things without impacting any procedures. But I do strongly believe I owe it to everyone. If you decided the DT-2 is the right device for you, I want you to be fully informed about this situation. After all, light is the best disinfectant.

I am confident we’ll win in court. I am standing my ground and I am excited for the next chapter moving into 2026. I will fight to the end, for the sake of staying alive, to continue building, to continue creating, chasing my passion.


r/NightVision Feb 25 '24

New Beginner Buyer’s Guide

173 Upvotes

The pinned beginner buyer’s guide served us well for a number of years, but it was showing its age and not as robust as we could use.

A new, more fleshed out guide is now available. In the app you can find it by clicking on “See community info” at the top of the sub. On desktop you can find it in the “Community Bookmarks” section. If you’re struggling to find it, you can start with the Introduction. If you’re here looking for purchasing advice, help understanding specs, or wondering what we would recommend for people on a tight budget, please read the guide before making your first post here.

This new guide is by no means exhaustive, and we expect it to evolve over time. Our hope is that by using Reddit’s wiki function we will have more flexibility to keep the guide up to date over time. It has already allowed us to provide much more information as we are not constrained by Reddit’s post character limit. If you find any typos, issues, confusing formatting, or have suggestions please feel free to let us know. The best way to communicate with us about those would be to jump into the subreddit’s Discord server.

A very special thank you to u/go_horse for his work on this guide.


r/NightVision 5h ago

I wanted to share views of the night sky. HEMET, CA

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19 Upvotes

Pvs 14 WF 2400FOM


r/NightVision 4h ago

Milky Way galaxy from Hemet, CA

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16 Upvotes

Pvs 14 WF 2400 FOM


r/NightVision 16h ago

DIY COTI

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103 Upvotes

r/NightVision 21h ago

No Turning Back Now: Rechargeable Battery Pack production Photos!

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187 Upvotes

Death Ray Designs has started our trial run of the Universal Helmet Power Solution. 12x units, 10x for the public and 2x for media. If you're an influencer/guntuber, we would love to start a dialog.

Our battery pack offers:

  • USB-C recharging
  • Solar panel support
  • USB-A for peripherals (recorders, thermals...)
  • 3x PVS31 AA-pack battery life on a single charge

Drop coming soon, follow us on instagram at DeathRayDesignsLLC or check out our site at www.deathraydesignsllc.com


r/NightVision 1d ago

Used the NVDs to Climb Mt. Fuji 🗻

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362 Upvotes

r/NightVision 18h ago

just got my first dual tubes

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42 Upvotes

aeon anvb with nnvt


r/NightVision 20h ago

First helmet build

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45 Upvotes

Sorry for mess


r/NightVision 2h ago

Any one know any good IT models?

0 Upvotes

I’ve been doing a bit of work to construct my own monocular set up, but I’m at an impasse because I’m not sure the intensifier tube I want to go. Kind of on a budget, but I’m looking for the non-standard sizes that come in under budget, but still get the job done. Any recommendations?


r/NightVision 21h ago

First aid under Nods

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32 Upvotes

Recently ran a few drills with some buddies specifically working on administrative and medical tasks sprinkled in with the courses of fire.

Specifically this drill where you had to apply a Tourniquet to a randomly selected leg and then finish the course with the TQ attached.

Another drill we ran was the shooter had to load several rounds into a magazine, load the weapon and then advance to the targets.

Super fun and really helps you learn how to work through small tasks in low light/under nods.

Anyone have drills similar to this? I’m open to sharing mine in more detail!


r/NightVision 14h ago

Hi r/NightVision, PARD USA here. We'd love your feedbacks.

7 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

We're the official PARD USA team, and we're excited to finally join Reddit.

We've been spending a lot of time reading discussions here over the past few months, and honestly, we've learned a lot from this community. It's one of the few places where people openly share real field experience, honest opinions, and constructive criticism.

This year marks a new chapter for PARD USA.

Some of you may already know our brand, and some of you may have used our products before. We know there are things we've done well, and there are also areas where we can do better.

We're here to listen. Your feedback whether positive or criticalhelps us improve, and we'll take it seriously as we continue building PARD USA.

You'll also see more from us this year, including new products, more real world field content, and a stronger focus on supporting the hunting and night vision community. We hope to earn your trust through our actions rather than our words.

This account isn't here just to promote products.

We're here to answer questions, participate in discussions, and listen to the community.

Whether you've used PARD before or are simply curious about what we do, we'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for having us here!We're looking forward to being part of the conversation.

- The PARD USA Team


r/NightVision 14h ago

NVG Course of Fire Rang Night

5 Upvotes

Hey folks,

So I have the opportunity to use a private range to facilitate an NVG Course of fire beginners course. I am asking for input on the stages of fire we should host for the training.

I myself have been shooting under NVGs for about 100 hours over the last few months, but have yet to host multiple fundamentals for shooters.

I have some basic ideas of what the stages would be but would like to hear opinions from others WHO HAVE SHOT REGULARLY under nods. Entire course of fire will focus on rifle fundamentals under NVGs.

Course of fire so far:
1. Mozambique drill at 10 yards low ready. Emphasis on acquiring sight picture on target, and understanding dynamics of shooting under NVGs with orientation around rifle platform.

  1. Mozambique drill, 1 shoot, two no shoots. The shoot and no shoots will be wearing generic clothing, RSO will call the shoots shirt color/pattern, shooter must turn, identify shoots no shoots, and properly engage appropriate targets. Will test target identification and recognition under nods.

  2. Mozambique drill, 2 shoots, offset light. Test the shooters ability to overcome potential flash disorientation from antagonist using white light. Won't shine directly, but at an offset to get shooters familiar with working around antagonistic white light

  3. Mozambique drill, 2 shoots, barricade and barrels, test shooters maneuvability and peripheral awareness with obstacles while under nods.

If you see areas of improvement or potential scenarios fixated on practicality, please let share!


r/NightVision 22h ago

Some other binos from last year...

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26 Upvotes

r/NightVision 1d ago

Out of curiosity, why was I rejected?

36 Upvotes

I'm fairly new to NV and want to get either a PVS14 mono or bino setup. I'm here quite often, learning from the introduction posts and observing setups and concerns for NV from other Redditors. So I thought it would be best to join the Discord to get more immersed before I invest. Took the Exam and was rejected twice. Could y'all help me understand what I missed and got wrong? Thank you!

Here's my answers to the questions from my 2nd rejection:

  1. Okay, lets try this again. I found the link to the server from the official r/NightVision. I need GPNVG to deal with nocturnal pests in TX
  2. SNR, Resolution, Equivalent Background Illumination, Halo, Gain (lum. gain)
  3. objective lens, photocathode, microchannel plate, phosphor screen, fiber optic inverter, eyepiece
  4. Digital devices are inferior because they have latency, poor low light capabilities, shorter battery life, terrible depth perception
  5. short for omnibus -contracts for gen 3 made by elbit and L3 -omni designation identifies the contract generation not the exact performance of the tube

r/NightVision 1d ago

Kept you waiting, huh?

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31 Upvotes

Pictures of my nightvision urbex setup taken with my crappy 9 year old phone, gotta have your priorities straight :)


r/NightVision 1d ago

ID on the NVGs are Age of Extinction(Prob props)

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22 Upvotes

Are these some Niche Fusion devices or just props for the movie? Cool to look at either way.


r/NightVision 14h ago

Kind of fucked but serious question, can I use a Bino housing with only 1 tube?

3 Upvotes

For context, I am doing a green beret impression kit for milsim, but I do not want to spend bino money right now and would rather build a single tube setup. But green berets don’t use pvs-14’s anymore and also I prefer the look of bino housings. Would it be possible to just make a single tube bino and add another one in the future?


r/NightVision 1d ago

Another SMS Teaser

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183 Upvotes

Pulled directly from their IG today. Gotta admit...China moves fast. They had just shared their CAD design a month or so ago.

Looks like they took every major critique of the Trinity and applied it to this new design. Divergence throw lever looks like a big improvement over the Trinity slider. Likewise, there are 2 onboard fire buttons...the rearmost functions the laser as normal. The forward button is a vis override. Thats dope.

Battery moved to the left hand side which is a big plus for those of us who run WML's on the right. Also...and it's a minor detail...but they got rid of the shiny turrets en lieu of black.

And finally, for those of us who purchased a Trinity, SMS said in the comments they'll be offering us a steep discount. Pretty excited for this one!


r/NightVision 1d ago

No such thing as too many noodles

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184 Upvotes

DARQ on the helmets
Chimera: 33.3 SNR | 2398 FOM | G3 WP L3 tubes
PVS-31A: ~34 SNR | 2400+ FOM | G3 WP L3 tubes
BNVD-1531: 36.5 SNR | 2600+ FOM | G3 WP L3 tubes

Haven’t decided what mount to get for the 1531s yet as I wanted to try something different than a G24 for a bump helmet setup


r/NightVision 1d ago

State of the Laser Market

8 Upvotes

Hi all,

I have been out of the game for a while and would appreciate if someone could update me on the state of the LAM market. In the past, I had a full-power Wilcox RAID XE, which I loved. Are FP units still the preferential option for someone getting back into the NV game, or are there now less expensive, chinese/foreign units (Trinity, etc.) that are comparable to the OGLs and NGALs of the world. Thanks!


r/NightVision 22h ago

Buy now or wait?

2 Upvotes

I am trying to gauge whether I get tubes that would work pretty well for now, or if it is better that I wait and go all in with high end tubes.
I’m set on starting with binoculars, so I am deciding between going all in with L3 Filmless WP or going for Photonis Echo High Gain WP. Specs look pretty good on the Echo HG.
AO is suburban/city, but I enjoy going out for hikes and would use them in such environments, which is my main reservation about Photonis (performance in extreme low light). The Photonis would be about half the price, which would save me some money for now (I don’t have income for the next several years because of med school) and I can definitely upgrade once I make money again.
Additionally, I’ve heard mixed reviews about Steele Industries, what’re your thoughts?

TLDR: Photonis Echo High Gain now or L3 Filmless down the road?


r/NightVision 1d ago

Pro-Tec Final Boss

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115 Upvotes

r/NightVision 1d ago

Need help choosing a thermal

4 Upvotes

I have been using my nods with a laser to take care of coons and coyotes around the property. However we have cats, goats and other animals roaming around, and on very dark nights sometimes they look a little too similar. I was thinking of grabbing a thermal scope or optic as a second means of verification / finding them.

I don't want this to cost a lot, and any shot I take would be under 50 yards.
Currently debating the DNT HS219 as a clip on, or running an Infitac FMP13 canted. I am slightly leaning more to the Infitac since it wouldn't interfere with how I normally run my set up. But any suggestions from actual users would be greatly appreciated since YouTube reviews seem rather biased.


r/NightVision 1d ago

Nutnfancy 2nd kind of cool.

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36 Upvotes

Pretty much my night setup.

Very impressed with the 3EIR sentinel-one.