Buy Night Vision in Switzerland and the EU

A night vision device is a considered purchase, and a data sheet only helps once you know what it refers to. What follows is what we explain in the showroom anyway.

Which device suits what you do

A monocular puts one eye through the tube and leaves the other dark-adapted. It is the lightest and least expensive form, and it is enough for most uses.

A binocular with two tubes restores depth perception. Distances can be judged, and the eyes tire noticeably less over hours.

A panoramic goggle with four tubes widens the field of view from roughly 40 degrees to about 100. That is the difference between looking through and looking around.

All three are valid choices. The right one depends on how long you wear it and what you are doing.

In depth in the guide: monocular, binocular or panoramic, which form factor fits.

What figure of merit actually tells you

Figure of merit, or FOM, is signal-to-noise ratio multiplied by resolution in line pairs per millimetre. It ranks tubes on paper.

What it does not describe: noise behaviour, halo around bright light, and sharpness at the edge of the image. That is why two tubes with the same FOM can look different through the eyepiece. A higher tier buys you a cleaner image in less light, not a different class of device.

Autogating switches the tube's voltage automatically, thousands of times per second, to protect it and hold contrast when bright light enters the scene. If you expect street lighting, vehicles or torches, it is worth having.

More on this in the guide: what figure of merit does and does not tell you.

White or green phosphor

Our standard builds use white phosphor (P45). It renders the scene in greyscale, reads as higher perceived contrast, and most people find it calmer over a long session.

Green is normally available on request rather than from stock. P22 is the deeper traditional tone with longer persistence; P43 is lighter and decays faster, so fast movement smears less.

Phosphor is preference, not performance. The tube behind the screen does the actual work.

The long answer is in the guide: white or green phosphor, the honest answer.

Night vision and Swiss law

The Swiss Weapons Act (WG, SR 514.54) names night vision exactly once. Article 4 paragraph 2 letter b lists laser and night vision aiming devices as weapon accessories. The decisive word is aiming: it means devices used to aim a weapon.

Weapon accessories in that sense may not be transferred, acquired or brought into Switzerland under article 5 paragraph 2 letter d. That requires an exceptional permit under article 28b.

Observation devices, whether monocular, binocular or panoramic, are not in that list. That is the distinction most enquiries conflate.

If a night vision or thermal device is used on a weapon to aim with, it becomes precisely the device named above, and the rule applies.

Hunting carries a separate rule. The hunting ordinance (JSV, SR 922.01) prohibits, in article 2 paragraph 1 letter e, laser aiming devices, night vision aiming devices and device combinations of comparable function as hunting aids.

This is a summary of the statutory wording and not legal advice. Your own case is decided by the weapons office of your canton, and for hunting by the cantonal hunting authority.

The guide covers the statutory wording in detail: night vision devices and Swiss law.

What export control means for you

Night vision and thermal equipment is controlled under Swiss export law. What matters is what that control governs: export from Switzerland, not the purchase itself.

For a delivery inside Switzerland or to Liechtenstein there is no additional step. You order, we ship.

For any delivery into the EU or Schengen there is one: after payment we send you an End User Certificate. You sign and return it, we complete export clearance, and the device is dispatched with tracking. It is often granted within a few business days, but allow up to 15.

If clearance cannot be obtained for your country, we cancel and refund in full. Accessories and apparel are not controlled goods and ship without this step.

We do not ship to Russia, Belarus or any country under Swiss sanctions.

Prices, VAT and import

Prices shown include 8.1 per cent Swiss VAT. Buying from Switzerland or Liechtenstein, that is what you pay.

For every other destination the Swiss VAT is removed at checkout, so the price charged drops by about 7.5 per cent.

In exchange, the carrier collects your own country's import VAT and any duty on delivery, and those are yours to pay. In the EU that is usually 19 to 25 per cent of the value. Budget for it before you order: we would rather say so plainly here than have it be a surprise at the door.

Warranty, returns, and what the warranty does not cover

Two years from the day it is delivered, on devices, accessories and apparel alike, in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the EU and Schengen area. On a night vision device that covers the image intensifier tube, the housing, the optics and the electronics.

Not covered: fair wear and tear, accidental damage, and damage caused by exposing the tube to bright light in breach of the operating instructions supplied. That is worth understanding rather than discovering. An image intensifier amplifies the light already there, so switching a device on in daylight can damage the tube. This does not affect your rights in law.

14 days to return, for any reason, without giving a justification. You may unpack the device, handle it and switch it on, exactly as you could in our showroom. We do not refuse a return because a device has been switched on. In the EU this is your statutory right of withdrawal; Swiss law gives no such right for online purchases, and we give customers in Switzerland the same 14 days anyway.

Look through one yourself in Villmergen

A data sheet gives you numbers. It cannot tell you how a tube behaves when you look through it yourself: how it handles a street lamp at the edge of the frame, how much noise you see when the light drops, how the image feels after an hour.

The showroom in Villmergen is open by appointment, and collection is free of charge. Bring your helmet and we will fit the setup properly.