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Letter Re: Night Operations
James:
Regarding
Pete C.'s article on night operations: The great (but now sadly defunct)
magazine "Coevolution
Quarterly" had a great article about night vision development sometime
in the 1980s (I've got a copy of it hanging around here somewhere, if only
I was organized enough to lay my hands on it) that gave a brilliant method
for training night sight via peripheral vision. The technique involved taking
something like a lightweight brazing rod and attaching it [off-center] to
the bill of a baseball cap. On the end of the rod, you attached a small white
ball
or
disc,
which you focused on as you walked. Finding a clear path on a moonless, lightless
night, you put on the cap and focus on the ball/disc and begin walking. I tried
this a couple of nights and though it took a while to really get the technique
down, when you became adjusted to it, the effect easily rivaled that of artificial
night vision devices. Apparently, with a bit of repeated practice, you can
do away with the cap and fall right into the "de-focus" that allows
or the ready use of peripheral vision for natural, intensified light gathering.
Pete C's article reminds me that I need to try this again, and get comfortable
enough with it that I can do it at will. Regards, - Hawaiian K.
