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1. 

   Mike (profile), 26 Apr 2001 @ 11:49pm

   
   

   Night vision goggles...

   In the early nineties, when the Soviet Union was falling apart, I remember reading in Time magazine that you could buy night vision goggles from Soviet military people desperate for money for about 80 bucks. A few months after reading this a friend of mine went to Moscow to visit his cousin (who was a bureau chief for NBC or ABC news in Moscow). I told him to buy me a pair of night vision goggles if he could find them...
   
   He called me (from Moscow) to tell me that he bought a night vision scope (not goggles) for himself, but didn't buy a pair for me since the price had risen to a $120 from the desperate Russian army soldier he found. I told him to go back and buy it for $120 and yelled at him for being so stupid as to not realize I'd pay more than $80 for an authentic pair of night vision goggles from the Russian army. He couldn't find another set. I think he really wanted to be the only one among our friends who had a toy as cool as that. Lucky bastard.
   
   A couple of years later, a friend of mine's father would travel to Moscow every couple of months for business. I told him the story of the night vision goggles, and he told his father to pick some up for both of us. His father went, and asked around and was told that that was a big no-no. In the years between, the Russians had tried to rebuild up their army and soldiers caught selling surplus equipment were getting into serious trouble... as were some people who were trying to buy the surplus equipment.
   
   So... I never got my authentic Russian army night vision goggles.

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2. 

   u2604ab, 27 Apr 2001 @ 12:27am

   
   

   Re: Night vision goggles...

   Do you think the Ruskie goggles will reveal where someone buried a body?

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3. 

   Mike (profile), 27 Apr 2001 @ 12:44am

   
   

   Re: Night vision goggles...

   I doubt it... Though, of course, that would have made them even cooler.

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4. 

   NightSeer, 27 Apr 2001 @ 1:45am

   
   

   Re: Night vision goggles...

   I can buy night vision goggles in Costco!! What's the big deal?

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5. 

   Mike (profile), 27 Apr 2001 @ 11:42am

   
   

   Re: Night vision goggles...

   Sure, you can now... but you couldn't ten years ago. Plus, those night vision goggles suck. These would have been authentic, Russian army night vision goggles.

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