"Kestrel NV: As rugged as the Environment. As Stealthy as the Mission."
Due to overwhelming demand from NK's military customer, the Kestrel NV line was born in 2005. Military personnel and pilots flying in darkness are often concerned with preserving their night vision and secure position. The NV model has the same features as its more colorful counterparts, but is olive drab or desert tan (4000 and 4500 models only) with a reduced brightness backlight which helps protect the users' adapted night vision. It takes 30 to 45 minutes for the average eye to adapt to darkness and maximize night vision. Even a short burst of white, yellow, green or blue light "bleaches out" the rod cell photoreceptors in the eye and causes night blindness until the entire adaptation process can take place again. The dim backlight is also much more difficult to detect with the naked eye in night or covert operations.
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