Tritium Decision...

[Titanium81]

Green or Blue Tritium?

Anyone have both?

Which do you like better?

Is one significantly brighter than the other?

[indadark]

Green is the brightest of the colors. Check B@rt's Tritium thread on CPFMP, when it gets back online, for the chart of brightness levels.

[Titanium81]

Green is the brightest of the colors. Check B@rt's Tritium thread on CPFMP, when it gets back online, for the chart of brightness levels.

I've been looking at a lot of Flashlights with Tritium both Green and Blue. Both look really nice.

Just wondering if the blue is really that much dimmer. In pictures it looks bright.

I want an EDC that I can have on my nightstand and with out a doubt see it.

Could the blue fit this requirement or is the green a better choice?

[Titanium81]

Sorry Double Post

[indadark]

In the dark with night adapted vision it's a non-issue, pick your color preference.

[precisionworks]

I install both & often keep a small container with green & ice blue 1.5x5.0mm trits near the mill. Green is almost twice as bright, blue is pretty bright. Photo is copied from B@rt's thread located here: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/sho...read-Part-Deux

[shao.fu.tzer]

I would only go with ice-blue - blue looks cool but if you want bright, go with green like everyone else said. I have an RPM tailcap with yellow trits that's bright enough. Red is almost pointless in my opinion.

[Titanium81]

Sounds like green is, if not the brightest, emits the easiest wavelength to see.

[Haesslich]

My night-adapted eyes prefer the green to the blue. I've got green, blue, and red tritium tubes, all bought the same year. The red one is pretty damned dim, and the blue's even dimmer (I've got the dark blue one). The green knocks them both out of the park.

[Titanium81]

In this picture they look about the same. Is this what a real life experience would be?

[Titanium81]

Is the Blue Tritium bright enough to see on a dresser 4 -5 feet a way in the dark?

[Tarponfly49]

I think you guys missed the fact he said he had the darker blue...in my experience with gun night sights...ice blue is pretty bright but less than green, dark blue is almost nonexistent

[Haesslich]

Not in my experience... not the blues, unless you've got a long-exposure shot like the one above. The green stands out right away in the dark - but not the dark blues. Those are dismal. Even with night adapted eyes (think four hours sleep, all curtains closed), I can barely see the blue tritium sitting on my desk 5-6' away, while the SMALLER green tube below it is brighter. Or the green tube the same size as the blue on a shelf 10 feet away.

[Tarponfly49]

Not in my experience... not the blues, unless you've got a long-exposure shot like the one above. The green stands out right away in the dark - but not the dark blues. Those are dismal. Even with night adapted eyes (think four hours sleep, all curtains closed), I can barely see the blue tritium sitting on my desk 5-6' away, while the SMALLER green tube below it is brighter. Or the green tube the same size as the blue on a shelf 10 feet away.

I agree completely with you, as you said, in regards to dark blue....barely noticeable. Ice blue, however is much much brighter....and while not as bright as green, is much more noticeable than say red, or the dark blue
....and again I'm only speaking on my personal experience using tritium tubes for gun sights, etc......

[Titanium81]

Thanks for all the responses.

Green seems like the best color of tritium to go with (if visibility is the main concern).

As this light will be an EDC, the ability to see it in as many environments possible the better.

[indadark]

In this picture they look about the same. Is this what a real life experience would be?

Real life experience wouldn't utilize a UV light.

[Kilovolt]

I have a number of both blue and green vials and this is my 2 cents: in total darkness blue (which is nicer) is quite visible while in semi darkness green is much more easy to spot. So it really depends on where you expect to find your flashlight, I mean in what kind of environment.

[Titanium81]

I have a number of both blue and green vials and this is my 2 cents: in total darkness blue (which is nicer) is quite visible while in semi darkness green is much more easy to spot. So it really depends on where you expect to find your flashlight, I mean in what kind of environment.

In total darkness how far away can you see blue?

[Norm]

Moved to General Light Discussion Electroluminescent / GID - Norm

[Kilovolt]

In total darkness how far away can you see blue?

I would say 2-3 meters. Well of course I am talking about thin and short vials, the ones that can be fitted on a flashlight (e.g. 5 x 1.55 mm). Green can be seen at double that distance.
The story is quite different in the case of large vials (e.g. 23 x 3 mm) with which you can almost walk in total darkness.

[Titanium81]

I would say 2-3 meters. Well of course I am talking about thin and short vials, the ones that can be fitted on a flashlight (e.g. 5 x 1.55 mm). Green can be seen at double that distance.
The story is quite different in the case of large vials (e.g. 23 x 3 mm) with which you can almost walk in total darkness.

Thanks, this gives me a better idea about the blue.

I just wasn't sure if it was visible unless it was within a few feet with a lot of people saying it was so dim.

I have good vision so it shouldn't be a problem.

[precisionworks]

Green has always been popular. The second most popular color today seems to be ice blue, but there have been no Government Studies on this



Look closely at the blue trit above & it appears to be a 1.5x5.0mm size. The green trit looks physically bigger, like a 2.0x6.0mm, which is huge by comparison. If more light is your concern, go with a slightly larger vial & select whichever colors you like.

[Haesslich]

Dark Blue? See my response above. Four hours sleep, total darkness, and I barely see the blue tube six feet away. Very dim glow. The green tube half it's height and thickness (aka 1/4 of the blue tube's size) set in a flashlight) is FAR brighter and is easily seen. The green tube the same size as the blue some ten feet away is also easily spotted despite the fact it points at me so I get only the end... But the blue is laying in the desk and shows most of it's length.

That's how much of a difference there is between dark blue and green. Ice blues aren't nearly as bad.

Thanks, this gives me a better idea about the blue.

I just wasn't sure if it was visible unless it was within a few feet with a lot of people saying it was so dim.

I have good vision so it shouldn't be a problem.

If there's any ambient light, that 2 meters is going to get cut in half easily. When I first got this set of red, dark blue, and green, I set all the tubes down on the desk and waited a half hour in the dark to test it - the green was very visible even with some light leaking through the blinds of my suite. The red was dim enough that I had to approach the desk a bit to see it. The blue was worse - the bits of light from outside and the other tubes drowned it out, and I had to be right beside the tube, and even then it barely showed.

Green, white, ice blue, and yellow are the best choices for use - the rest are there to look pretty, and maybe provoke conversation. Not for use, unless you've got an ELCAN scope or some other sight where the light isn't bring used to mark something to catch your eye.

[Titanium81]

The Blue is just too SWEET looking.

I think if it is bright within 2 to 3 feet (in total darkness, maybe moon light) I will have to go with it.

[Haesslich]

The Blue is just too SWEET looking.

I think if it is bright within 2 to 3 feet (in total darkness, maybe moon light) I will have to go with it.

Sweet looking's one thing, but if it's to help you spot a flashlight on a nightstand.. unless you're living out in the boonies in a windowless basement deep underground with no other light sources in that room or the room beside it, you're not going to see it until you're within two feet of it, maybe less.

If you want a blue you can use, get the ice blue.

[Titanium81]

After researching a lot on tritium brightness, I have came to the conclusion that green is the best color choice for my uses. The brightness and visibility of green is clear from the responses of this thread and the countless reviews of watches and key chains that have tritium for illumination.

I really liked the color blue, but green is growing on me more and more. I think I will be happy with my decision to get green. The usability (visibility) of green will definitely outweigh the novelty of blue.

I hope this helps anyone else trying to choose.

[precisionworks]

The photo below is a time exposure but shows the relative brightness of green & ice blue:

[Titanium81]

Are these pictures realistic or do they use some type of UV lighting or over exposure?

[indadark]

I got your PM but didn't reply because I read in one of your recent posts where you seemed to have decided with green, choosing functionality over "cool". Now it seems you aren't so sure after seeing more pics of blue trits. It comes down to this, people can explain the differences, pros, and cons of different trit colors and brightness levels every which way till Sunday but the truth of the matter is it's going to be purely subjective. When CPFMP comes back online, search for "Merkava" trit sales thread. You can but 1.5x5.5mm trits for $11 a piece, shipping is like $3. So for $25 you can get a blue and a green and see first hand which appeals to you in all the conditions you want to test functionality at.

[Haesslich]

A lot of those look a tad overexposed or under UV. The glow under lighting isn't usually that bright, not even with greens.... and the last photo in particular makes me suspicious. But ice blue's still brighter than dark blue, and night-adapted eyes shouldn't have problems spotting the green at all... or the yellow, given how that color catches one's eye. The ice blue isn't too bad, but as precisionworks' photo shows, it's about half as bright as the green.