How do I get into infrared flashlights?

I was told I can buy a infrared filter for a flashlight and a set of glasses to go with the filter to see in the dark. Is that how it works? Can you see things at a distance like white light flashlights allow?

Yes and no. :candle:

However, as for Infrared flashlight, you're actually better off buying the Infrared LED (such as OSRAM Oslon LED with 850 or 940 nanometers peak wavelength), and pair with AMC7135-based linear regulator driver in a well-heatsunk DIY flashlight, it's an easier option compared to trying to use the Infrared filter on a Halogen flashlight. You also may need to study on Lithium-ion battery safety and uses first, it's recommended as you won't know whether to use Li-ion cell(s) or not. Li-ion cell will of course give you a much longer runtime with the Infrared power LED. And keep in mind, the Infrared light attenuation depends on what window or lenses you're going to use. Some plastic lens isn't a big help either, same with ultraviolet emission transmittance. Whatever fails, experiment with it (and be sure NOT to look at Infrared LED whenever it's on, it can pack a punch enough to toast your retina).

As for "glasses", you may mean Infrared-sensitive night goggle. Some are cheap, others not. You may luck out and get US or Russian army surplus night goggle cheap, and it would be the only way to see things with Infrared flashlight at night because they're sensitive to the Infrared spectrum. Very few people can see the Infrared light. And, in my case, it would be hard to see things with Infrared light alone (I am one of very few people who CAN see Infrared light). So, some form of aids are necessary. Digital camera can see Infrared light also.

Thanks, sounds complex. I was looking for a small infrared light like a Surefire size for pocket use.

slackercruster said:

Thanks, sounds complex. I was looking for a small infrared light like a Surefire size for pocket use.

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For close use (within a few feet or so) any incandescent light with an infrared filter will only emit infrared (and maybe a little deep red, depending on the filter). As Dr. Mario stated, you will need an infrared viewer to see the results. An infrared filter will perform very poorly or not at all on an LED emitter, because LEDs emit virtually no infrared, except for those he mentioned which are designed solely to emit infrared. That is why one sees mostly incandescent bulbs in a lot of military lights.

And I will reiterate his warning as well. Depending on the LED, it might not look like the light is on, even though it is. Some infrared LEDs might give off a faint deep red glow, but others won't. Make a habit of not looking into the beam of any infrared light, cause once you damage any part of your retina it can never be repaired. Strong enough/long enough you will be blinded.

Any infrared gurus on here, is there any kind of simple sensor or indicator that will give a visible reaction to an infrared beam?

Old-school Infrared flashlight usually was Halogen type as it emits a lot of Infrared light due to Tungsten fliament and Quartz envelope being pretty hot. Some Infrared filter may not be so tolerant to heat (and not all filters are cheap - some Infrared bandpass filter is actually very expensive). Infrared LED flashlight on other hand is actually much more efficient than Halogen one, not to mention it would run lukewarm to the touch after a while.

As for Infrared viewing, if you still can order from RadioShack website, they may have Infrared detector card which is much cheaper. Amazon also have similar detector card. The tan or aqua strip is an Infrared-sensitive down-converting phosphor. It's a simple, no-hassle way to check for presence of Infrared light.

Timothybil said:

Any infrared gurus on here, is there any kind of simple sensor or indicator that will give a visible reaction to an infrared beam?

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Yes there is. There is passive technology like IR panels and helmet mounted reflectors which are very effective but you need to be wearing your ESS eye protection using the IR lenses. As far as using electronic technology any good set of NOD's (Night Observation Device) like scopes and goggles will detect most if not all the common used IR wavelengths. Even older Gen1 devices do this fairly well. I use a cheap Russian made NOD for checking anything I need to verify function. Like the IR on a Surefire KM2 or KM3. Recently got in a IR laser designator in and my NOD worked great to detect the beam and hot spot.

Also most folks don't know it but the camera in your smart phone might detect IR light as well. Depends on the age and model. I've seen a few online pic's and videos of folks using that to acquire evidence against burglars and parking lot thieves who think they are in the dark and not knowing that an IR source was blasting away at them all the time.

slackercruster said:

Thanks, sounds complex. I was looking for a small infrared light like a Surefire size for pocket use.

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Think it's called 'the vampire"? A combo emitter where you pick white or IR if I read it correctly.

There are some Infrared LED P60 drop-ins, also, for certain Surefire flashlight hosts and their clone counterpart (ie. Ultrafire WF-501B), by the way. That is, if you're not into soldering. mtnelectronics.com is one such place, if you are in the USA, that can make you a P60 drop-in for $5 - 10 build & test fee. I just build the flashlights myself, BTW.

Solarforceflashlight-sales.com also has P60 style drop-ins in IR and UV for about $15.

Personally I would suggest you start with that and I'm not sure if you are aware that most smart phone cameras can see infrared without doing anything special to them. Your eyes were not made to see into the infrared portion of the spectrum so they need help to do so. Whether it's a tube of gas that reacts to the infrared photons by discharging visible light (night vision goggles/equipment) or a camera sensor that is capable of seeing the light to begin with and relaying that to a visible light display are pretty much your only choices.