Selective Yellow Headlamps

Okay so if you live in an area of the world with frequent inclement weather, is there any benefit to making your headlamps selective yellow?

My understanding is that the benefits of selective yellow foglamps are very small. But still there. And if your spending a pile of time in poor road conditions then why not?

Im thinking about conditions where theres a light snowfall, but you can still get away with using your highbeams without going into lightspeed, wouldnt having the headlamps in selective yellow benefit me in these conditions reducing backscatter etc??

And If not me then it must certainly benefit other drivers. I have noticed other people with selective yellow bulbs (junk i know), but even with a tinted bulb and less precise filament placement etc etc I still find it waay easier on my eyes when meeting them.


If I were whats the best way? I cannot find yellow metalcast anywhere and nowhere online will ship to me for some reason. Could I try yellow lamin-x just to try it out before commiting to something more permanent?

Sadden said:

My understanding is that the benefits of selective yellow foglamps are very small. But still there. And if your spending a pile of time in poor road conditions then why not?

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Very (extensively!) detailed info on that subject is here.

Im thinking about conditions where theres a light snowfall, but you can still get away with using your highbeams without going into lightspeed, wouldnt having the headlamps in selective yellow benefit me in these conditions reducing backscatter etc??

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Yes, that is a good description of a condition in which, based on scientifically sound recent research, selective yellow light color might help to some degree.

If I were whats the best way? I cannot find yellow metalcast anywhere and nowhere online will ship to me for some reason.

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Well, where are you located? It looks like LeanBurn has provided a valid link to Amazon (will they ship to you?).

Could I try yellow lamin-x just to try it out before commiting to something more permanent?

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Not worth wasting money. That's not going to make your lamps selective yellow or anything like it, it will just make them sort of a little yellowish.

Alternatively to the spray-on coating, you can use denatured alcohol to clean the lenses carefully, rub them with a clean soft dry cloth, and then take your time and carefully and neatly put this tape on the lens. It looks way too dark on the roll, but that's because of all the thicknesses stacked up on top of each other. One thickness (one layer) on the lens will be exactly the right color.

Thanks Virgil, I have read Daniels writing on the subject.

Well, where are you located? It looks like LeanBurn has provided a valid link to Amazon (will they ship to you?).

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Northern Alberta

Alternatively to the spray-on coating, you can use denatured alcohol to clean the lenses carefully, rub them with a clean soft dry cloth, and then take your time and carefully and neatly put this tape on the lens. It looks way too dark on the roll, but that's because of all the thicknesses stacked up on top of each other. One thickness (one layer) on the lens will be exactly the right color.

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Thanks Virgil, no I already had an amazon order refunded about a month ago, they wont ship aerosols too me for some reason... Ive tried half a dozen places now.

So How durable is that tape? Will I have to replace it every month or will I be good doing my lights every fall?

And is this the same stuff, I may as well get it large enough to my headlamps and the wifes with a single strip.

Does it apply like regular tint? (Soapy water, heatgun etc?)

That's at least nominally the same stuff, and a really good price on it. I have no idea how much quality/durability variation there is among brands on this stuff, but all of it I've handled has been more durable than the kinds of tapes consumers generally have access to. If it's carefully applied, no air bubbles etc, I would hope to get at least one winter worth of use out of it. I have had the good fortune only to apply it to extremely flat surfaces (or curved in only one direction) so I've never experimented with the usual tint application techniques (very slightly soapy water etc). At that price, for that much, you could try every technique in the book, then strip it off and do the one that works best again!

Sold, ill order some and try it out, at the very least ill be doing our foglamps with it. If I like the results I will do all my vehicles.

Edit: Wow amazon.com wont ship that to me, and on amazon.ca it's triple the price and it's all out of stock...

Geeze, that's a hassle. Maybe use one of those remail-to-Canada services I've heard about...?

-Virgil- said:

Geeze, that's a hassle. Maybe use one of those remail-to-Canada services I've heard about...?

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Ive been putting it off for a few years now, i might just have to though...

Sadden, just curious if this applies to your situation.


This is from Daniel Stern concerning BC vehicle inspection procedures:
"In Canada, headlamps must emit white light within the beam they produce. The light may be tinted slightly blue or slightly yellow and still meet the requirement for white light, just as an ordinary white incandescent household light bulb is somewhat yellow and an ordinary white fluorescent lamp is some-what blue. Some headlamps producing acceptable white light within the beam will exhibit a noticeable fringe of colour at the top edge of the beam; this is OK, but a large band of blue or violet light above the beam is not permitted . Blue or other colour light within the beam is not permitted except on official emergency vehicles. In this test, you examine the headlamps, the bulbs, and the light beam to determine if they produce an appropriate colour of light."


And this from Province of Alberta, Traffic Safety Act,
VEHICLE EQUIPMENT REGULATION, Alberta Regulation 122/2009


Section 7
VEHICLE EQUIPMENT REGULATION AR 122/2009
(5) A person shall not attach or apply anything that colours the light from a headlamp to the headlamp, part of the headlamp or a bulb in the headlamps.

I would say it does in fact, thanks for that Fastgun.

The thing is is that officers up here
A) Dont have the time to enforce headlamp & automotive lighting req's
B) Dont know the applicable laws

Literally 2/3 of ford pickups have some kind of retrofitted hid/led garbage. Officers up here believe that 6000k is the legal limit and anything after that goes. I would actually be more worried about getting in trouble here than getting ticketed by the local law enforcement.

Maybe this a case where the safety benefit trumps law.

Move south? Less winter, less intrusion...depending on where in the south, less Tim Horton, but they mail order.

fastgun said:

Move south? Less winter, less intrusion

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Intrusion...? Many states have vehicle lighting codes at least as restrictive as Alberta's, though enforcement is the wild card there, too.

(If you meant something non-lighting-related, please don't continue that line of conversation; this isn't the place)