Looking for something red?

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jeremyison05

Newly Enlightened
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Jun 11, 2007
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I'm looking for a good light that will preserve night vision, if some one tells me that the Inova X5 in red will take RCR123's i'll be sold. I'd prefer a light that's only red, and constant on is a must. I'd prefer something that can take either primaries or rechargeables, but if it will only take rechargeables that's fine too. Before you suggest it, the A2 isn't an option because I want something that's a red only source, if I need something else i've always got my P3D or 9P on me, depending on what i'm doing.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.
 
I don't remember hearing that the red X5 can't take a 3v rechargeable, but I could be wrong. (The RED X5 takes just one cell and has a non-removeable spacer.)
The red X5 will run a battery totally down though, an unprotected rechargeable would be damaged. A protected one would have shorter runtime due to the protection circuit kicking in.
The other thing to consider is the red X5 on a fresh cell is bright enough to still affect your night vision, it does mine anyway. I often put a bottle-cap diffuser on that one too.
 
peakledsolutions.com will set up most of its lights in red led if you ask. I have an old CMG Infinity with a red led and it's really all I need.
 
If you can find one, the OLD SureFire L1 LumaMax - Luxeon® model came in a Red LED version. For a while there they were selling at discount. Might try Ebay. Don't know which batteries it'll take.
 
jeremyison05 said:
I'm looking for a good light that will preserve night vision, if some one tells me that the Inova X5 in red will take RCR123's i'll be sold. I'd prefer a light that's only red, and constant on is a must. I'd prefer something that can take either primaries or rechargeables, but if it will only take rechargeables that's fine too. Before you suggest it, the A2 isn't an option because I want something that's a red only source, if I need something else i've always got my P3D or 9P on me, depending on what i'm doing.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.
Click to expand...


Well then, you need to look here:

http://www.rigelsys.com/


I would buy the red only version.....but my Red CMG Inifinity serves me very well.




Bill
 
Don't overlook the Photon Proton. It takes one AA of any type including rechargeable. The red and white LEDs have variable level control. It's not the brightest red I've seen, but enough for walking about.

Geoff
 
I started almost this exact thread a few months ago when i was shopping, here's what i found (and wasted a lot of money on) If you want 123A, the X5 is great. It's actually the red light i kept. Don't worry about rechargables, it'll literally run for weeks on a primary. But, it is a bit bright.

The surefire L1 in red stinks. That's right i said it, it had a horrible beam, i sold mine on ebay with 10 minutes runtime, and took quite a loss on it.

I got a CMG infinity ultra-G in white, but if the red is anything like the red, it could be perfect. No hotspot, very dim. Hmm....maybe i'll go order one right now....
 
Having read a great recent red light thread, I went and bought myself:
  • Inova X5 red
  • Rigel Skylite mini
  • Photon Freedom (red)
The Inova is built like a tank, but too bright on a new cell - especially indoors. I bought it for finishing off old cells.

I use the Rigel the most, around the house. You can dial the red leds down to nothing (I mean dimmer than a very old, very used red Fauxton). However, the plastic case is not waterproof, or even that tough. Drop it on the floor and it will pop open. Remember that it was built for astronomers, and you won't have wrong expectations (ie for a technical use, not a tactical one). It has the advantage that it is a deeper red, so more night vision preserving than most other 'red' leds out there. Mine is the red & green version, which switches to green, which can pretty much light up the backyard on full, to my great surprise.

Photon Freedom. Small enough to always be with you, and able to be taken down to quite a low level (but not as low as the Skylite). Worn around neck.

There's also the red Gerber IU and the minimag Nite Ize drop-in, which I can't comment on because I don't own.

Overall, it depends what you want to use it for. For outdoor use, or if you have a whole bunch of used 123 cells, don't even think about it. . . get the X5.
 
I have the Inova X5 in red. This is a great light for not waking up the wife. To prevent rolling I keep a twisty keychain cable in the lanyard hole. If you can remember to grab it by the lanyard-end when you wake up in the middle of the night to take a leak, you'll keep from turning the light on in your own face! One of the few criticisms of the Inova design is that it offers no tacile clue as to which end is which.
 
Thanks for the great replies, this light will be used for astronomy purposes. Star gazeing/setting up my telescope and checking charts at night/taking some notes. I've been using my P3D on low for this recently, but it takes my eyes a bit to re adjust to the night after checking a chart before I can adjust my telescope. If the X5 lasts as long as you say it will, primaries probably won't be an issue then.
 
I have three red lights that I use frequently and a few that I didn't care for that much. I have a Peak Matterhorn that is a great little light once the dome of the LED was sanded a bit. The Red Gerber Trios were pretty great lights as well.

However, you may be as surprised as I am, the red light I reach for most often is a MiniMag with a red NiteIze 3x5mm LED drop-in and NiteIze IQ switch. It has three levels of decent red light and because the three red 5mm LEDs are placed so closely together, the typically ringy beam smooths out nicely.

The Inova X5 is also very nice though I have only played with them in the store. I am also trying to resist a red Surefire L1 before they all dissappear.
 
jeremyison05 said:
I'd prefer a light that's only red, and constant on is a must.
Click to expand...
Just a question, but why you don't use a red filter? To me that seems more versatile than carrying two lights around... So what's your intended purpose for a constant on red only one?
 
Constant on is a must because I need to be able to mouth it/put it in a head band for working hands free and taking notes. A red filter would be ok...but that doesn't give me an excuse to buy a new light :devil:. But mainly because buying primaries for a red light would be ok, because I shouldn't need to replace the battery more than once or twice a month, but I like to use rechargeables in my other lights. Also because my luck i'd lose a small red filter that I have to carry separately from my light, and on my 9p the red light would be much too bright.
 
Even more important than the color is perceived brightness. A bright red light will ruin night vision more than a dim white one.

I use a very dim white LED light for map reading and find I can read better with it than with a red LED light because of the improved color perception.

I am using an Infinity that I modified for LOWER current.
 
For green: Surefire L1 old style, Surefire KL3 LED conversion head, almost any Peak LED light, Inova X5, Inova X1 old style, Rigel Skylite, Photon keychain lights. 4sevens used to modify Fenixes to use colored LEDs, he may still be willing to do some.

LAPoliceGear has the L1 last time I checked, the Peaks are available from the website, and the Inovas from BatteryJunction.
 
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