Red or white diffuser?

[smg]

I am planning on getting an L2D and a diffuser soon. The diffuser will be used if I need lighting around the house (power outage) and for backpacking (in a tent). Not sure what else I'd use it for.

For the camping use, I'd expect that I would sometimes need to look at maps (color recognition useful). Would the red one cause problems there?

Why would I really need to use the red one over the white one? If I'm turning a light on, I'm kinda killing my night adaptation anyway, right?

Did I answer my own question, or is there more to the equation?

 

[defloyd77]

Yeah you pretty much answered your own question. Personally I see the red more for signaling or something to that nature and reading maps would be a problem.

 

[LED-holic]

Get both, they're only $2.99 or $3.99 at Lighthound.com.

 

[Oddjob]

Diffuse light is great for up close tasks. I went throught a period where I wanted my edc's to have diffusion film on all the time but now I just use diffusers I can take on and off. I agree with LED-holic...buy both to see which suits your needs and just put aside the one you don't like as much because it will proably come in handy someday.

 

[baterija]

Low levels of red light do pretty well at preserving your night vision. The 9 lumen low (with losses because of the diffuser) would probably perform well. White light in it's place would cause significantly more loss of night vision. That said red items on the map wash out...unless they are in a red-brown the military uses on maps to counter that effect. If your map is marked "red light readable" it uses the red-brown color. It still takes a little getting used to since the coloring is different. You know your maps, and how important the night vision benefit is to you. The benefit is real though.

You could also use the trick of closing one eye when you turn on white light for the map. That keeps one eye night adapted. It actually kind of works if you can pull it off and the light isn't too intense. It feels awkward though.

 

[ZMZ67]

+1 on getting both.If the red diff. is not suitable for your original purpose it will still make a good signal device and won't add much cost to your order.

 

[chmsam]

Red diffusers do make night vision (NV) preservation a lot easier but for map reading the problem is that most roads and a lot of trails are marked in red and just vanish. Same thing for "NV green" lights -- some of the other details will just disappear. White lets you see the details but even in fairly low levels will diminish NV greatly.

Guess what? You need color options to read maps at night and still be able to see to get around. However, even with filters or diffusers too much light will still degrade NV. It takes a very careful balance of color(s) and amount of light to get the prefect result for the tasks each person wants to perform.

 

[smg]

I'm still kinda wondering... If I am in my tent for the night, will I really need to retain night vision for the typical tasks?

 

[Sharpy_swe]

I have used the white diffuser for close up work at home and in the car, the diffused white light is much better than a hotspot for some type of work. For example when I changed tires I put my L2D (highmode + diffuser) on the concrete floor under my car - perfect lighting!

The red diffuser is perfect with the strobe mode for a powerful distress signal, especially on a dark road. You can't miss it!

In a tent I would use the white diffuser with low or medium mode. Only some SOF would need the red diffuser in a tent

 

[chmsam]

Retaining night vision for me boils down to this, better to have it than not. If you need to investigate things that go bump in the night, it is better not to have to wait a few minutes to be able to see them, right?