Why RED!!!

Bearcat · Sep 9, 2006

I understand why most people choose white LEDS, but why do people choose red over yellow? Both have very long runtimes and yellow is much easier to navigate around with in the dark and it makes a better reading light. I understand the red night vision argument, but the red light is almost impossible to see by when walking around outdoors in the dark. Is the red LED on the Phonton II brighter than the Fauxton red LED?

Illumination · Sep 9, 2006

red affects night vision much less than other colors...so when you shut the light off you can still see from ambient light. with white light, things will look pitch black. also some animals arent spooked by red light, and insects tend not to be attracted to it

InfidelCastro · Sep 9, 2006

I didn't know they made a red Fauxton. My red Photon II is pretty bright.

BBL · Sep 9, 2006

When its dark, the human eye switches to more sensitive receptors that see wavelengths below 650nm. When those receptors should not be affected by light, the color must be above 650nm, which is red. There may be better colors for visibility, but they influence night-vision.

Bearcat · Sep 9, 2006

BBL said:
When its dark, the human eye switches to more sensitive receptors that see wavelengths below 650nm. When those receptors should not be affected by light, the color must be above 650nm, which is red. There may be better colors for visibility, but they influence night-vision.

I understand what you are saying, but what is the use of having a red light if you can not see with it. On a pitch dark night you can only see things with a light anyway. Where is there a need for saving night-vision if you can not see where you are going in the first place without a light? I for one do not want to bumping into trees and falling into holes using a red light that I can not see by just to save my night-vision.

bguy · Sep 9, 2006

It sounds like you already undrstand that red is used to preserve night vision. So I take it you don't understand why/who would need to do that.

Off the top of my head, the people that can make the most use of red light are people that need light to look at close objects, but need to see distant objects that are dimly lit. Such as airplane pilots and astonomers.

Here's an everyday scenerio, imagine you are walking without a flashlight in your dark house to the bathroom. There was enough ambiant light to se your way there. You use the white light in the bathroom to spot your target, and then turn the light off. Can you see enough to get back to bed? Probably not, as your night vision is now trashed for a couple minutes by the 30 seconds of light.

And as another scenerio, suppose you are sleeping, and hear somethong outside. Do you turn on your bedroom light, and then go outside to look? You won't see much, since you have again trashed your night vision. Even dim white light will degrade your night vision.

Bradley

Bearcat · Sep 9, 2006

Thanks bguy, you are very correct in what you are saying. I guess my needs are different than those you pointed out. The yellow light may not be as night-vision friendly, but it does have a very long runtime and I can navigate down a trail or through the woods with it better than I can with my red light. Maybe other people have brighter red lights than I do.

Bearcat · Sep 9, 2006

InfidelCastro said:
I didn't know they made a red Fauxton. My red Photon II is pretty bright.

I ordered them from Lighthound for $.99 cents. They have yellow, blue, green, purple, red and white. I only bought them to see what LED color I would like before ordering another Photon. Great lights for the money and make good gifts. Maybe your Photon II red LED is brighter than the Fauxton red LED.

PlayboyJoeShmoe · Sep 9, 2006

I have a red minim*g filter on a Streamlight Jr LUX as a midnight bathroom run light.

It allows me to see PERFECTLY to get back into bed.

Yellow is sickly like a weak incandescent....

Bearcat · Sep 9, 2006

PlayboyJoeShmoe said:
I have a red minim*g filter on a Streamlight Jr LUX as a midnight bathroom run light.

It allows me to see PERFECTLY to get back into bed.

Yellow is sickly like a weak incandescent....

That was my very first impression when I first tried out the yellow LED. It is more a yellow/amber than yellow. It is not as pretty as the others, but I have grown to like it. It puts out plenty of light and should run a very long time using a single 2032 battery.

iNDiGLo · Sep 9, 2006

My best friend is a pilot and his headset has a 3 RED leds built into it so when he's flying VFR (Visual Flight Rules) he can look at elevation maps and log books without destroying his dark adapted eyes when looking out the windows.

Dogliness · Sep 9, 2006

I use a red light mainly when I am using a telescope because of the night vision aspect. I have read about two other uses of red lights, but cannot vouch for them myself. One is that red lights do not attract mesquitos and other bugs like white or yellow lights do; and the other is that red lights cannot be seen by someone at as far a distance away, which can be useful if privacy is a concern. Maybe someone can comment on whether these two latter things are true.

monobeg · Sep 9, 2006

There is another advantage of red light that's surprizing often overlooked on these forums (probably because most people don't need it):
Red light doesn't travel as far through air. Advantage: If someone's looking for you, you're harder to find.
I think the physics behind it is that low wavelength light (ie: red) refracts more. This means that water droplets in normal air will scatter the red light more than higher wavelengths.
I think this is the major reason red light is used heavily in the armed forces. For example, if a Navy ship takes a hit, all the lights turn red. These red lights are bright enough to kill your night vision (not that you'd probably need it on a lit ship), but the advantage is it doesn't shine out to sea.

Edit:
Arg! Dogliness replied while I was typing (slowly apparently).
Yes - the second reason is true. In fact, I almost wonder if this was the reason red light really became popular, and the night-vision aspect is a spin-off??? Truely, any color will preserve night vision if its dim enough, and will destroy it if bright enough. I'm not even totally convinced that a red filter has any major night-vision advantage other than dimming the output!

Something else I noticed - I turned my car's internal light red at one point, because it seemed to make driving with the light on possible. But again, maybe it was only the dimming effect of the filter.

Bearcat · Sep 9, 2006

iNDiGLo said:
My best friend is a pilot and his headset has a 3 RED leds built into it so when he's flying VFR (Visual Flight Rules) he can look at elevation maps and log books without destroying his dark adapted eyes when looking out the windows.

I 100% agree with you that a red LED is most likely to work well in that situation, but only if there is some light for him see when he looks out window. IF there is no light on a pitch dark night in the middle of woods, then there would be no need to save a persons night-vision. I am just trying to make the argument that a yellow/amber LED light would suit most situations better than a red LED light would and both have very long runtimes using a single 2032 battery.

beezaur · Sep 9, 2006

I have a red flashlight that puts out around 150 lumens. It is pretty easy to walk around with

I have an amber-modded Mag which is also pretty bright. But the red (it's an Aleph 3) is easier on the dark-adapted vision.

Here's an example of how I use a red light: I might be stargazing some evening, which takes a while for your eyes to get used to (around 20-30 minutes). I do this a ways from the house, so I need to use a flashlight to find my way there. I use a brighter red light for walking around. I use a very dim red light for reading star charts, etc. Yellow or amber will mess my eyes up.

Scott

paulr · Sep 9, 2006

Photons use HP/Agilent red leds that really are a lot brighter than the red leds in any of the cheap clones I've used.

I've found red light to be simply less annoying when I'm dark adapted. I have a red CMG Infinity near my bed that I use to find the can at night. It's not an issue of messing up night vision, it's just easier on the eyes.

I also edc a red Fauxton on my keyring that I occasionally use in dark surroundings to avoid annoying other people (e.g. someone trying to sleep in the room). Recently I used it at a movie theater because I had dropped something and had to look around under the seats to find and retrieve it. The red light didn't bother anybody but a white light would have.

monobeg · Sep 9, 2006

Scott,

Would you say that the red and amber lights are of equivilent brightness so you can see equally well with them (disregard the specified lumens)?

In that case, even though they are both functionally equal, the red preserves you vision better, right?

Can you comment on which is least easily seen by a combat enemy on the next hill also??????

nocturnal · Sep 9, 2006

Bearcat said:
IF there is no light on a pitch dark night in the middle of woods, then there would be no need to save a persons night-vision. I am just trying to make the argument that a yellow/amber LED light would suit most situations better than a red LED light would and both have very long runtimes using a single 2032 battery.

I've had both amber and red Photons on my keychain for a while to compare the colors. In an absolutely dark environment, I found it noticeably easier to orient myself with the amber LED, although it appeared to me to be the dimmer one of the two. However, if there was just a very small amount of ambient light, I noticed that amber affected my night vision more. So in the end I've kept the red one on my keychain, but I'd agree that the preference would indeed depend on the situation you want to use the light in.

beezaur · Sep 9, 2006

monobeg said:
Scott,

Would you say that the red and amber lights are of equivilent brightness so you can see equally well with them (disregard the specified lumens)?

In that case, even though they are both functionally equal, the red preserves you vision better, right?

Can you comment on which is least easily seen by a combat enemy on the next hill also??????

Red is wierd.

Up close (<20 ft) the red Aleph is much brighter. But at a distance (100 ft) the amber Mag is brighter.

As the illuminated target is farther away, the intensity of its reflected light deminishes. Most colors act just as you would expect that way, but red is a little more drastic. Your eyes lose the ability to detect red light faster than other colors. A little dimming with amber looks like a little dimming. But a little dimming with red looks to your retinas like a lot of dimming, if that makes any sense.

So, your ability to see things with red drops off very rapidly with distance. In fact, I almost have more depth perception with the red Aleph than I do with another light, because things get so dim so fast with increasing distance.

This property makes it lousy for throw, but as you note, it also makes red harder to see from a distance. I have never been a soldier though, so I can't say if there is a practical difference between the two.

And yes, red preserves night vision better. Amber is not that bad, it just isn't as good as red.

Scott

Bearcat · Sep 9, 2006

paulr said:
Photons use HP/Agilent red leds that really are a lot brighter than the red leds in any of the cheap clones I've used.

That is what I needed to know if the Fauxtons are dimmer than the Photons. I am just seeing myself in the middle of the woods with a red light that is not bright enough to see where I going. I could stand there all night long and my night-vision would not help me get out of the woods .... I need some light.

Why RED!!!

Enlightened

Flashlight Enthusiast

Banned

Enlightened

Enlightened

Newly Enlightened

Enlightened

Enlightened

Flashaholic

Enlightened

"the Precious..."

Enlightened

Newly Enlightened

Enlightened

Flashlight Enthusiast

Flashaholic

Newly Enlightened

Newly Enlightened

Flashlight Enthusiast

Enlightened

Similar threads