What is a good red led light for edc?

GreySave

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Depending upon the type of beam you desire, a red X5 (Single cell 123A) is very bright and the beam is mainly throw. I do not know what the run time is as I use mine to navigate at night using old cells from my other lights, but based upon that alone it must have a very decent run time on a new cell.

Relatively inexpensive and very durable.
 

Tempest UK

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+1 for the red Inova X5. A fresh CR123a cell will last a ridiculously long time, construction is very good and the output is very...red :huh: Any particular reason that you are looking for red LEDs for an EDC light?

Regards,
Tempest
 

Marduke

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Depending upon the type of beam you desire, a red X5 (Single cell 123A) is very bright and the beam is mainly throw. I do not know what the run time is as I use mine to navigate at night using old cells from my other lights, but based upon that alone it must have a very decent run time on a new cell.

Relatively inexpensive and very durable.

All flood, not throw. But yes, excellent choice. Runs for hours and hours, and it's a battery vampire. Will suck used cells dry.

Oh, if you don't mind an orange-red, the NiteIze 3LED in a MiniMag is ok, especially with an IQ switch.
 

quatra2008

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Tempest-it is much more comfortable to look at a red led light for me than a bright white beam during walks, checking the house or flipping fuses. in the middle of the night it wont be as unpleasant as getting up and using overhead lighting either.
 
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Lightguy27

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Im looking for a bright edc light with red leds. Any suggestions?

Well if you would be willing to spend the extra buck than Id go with the A2 aviator from surefire. It has a very bright incan as it's main bulb and has three leds surrounding it. It has an option of blue, red, yellow, green, and yellow-green as what color you want the leds to be when you purchase it. The LED's also have a high and low setting. Ask others about it it is an amazing light.
 

Tempest UK

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Tempest-it is much more comfortable to look at a red led light for me than a bright white beam during walks, checking the house or flipping fuses. in the middle of the night it wont be as unpleasant as getting up and using overhead lighting either.

Fair enough, I keep my X5 on my nightstand for getting up in the night, and it does a great job :eek: Plus, red light just looks awesome around the house at night :D

Regards,
Tempest
 

OceanView

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When you say "bright EDC" it's not obvious if you mean the red LED has to be bright, but the Photon Proton comes to mind. Bright, white multi LED's with a single red LED for low level situations. And variable output for both colors.
 

BIGIRON

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You might want to try a green/turquoise. There's tons of posts about the difference, but I think it boils down to -- it takes less turq light for the same amount of definition that red gives, but gives better detail and color perception. So about the same disturbance of night vision.

Short answer - I prefer turq to red for around the house at night.
 

Flying Turtle

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Another vote for the Proton. Not the brightest in either red or white, but at least they're both there in one package.

Geoff
 

LightScene

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These darn 'red led' threads always make me want to buy a red Inova X5. But i've always just taken delivery of one or 2 other lights or have 1 or 2 other lights on order, dang it.
 

Marduke

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what about something with a filter?:poke::D

Keep in mind, filtering a white LED is a rather inefficient way to get red. Using a filter is really more of a convenience feature to only have one light fill multiple roles. If you need only red, using a red LED is the best way to go.
 

ampdude

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You might want to try a green/turquoise. There's tons of posts about the difference, but I think it boils down to -- it takes less turq light for the same amount of definition that red gives, but gives better detail and color perception. So about the same disturbance of night vision.

Short answer - I prefer turq to red for around the house at night.

I'm pretty sure turquoise disturbs nightvision like any other color. Deep red below a certain wave length is the only color that does not..
 

Any Cal.

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Less expensive options are the 4 mode Inova keychain light, and the Ray o Vac 1 AA headlamp.
 

PhantomPhoton

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Just to clarify an Inova X5 uses 2 CR123s. Inova in their infinite wisdom only made a very short run of X1s in red.

Another source for high quality red LED lights is Peak LED Solutions. You can pretty much choose battery type; 1, 3 or even 7 red 5mm LEDs; and whether you want it made of Brass, HA Aluminum, or Stainless Steel. :cool: These are definitely my recommendation.

SF L1s in red are pretty nice too from what I hear. Finally if you only need a bit of red light for limited use the Photon Proton has a red 5mm LED and 6 white Nichia CS leds. That is what I use for minor red light at night.
 

redledz

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A red gerber infinity is another option as well as a Pal Light which has two levels and a constant low locator feature. Plus the Pal runs on 9V which is handy for the smoke alarm batteries. I have to give my vote to the Proton though. Its light, has a nice decent beam, and I like the variable brightness. I use the X5 as well. I actually prefer it on a drained battery as the red spot can be really bright on a fresh cell.
 

Sigman

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Just to clarify an Inova X5 uses 2 CR123s. Inova in their infinite wisdom only made a very short run of X1s in red...
I've not seen any red X5s that use 2-123s (both of mine use 1 cell)...maybe someone modded some of the other colors which use 2? Additionally, the only red X1s I've seen were mods as well, eh? :thinking:

I forgot to mention some of the drop-ins that Wayne sells at The Sandwich Shoppe though I don't know if he's got any colors for sale at the moment.
 
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