Best Red Light?

I'm looking for a light that doesn't disturb my night vision, but I want it to be brighter than 1 led. This is to replace my lost Photon 2 red that I carried for years. But it seems all manufacturers concentrate on white led lights. Even Arc discontinued its non-white Arc AAAs.

I know the Inova X5T can come with red leds, and the L1 can come with a red Luxeon, and the A1 can have red leds. There's also the Inretech drop-in. I also can use red bike taillights, although they're not really designed to be directional. Anyone have any experience with any of these lights? Are there any other bright red lights? I would prefer not to put a red filter on a normal white light, as I hear it reduces the output considerably.

My Infinity puts out quite a bit of red light.
It was much brighter than the red Arc AAA that
I used to have! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It's very bright, lasts a long time and doesn't put
a big dent in your wallet. I bought mine from Texas Tactical


"Lux" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I agree, my red Infinity is a nice small package that really puts out a nice red beam.

Ultimately though in a pager sized package my eternaLight Ergo 3 with the R/W option (two red & two white LEDs) is the absolute best red LED light that I have. Coupled with it's ability to turn on all 4, select white or red, extreeeemly long runtime, dimming capability, all the different signal modes, strobe modes...I could go on and on, hey I'm a believer! It's a lot of torch, again in a small package for the hard earned dollars!

You don't mention what you'll be using it for, in what setting but here are a few suggestions.
Palight available in Red, Green or blue
The new Eternalight Derringer, Red
The eternalight with the R/W option would probably be the most versatile in one package. The Infinity the most durrable.

The Derringer's going to be in someone's hands here real quick! I'm hoping mine shows up today! Looking forward to some words & pics!!

Lux_Luminous and Sigman, are you guys talking about the original Infinity or the Ultra? I just looked at some stores and I'm not even sure if the Ultra comes in non-white configurations.

The Eternalites look neat but I think their feature list is sometimes ridiculous. Especially their Elitemax - it's huge, expensive, not as bright as an Everled, with silly strobe effects. I'll be looking forward to reviews of the Derringer though, since it seems to be more inline with a flashlight and not a gimmick light.

PALlite- wow haven't heard about those in a long time. Smartly selected feature list, and cheap to boot.

If the red light is too bright, it won't specifically disrupt your rod-based night vision, but you'll have to deal with the red cone afterimages when you shut off the red light. The afterimages will overlap your rod-based night vision field of view in your brain and make it tougher to recover quickly... A dim red light is a better option, unless using it for distance spotting.

[ QUOTE ]
Quickbeam said:
If the red light is too bright, it won't specifically disrupt your rod-based night vision, but you'll have to deal with the red cone afterimages when you shut off the red light. The afterimages will overlap your rod-based night vision field of view in your brain and make it tougher to recover quickly... A dim red light is a better option, unless using it for distance spotting.

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Quickbeam makes an extremely good point here -

The problem is that most people look for the BRIGHTEST light -
when one should be looking for the DIMMEST red light that one can still see by......
and it is amazing how low/dim that light is, when one's true night vision is adapted.

It may well be true that red light >650nm wavelength is beyond the detection of one's rod receptors used for true night scotopic vision - but too bright a red and the eyes are still dazzled since the cones are at their highest sensitivity due to a lack of light in the environment and all of a sudden they are flooded/saturated with a very bright light (red included) - so the recovery time is going to be longer than from a dim red light.

So if you're really looking for the "best" red light to truly preserve night (scotopic) vision -
then I suggest looking at the adjustable brightness - Rigel Systems Starlite true astronomers' flashlight with 2 Red LEDs - or the more versatile Skylite - Switchable between 2 Red and 2 White LEDs

http://members.cox.net/rigelsys/flashlight.html

Why Red? - MIL-1472D General Requirements

I've gotta interject, because I use low-intensity lighting all the time. However, when I can see the color of the beam, I know there is too much light. I find a very diffuse beam to be very handy, avoiding local hotspots and making aim not so critical.

I myself use a blue-green LED, because I've found my eyes are less perceptive of that color as a color than red. Either way, the least amount of light necissary is the key. Even a CMG Infinity reflected from a shiny surface can induce spots and kill dark adaption.

Best Red Light? The ones in the girls' windows in Amsterdam's Red Light District!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

-Hey, you weren't being specific...

The red Lambertian Luxeon is INCREDIBLY bright and can be driven on 2AA's or lithiums will make it even brighter and run 20+ hours. This LED is an outstanding mod for a 2AA light.

Brinkmann Rebel 2AA witha Red Filter does everything I want in a red light. Not too bright... a GOOD thing!

Twice now. Once with ARC aaa, once with 4AA 2LED Energizer Lantern last night. Even with only one tube lit, WAY too bright for MY night eyes!

My Derringers came today. The low mode on red LED is very low and would probably not distroy night vision. A guess, in that it is not night now. The Regal Systems red LED looks to be a dedicated night lite, with good references from star gazers. My CMG Infinity is "very" bright for a small lite, and is my nite lite of choice for good illumination with out harshness.

I say CMG Infinity also. Not too bright just bright enough to do small tasks in dark environs without destroying night vision. My Photon II isn't too bad either.

Later,
TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[ QUOTE ]
shrap said:
Lux_Luminous and Sigman, are you guys talking about the original Infinity or the Ultra?

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It's an original...I haven't looked for a red Ultra and also don't know if they are made...ahhhh, another quest!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hey, I didn't know Rigel was even still around. They get NO discussion around here from what I can tell, despite having a pretty interesting product. I bought the Rigel military version a bunch of years ago, it looks like a jr. high school science project compared to the pic above (although it still doesn't look like the most refined flashlight in the world).

Adjustable light is a fantastic feature. I love it in the Rigel, I love it in the Eternalite.

Joe