Need Red LED for hunting

ghentry

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First of all, thank you in advance for your suggestions. From all of the reading I've done on this forum, I've seen that there are a lot of helpful people willing to share their advice. I've only bought one "good" light so far, and it was a Zebra headlamp that was suggested here and I absolutely love it.

I have searched the forums but have not found my answer.

I am looking for a flashlight to mount on my AR-15's handguard rails for hog hunting. I would prefer Red and will be taking shots 50-100 yards out. All of the suggestions I've found on CPF have been white LED lights. The only red I've seen suggested is the Sniper Hawg Lights Destroyer. I plan on taking shots between 50-100 yards.

Suggestions?
 

Pacecar

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The competitors to the Destroyer are: a) Bowlite Rifle Light, b) Kill Light XLR250.
 

ghentry

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Thank you for the response Pacecar. Anyone else know of any better options?
 

somename

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I some what know what your looking for. Let me share my discovery.

I got a T20C2 MKII 300 Lumen OTF light because it was small enough to not add too much weight on my bow. When I add a red filter the light output drops dramatically. I think Eagletac spec it around 40 Lumens on their flier I saw, however their filter is the deepest red I have seen when comparing other red filters (Fenix and Streamlight which appear to have some orange coming through).

For bowhunting the T20C2 MKII will be fine for 20 yard shots. I haven't gotten to field test it yet so I can't confirm usage at further distances.

For rifle usage a 50-100 yard illumination will require a lot more. You could maybe try one of the 700+ lumen Eagletac Military M2 series lights since I see you can get the red filter for them. They will provide more light than the T20C2MKII, but how much I can't say since I don't have one.

You might consider a green light if your still wanting a filter option that lets you also have a white light when needed.

If your looking for a dedicated red light on your gun you might consider these options I have seen from Cabelas.

Check these:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...rid=&parentType=&indexId=cat601628&hasJS=true
 

kingofwylietx

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You must have missed this thread:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/273695

Also, see this thread:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/256236

I think these 2 will probably answer your question. I use a SF 6P mounted to my .308 AR for hog hunting. It works great. I will also add that I am not using a filter, just white LED light (blasphemy, you say). I tried filters, but they cut the usable light by a great amount. I am considering the Nailbender red LED dropins for my SF 6P's. Not because white doesn't work, but to make it more useful for closer work. The white LED SF's have taken many hogs at 50-120 yards. At that distance, I turn on the light and slowly lower onto my target. I have not had any hogs spook from it. At closer ranges than 50 yards, red light is better. For that, I have been using the red filters on the 6P's and also a maglight with a red filter.
 
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wachtelhund

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Hi, this is an old post but I thought I would update it. For coyote night hunting, I use a 2 C cell maglite with a Diamond red LED drop in for a 3 to 6 cell maglite. I lath turn the C cell maglite tube to 30mm to fit in 30mm scope rings and replace the plastic lens to with glass. Also wire the end for a tape pressurer switch. For batteries, I use two c123 3V batteries with a spacer battery to drive the LED at 6 volts. The C maglite head throw is better than a surefire 6p and good for about 140 to 150 yards. I have one extra maglite made up and ready to go. And four extra Diamound red LED's, last of the Diamound red LED drop-ins. PM me if interested.
 

FlashlightsNgear.com

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I have a T20C2 MKII mounted to my 270 WSM, the red is good up to 50 to 60 yards but I use the green for more distant shots. If your mounting to a rail on a AR15 consider getting a Green Laser Designator, look to Youtube for videos, pretty neat and most are good past 200 yards. Filter kits are also available for the Olight M20 Warriors, look for S2 LED's, they throw light farther that the R5 and XML LED's in most cases.
 

CarpentryHero

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What about the Olight Crimson red (emitter is red) m20 ?
Or get a red led dropin from Nailbender for a surefire 6p (or Solarfoce L2p to save money)
Custom modified buy/sell/trade nailbender has a sales thread.
Get the electronics potted so that it'll handle the recoil longer :thumbsup:
 

seven11

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Hi, this is an old post but I thought I would update it. For coyote night hunting, I use a 2 C cell maglite with a Diamond red LED drop in for a 3 to 6 cell maglite. I lath turn the C cell maglite tube to 30mm to fit in 30mm scope rings and replace the plastic lens to with glass. Also wire the end for a tape pressurer switch. For batteries, I use two c123 3V batteries with a spacer battery to drive the LED at 6 volts. The C maglite head throw is better than a surefire 6p and good for about 140 to 150 yards. I have one extra maglite made up and ready to go. And four extra Diamound red LED's, last of the Diamound red LED drop-ins. PM me if interested.

Your setup sounds pretty cool. I'd love to see your setup with a 3C mag and two 26650 batteries and the outside milled down to 30mm. I recently built two 2D maglites, one with a red SST-90 and one with a green SST 90. The green one will throw a very nice wide beam to 250 yards. The red one is untested since I'm still waiting on batteries.
 

wachtelhund

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I have a T20C2 MKII mounted to my 270 WSM, the red is good up to 50 to 60 yards but I use the green for more distant shots. If your mounting to a rail on a AR15 consider getting a Green Laser Designator, look to Youtube for videos, pretty neat and most are good past 200 yards. Filter kits are also available for the Olight M20 Warriors, look for S2 LED's, they throw light farther that the R5 and XML LED's in most cases.

I'm mounting on an AR-15 rail and H&K 300 w/tactical scope mounts in-corporating a rail. From reviews the Green Laser Designator performs poorly in cold weather. I hunt in Northen WI. Want to avoid lights with filters.
 

wachtelhund

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Your setup sounds pretty cool. I'd love to see your setup with a 3C mag and two 26650 batteries and the outside milled down to 30mm. I recently built two 2D maglites, one with a red SST-90 and one with a green SST 90. The green one will throw a very nice wide beam to 250 yards. The red one is untested since I'm still waiting on batteries.

The 3C mag would be to long as I'm mounting them on a gun. One of my 2C mags is mounted on top of my rifle scope. It is not only turned to 30mm, but shortened 35mm and re-threaded, for two 123 batteries.
 

kreisler

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hi. i do have EagleTac too (720lumens edition), and also the (cheap) red lense by Fenix (from the Fenix Gift Diffuser Kit). wondering why in the night red light is supposed to be better (e.g. for hunting)..
i think i see less when everything looks red (and it's darker too because of the light absorption in the lense).
 

SkyPup

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I use the KillLight KLR250 Red LED torch and it is plenty good out to 250 yards hunting hogs and coyotes. I also just ordered the Olight M-20R Crimson to use as well. I use the red lights for scanning for retinas and when I shoot, I use the Klarus XT20 1200 lumen weapon mounted LED flashlight to make kills out to 250 yards. The Olight M-30X is also an outstanding weapon mount white LED that has an awesome throw and is very light weight.

Klarus%20XT20.jpg
 

FlashlightsNgear.com

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I'm mounting on an AR-15 rail and H&K 300 w/tactical scope mounts in-corporating a rail. From reviews the Green Laser Designator performs poorly in cold weather. I hunt in Northen WI. Want to avoid lights with filters.
They make a SUB-ZERO Model and also a new model is coming out soon that runs off a 18650 battery, comes in a nice aluminum case with all the mounts you need and a 18650 charger but its going to be expensive. The Olight M3X would be perfect for mounting to a AR, just make sure to buy the Olight side rail mount so the head clears the barrel, red and green filters are available for it also.
 

wachtelhund

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hi. i do have EagleTac too (720lumens edition), and also the (cheap) red lense by Fenix (from the Fenix Gift Diffuser Kit). wondering why in the night red light is supposed to be better (e.g. for hunting)..
i think i see less when everything looks red (and it's darker too because of the light absorption in the lense).

Red light will not scare off animals like white light will.
 

SkyPup

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What about the Olight Crimson red (emitter is red) m20 ?
Or get a red led dropin from Nailbender for a surefire 6p (or Solarfoce L2p to save money)
Custom modified buy/sell/trade nailbender has a sales thread.
Get the electronics potted so that it'll handle the recoil longer :thumbsup:

You certainly cannot beat the Olight M-20 Crimson for a RED LED weapon mount light, it is AWESOME!!

I have been using an Elusive Wildlife Technologies XLR-250 RED LED with two 18650 3,000mAh batteries for scanning for retinas and the Olight M-20 Crimson for a weapon mount.

AWESOME SETUP!!!

KillLight%20250%20Olight%20M20%20Crimson.jpg


KillLight%20XLR250%20Olight%20M-20%20Crimson%20Comparo.jpg


KillLight%20250%20Olight%20M20%20BeanShot.jpg


Olight%20M20.jpg
 

SkyPup

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The RED LED torches really work outstanding for predator and hog hunting.

Remember, most mammals, except the bipedal primate kind, are all Red-Green color blind on the account of their retinal ganglion cone cells all being dichromatic. They simply do not have the means to see Red or Green, same as a human that has the X-linked Red-Green color blind gene mutation.

dog_color_vision.png



Hogs and dogs (coyotes) both see the same dichromatic red-green color blind spectrum.
 

Vox Clamatis in Deserto

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Remember, most mammals, except the bipedal primate kind, are all Red-Green color blind on the account of their retinal ganglion cone cells all being dichromatic. They simply do not have the means to see Red or Green, same as a human that has the X-linked Red-Green color blind gene mutation.

Does this mean that they cannot see the light or that they just can't differentiate the colors? Where I work, passing a color vision test is a requirement, however if you can past any of several tests (Ishihara, Dvorine or Richmond pseudoisochromatic plates are a few examples) you are OK.

Over the years I've heard that various colored lights were what you want for hunting, e.g. red, blue and green. I'm not a hunter but I do have several colored LED lights.
 

kreisler

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Red light will not scare off animals like white light will.
thx, i c.

then again i've never watched an animal nightlife documentary where the picture was shot in RED light. So with red light, you can see the retinas (much?) better than with any other kind of light (white, blue, green, yellow)?

That *is* indeed interesting. I couldnt find any webpage explaining this phenomenon..
 
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