Light Spectrum Usage

[LostViking]

I was just wondering what colors work best for what usage.

I know red light preserves your night vision. But I have green on my light and it seems to work really well at night also. And some are talking about blue too. Anyone have knowledge of specific uses for various colors.

 

[matthewdanger]

Blue gives excellent contrast. It also makes the color red really stick out so it is often used by hunters to find a blood trail.

Red can be used to preserve night vision. It can also be good for reading maps that are optimized for red light. Many red lights on the market now are too bright and will still mess up your night vision.

Green can also be used to preserve night vision. The humen eye sees green the best of all the colors. Many find that they prefer green light to red for preserving night vision since you can often see more detail with a dimmer green light than you can with a brighter red one. The green must be relatively dim since it will destroy your night vision if it is too bright.

 

[ROCK6]

I agree with matthewdanger, I really prefer green to red for night use. For me, green is easier to detect, red just doesn't provide enough detail for me. As with any light at night, it's less about the sprectrum color than it is the actual output of the light. All the pilots use green as its easy to use around night vision equipment. I still like adjustable output white lights for regular map reading. As mentioned, blue and some of the UV-colored LED's are good for tracking blood at night; several of the medical personnel are using blue LED's now for this very reason.

ROCK6

 

[chewbacca]

I don't know if I put much stock in it, but one of the manufacturers claimed that green would not "scare" deer, so when you are heading out to your spot/blind/stand in the dark, you are less likely to spook the deer.

 

[Horned Toad]

I had this question come up the other day and wasn’t sure on one thing. Does blue mess up your night vision? I know blue is supposed to diffuse faster and not be as visible from far away, but I wasn’t sure on the night vision part.

thx

 

[matthewdanger]

I had this question come up the other day and wasn’t sure on one thing. Does blue mess up your night vision? I know blue is supposed to diffuse faster and not be as visible from far away, but I wasn’t sure on the night vision part.

thx

Any color of light in sufficient quantities will mess up your night vision. A dim blue light will probably ork fine for maintaining your night vision. However, given the way the human eye sees green, it may be a better choice. If you need to be absolutely sure you maintain your night vision, then a dim red light is probably best.

 

[will62]

Prefer green at night, there are those who still swear by red. IMHO red just lights up things enough so you don't bump into them. Like UV for locating scorpions. When camping carry an Inova UV led light.

 

[Scott Free]

An interesting use for blue is signaling in urban areas. It's a relatively rare color for a light, and it seems to stand out in a sea of multicolored lights.

 

[Joezilla]

I used to use red light to do bee research. Not to be confused with UV light which they can see. The UV light reflects very well on scorpions.