An interesting choice of tactical lighting

[zenmetsu 17]

I made a discovery while out hiking and looking for scorpions a couple of years ago. I have one of those small blacklight flashlights with 18 0.5Watt UV LEDs. Normally 9 watts of LED power is a LOT of light, but since it is U.V., the human eye does not see the light that it casts very well. As a result, when panning side to side looking for stuff in the darkness, you do not disrupt your night vision as you would if searching with a white light. You can turn the light off and instantly be acclimated to the darkness. The interesting thing is that many things are weakly fluorescent, so while the actual light cast from the device might be too weak to see at 20meters due to the human eye's weak response to UV, the glow of the foliage/etc IS bright enough to register with your eyes. It is almost like walking under the light of the full moon. It is not overpowering, but plenty bright enough to see what is going on around you.

 

With that said, let me tell you, 9 watts of UV light in your face at night = byebye night vision for a good 5 minutes. Since the light that it casts is not bright, you do not attract much attention. This is a huge bonus when I am doing airsoft/paintball at night indoors. If your attacker does look your way and into the light, it is bright enough that they instinctively turn away. By then, however, their night vision is already severely compromised and, in a home invasion situation, an attacker will be unable to do much to you in return.

 

I am planning on making my own light using a combination of 1-watt UV LEDs and 2-watt white LEDs so that I can mount it on my gun and use two pressure switches to select either UV or white light sources.

 

As far as airsoft and paintball are concerned, some of the guys are claiming that my existing light is "hax" and that I should not be allowed to use it. I guess that serves as a testament to its effectiveness.

 

Kinda curious if other folks have resorted to unorthodox lighting.

[Paladin 37]

Sounds interesting. I have a Fenix TA20 mounted on my goto. One of the reasons I picked it over another Surefire is that it has multiple modes.

 

You can turn it down as low as 4 lumens so you don't destroy your night vision while reading maps or navigating a trail. However, with a simple twist of the bezel you have a 230 lumen strope that is VERY blinding.

[nalioth 405]

Sounds interesting. I have a Fenix TA20 mounted on my goto. One of the reasons I picked it over another Surefire is that it has multiple modes.

 

You can turn it down as low as 4 lumens so you don't destroy your night vision while reading maps or navigating a trail. However, with a simple twist of the bezel you have a 230 lumen strope that is VERY blinding.

 

The OP is discussing ultraviolet lights as a more suitable option than "230 lumens" of white light for a variety of reasons.

[Paladin 37]

Sounds interesting. I have a Fenix TA20 mounted on my goto. One of the reasons I picked it over another Surefire is that it has multiple modes.

 

You can turn it down as low as 4 lumens so you don't destroy your night vision while reading maps or navigating a trail. However, with a simple twist of the bezel you have a 230 lumen strope that is VERY blinding.

 

The OP is discussing ultraviolet lights as a more suitable option than "230 lumens" of white light for a variety of reasons.

 

 

Yes, my reading comprehension is still intact Nalioth. You must have missed the part of my post that said I have a 4 lumen mode which makes my reply more sensible than just the 230 lumen part you quoted.

 

The point he was making as I understand it, was with the UV you did not disrupt your night vision.

 

I responded that with a low setting on a LED you can accomplish the same thing, while not giving up the ability to use a high power white light as a force multiplier or rig two switches that in a high stress situation you might mix up.

 

My response to his direct question of what "unorthodox lighting are you using" is that I have a multiple mode light as opposed to a fixed lumen output which is the norm.

 

Perhaps that is not unorthodox enough?

[zenmetsu 17]

Well, low light (4lumen) is good if you can kick it up to 200+ and possibly blink at the same time so as not to blind yourself.

 

@Nalioth: I am looking more or less to see if anyone has done something crazy but useful. In night-time situations, light itself can be a useful weapon every bit as effective as a bullet. Green-laser in the eye will probably be just as good if you have the aim, but I think a lot of people would just take a shot and not risk giving an intruder the chance to act first.

 

The dual mode light is a good thing though. There are times when you need the white light. I might look into a TA20 or similar if my buddies ever decide to forbid me from using my UV light.

 

Part of the reason why they use red lights for night illumination is because they are monochromatic. The red light whacks your red receptor cells, but the more sensitive green ones are not affected. A blue light would be just as effective. You can take a red LED flood light and use it for illumination and see just fine. The light will not be overpowering unless you look directly into it. You would get the same effect that I was mentioning above. For some reason though, the UV seems to disrupt night vision a lot more than red, or blue floods, so I stick with it. Plus it is kinda cool when your attacker's freshly washed cloths light up like a torch in the darkness... b'wahaha

 

P.S. Paladin: Nice paladin avatar. That's quite a blast. I would not want to be outside when that thing fires... would probably rupture my eardrums even with protection. My co-worker recently photographed one that was riding down the highway on the back of a flatbed truck out here in arizona.

Edited August 14, 2009 by zenmetsu