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Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
#2033 02/03/10 05:58 PM
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I am looking for suggestions for selecting an LED headlamp which colored lights. Red and green seem to be popular, and Google searches produce different opinions over which color is best.

Thoughts?

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
Uncle Kermie #2035 02/03/10 06:41 PM
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I'd suggest a headlamp with both white and red LED's. Use the red when you're around other hiker's as it won't temporarily blind them if/when you look directly at them. Personally, I can't see quite as well with red as I do with white, so once I've begun to actually hike, I switch it over to white.

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
Uncle Kermie #2037 02/03/10 07:17 PM
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I have a head lamp with red and white and like it. The red is great when the moon helps to light the way, I find that the red light kills shadows produced by a full moon and I am better able to see beyond the light and I use the white light for really dark nights.

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
Uncle Kermie #2040 02/04/10 12:11 AM
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Colors typically have a specific purpose in mind, red is designed to not hurt your night vision while you do something such as read a map, if you intend to actually hike with other colors then i'd suggest learn by doing, of course finding someone to borrow from may be more difficult.

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
RoguePhotonic #2102 02/06/10 03:08 PM
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I think you will have better depth of field with white light, and it is brighter. Green is for following a blood trail if you're after a wounded animal. Specifically I hate blue LED lights and you need to read the material about them, they are capable of damaging your eyes or those who you shine in the face, I think because of too much UV. Ask me for a reference and I will locate one. Red light is ok if you don't like bright lights. I also have infrared lens but without night vision gear they don't help much crazy The amount of light needed in a tent, around a camp like looking for wood, and the amount of light required for night climbing are very different.
Jim smile

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
Jimshaw #2724 03/04/10 09:20 AM
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key difference, other than light output, is that a red LED will consume dramatically less power than white. The color isn't a matter of "lens color" but of how the light is being generated. Blue LEDs are somewhere between red and white in terms of power consumption and light output, but I have no idea if they are closer to white than red. I have a light with red blue and white LEDs and generally use RED for everything except for total night walking, and then only when the terrain required better visibility. I would never buy a headlight that only offeres white LEDs until they come up with white LEDs that are just as efficient as red.

Well, actually, they are already more efficient than red, when you just look at "lumens per watt" - but you have to realize that that ratio goes along with a huge difference in lumens output. Over time, the white LEDs will put out massively more lumens than a red one, but there's no "dimmer" in your headlight that would let you dial back the white LED light output so that it will use less power than a red one while still maintaining usable light output. They are either really bright and burn through your battery faster than red, or they are off. The gap between the colors is shrinking, though, since there is a huge push forward to make more and more white light with less power for home lighting. Those LED advances do have a clear impact on how well our outdoor lights perform, too. There is no major development to make red LEDs more efficient.


Last edited by Fishmonger; 03/04/10 10:00 AM.
Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
Uncle Kermie #23929 05/13/12 08:30 PM
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ight output, is that a red LED led strip will consume dramatically less power than white. The color isn't a matter of "lens color" but of how the light is being generated. Blue LEDs are somewhere between red Flexible LED Strip Lights and white in terms of power consumption and light output, but I have no idea if they are closer to white than red. I have a light with red blue and white LEDs and generally use RED for everything except for total night walking, and then only when the terrain required better visibility. I would never buy a headlight that only offeres white LEDs Outdoor LED Lighting until they come up with white LEDs that are just as efficient as red.

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
CheriTalor #23940 05/14/12 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted By: CheriTalor
...
I would never buy a headlight that only offeres white LEDs Outdoor LED Lighting until they come up with white LEDs that are just as efficient as red.


Efficiency of the complete system includes the spectral response of the eye as well as the watts => lumen efficiency of the LED. The peak sensitivity of the eye is in the green to yellow-green region, not the red. See chart of sensitivity on page 281 of:

http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/~schubert/Light-Emitting-Diodes-dot-org/Sample-Chapter.pdf

White may be more efficient than red when you include the sensitivity of the eye.

Dale B. Dalrymple

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
dbd #23942 05/14/12 12:11 PM
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Originally Posted By: dbd

White may be more efficient than red when you include the sensitivity of the eye.


only if you are at the margins of being able to see what you want to see. However, for reading in the tent, even the dimmest red LED will do the job for me, and it will use less power than any other LED.

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
Fishmonger #24091 05/17/12 01:12 PM
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Originally Posted By: Fishmonger
However, for reading in the tent, even the dimmest red LED will do the job for me, and it will use less power than any other LED.


Currently available continuous and step adjustable brightness lights allow white efficiency at low output levels.

Dale B. Dalrymple

Re: Headlamp Lens Color - Red, Green, White or ?
Jimshaw #24099 05/17/12 05:10 PM
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Originally Posted By: Jimshaw
I think you will have better depth of field with white light,


absolutely, Jim
here is what I learned the hard way. From my trail journal

7/28/09 - Up at 4:30 long before the 4:59 alarm has a chance. Ready to go at 5:30, but darkness still reigns. There is no need to brood waiting on the launch pad, so to speak, so I take off. Minutes later I am reluctant to pick my way over a rocky stream-crossing because of limited depth perception with the LED headlamp's lavender light. So I sit, turn the headlamp off and wait. Dawn is already trying, so after just 10 minutes I feel comfortable to move, reaching the junction to Bench Lake an hour later.


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