[Danimal1]

I posted the same question in the Lights and Nightriding forum, but I was hoping some of you DIY'ers would have some interesting ideas

I am hoping to get some good ideas from you guys out there.

What I am looking for is a low output light that is just bright enough to see where I am going while climbing singletrack, preferebly something with a red or green filter that would make me less likely to be noticed from a distance.

Some of the ideas I have been bouncing around are to rig up some sort of removable red filter cap to my Exposure Joystick, or possibly bar mountin a petzyl headlamp with a red filter.

If anyone has any experiences or suggestions with this kind of thing I would love to hear them.

 

[piesoup]

Just an observation, green or red light does NOT make you less noticeable. To humans at least. Red light doesn't damage your night vision, that's the reason it is used in tactical situations.

What you need is IR light and some NV goggles!

I'm not even going to ask what this set up is for!

 

[HEY HEY ITS HENDO]

i`m no expert but its logical that a shrouded beam that shines downward is something you may need
shine a flashlight down a pipe that has the end cut parallel with the floor and check out the beam, or try a cone for more spill

 

[P220C]

I think I see where you're coming from. Red light doesn't damage your night vision, which should allow you to run it at a lower level of output you could with white light, hence you are less visible.

You're going to have to test the theory, but I would think that an 2 to 10 lumens of white light 'out-the-front' or 2 to 5 lumens of red light 'out-the-front' should be about right.

Just bear in mind that your red filter is going to suck alot of light. I've run red filters on 60 lumen hot-wire lights, and they appear to be about the equivalent of a 10 lumen light.

(This is just my anecdotal observations. Granted, my walking alone, hours before dawn, in thick brush country that was brimming with 400 lb. mean-assed javelinas might have changed my perception of the available light a bit.)

Also, make sure your lens is shrouded somewhat, as mentioned earlier. That way the light is not visible from the side.

If opsec allows, and it you care to share any more details you might get some more specific answers. It imagine it's not anything too 'high-speed, low-drag', or else you would be using Gen 4 goggles and starlight. I'm interested in hearing more, though.

 

[unterhausen]

I would go with a red led instead of filters

 

[BrianMc]

A red LED flashlight with Alu or opaque plastic tube in front of the bezel, maybe drop output with filters in base of tube. the tube forms a long snoot 3-4 times the lens/reflector diameter as a guess, would let you sort what you really need inexpensively, if the run time is OK. A driver with lower levels would be nice, but you can drop the output back easily enough. Putting the output on the ground at an angle observers can't see up the 'snoot' unless they are at a weird lower elevation angle, and the red light may not make as much of a telltale spot on the ground. May be as good as you get short of IR.

Hope your eyes are young.