Red Light

[Sparky415]

Can someone sugest a cheapish red flashlight for reading star charts plz
Pref aa or aaa
Available in the UK (second hand if anyone wants to sell me one) 

 

[nuphoria]

You can get coloured caps to stick over a regular one - maybe convert something you have already?

[Millhouse]

If you have a Fenix L or P series light, I have a red filter you can have.

[NutSAK]

I would highly recommend the Gerber Infinity Ultra w/red LED if they still made them. 

[Gareth]

I would highly recommend the Gerber Infinity Ultra w/red LED if they still made them. 

Having just done my own little search for Infinity's (and Mike's been looking as well) I can pretty safely say that they're not to be found any more.

PS if anyone does find one in stock then please tell Mike, he's been looking for one for a while.




OK back on topic for a sec, the only red LED I use is on a cheap Energiser head torch.  In truth it works just fine.

[Neil]

My boys have the same headlamp.  Tesco did have them quite cheap.  Wasn't it Tony who tipped us off to that   or was it you Gareth?

[diabolicturtle]

you could try the Gerber recon the 4 color one, basically an infinity with a multi coor dial on the front (red, blue, green white

[Gareth]

My boys have the same headlamp.  Tesco did have them quite cheap.  Wasn't it Tony who tipped us off to that   or was it you Gareth?

Not me.  It might well have been Tony now you say it.    I ended up with two; one with 2 white and 1 red LEDs, the other with 3 white LED and a high/low switch.  The one with 3 white LEDs pumps out a decent amount of light considering it was only a fiver.

My daughter does rather like the red one though, but then she likes anything the colour red.

[Neil]

  Have you given here a SAK yet

My boys go for the red light as well

[Gareth]

Have you given here a SAK yet

My boys go for the red light as well

No not yet.  Frankly the thought of her having anything sharp scares the c%£* out of me.

[Sparky415]

Thanks for the offer Millhouse but its for my GF and there's a good possibility she would 'misplace' my Fenix   
I have a sidewinder which is ideal but I don't want her to loose that either (see below)

I wasn't sure if it was a special LED or not, so there's two ways of getting the red light (I wasn't really thinking as I have seen filters  )
So all I need to do is to cut up a bit of red 'gel' and stick it on the front of one of my little MXDL's ? http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,19133.msg362110.html#msg362110
so now I need to find some gell    

Now ordered 


I found the cheap head torches but the one I got was all white

(I gave her this pair of secateurs last summer, she gave them back this weekend asking “can you do something with these please?”) 

[Styerman]

Red filter for a minimag ?

Chris

[Sparky415]

Thanks Chris and others 
I have ordered some red Gel from these people,
http://www.transformationtubes.co.uk/gels.html
I will install it in one of the cheap MXDL's I have here
That way I won't be too upset if/when it gets lost 

 

[ari6126]

Thanks Chris and others 
I have ordered some red Gel from these people,
http://www.transformationtubes.co.uk/gels.html
I will install it in one of the cheap MXDL's I have here
That way I won't be too upset if/when it gets lost 

 

If you just need small pieces of gel, I could mail you some for free.

[Sparky415]

Thanks for that Ari but its been ordered and paid for now 

60cm square, I will have enough to do about 50 flashlights 

 

[Neil]

I only let me wife have cheap secateurs these days... same issue

[Sparky415]

Shes terrible at putting her tools away 
I got those really cheap but they are nicely made and are a lovely tool to use 
I have some bright orange lanyards that I was going to attach to the secateurs but never got round to it so its partly my fault





Bless her shes an  kiss kiss 

[Gareth]

Shes terrible at putting her tools away 
I got those really cheap but they are nicely made and are a lovely tool to use 
I have some bright orange lanyards that I was going to attach to the secateurs but never got round to it so its partly my fault





Bless her shes an  kiss kiss 

did she just walk in the room Tony?

[Neil]

[Sparky415]

Shes an 









 

[Sparky415]

The gell arrived today and this is how it turned out 
Thanks for the ideas Chaps 

(If anyone needs a little square for their own project give me a shout  )

[Gareth]

That looks like it's worked well mate.

[mzil]

I built a detachable red filter/shirt pocket clip/turn on safety for my Photon Freedom Micro (covert edition), which I call a "silencer", using a red PVC sheet from an art supply store ($2) and a BIC pen. It removes as simply as a pen cap does for normal white light.

[The Freedom's variable brightness mode, ramping up from zero, is quite useful so you can use as little light as is necessary to read star charts, additionally important for night vision preservation besides *just* being red, BTW]



Flipped around for "safety on" mode (precludes "on" button being pressed accidentally in pocket):



Carried in a shirt pocket:



P.S. I never use it as such, but putting it in flashing strobe mode with the red filter attached makes for a good, attention getting, rear bike light, too.

[Sparky415]

I like that, very neat and clever 

My one was well received but not been used yet as we are waiting for a 'nice evening' 

[Gareth]

That's an excellent looking mod mzil and very professional looking too.

[frugalscotty]

Indeed, that does look very professional. I had to look twice to see where the modification was...

May I ask how you secured the red filter in the pen cap? thx

[mzil]

^Thanks guys. It is very simple to make:

1. Cut the top off of a BIC "Round Stick" pen cap  like the one shown in the photo, using a sharp single-edged razor blade or similar scalpel like knife. This is the silencer's main body.

2. Gut the remaining pen shaft of its ink tube and ball-point assembly and insert this empty tube into the newly made main body so the front of the two are flush with each other.

3. Using the razor knife, slice off the section that remains outside the main body and discard.

4. Remove this inner, short cylindrical section you just made and slice it into two even shorter cylinders, roughly one being a third and the other being 2/3's. These make up the two red filter retaining pucks which will sandwich the red filter disc between them when re-inserted.

5. Unless you are luckier than me and found a BIC pen with a black main body to begin with, make the two retaining pucks black by coating them on all inner and outer surfaces with a black indelible marker (eg. Sharpie). You don't have to be neat since very little will be exposed anyways. You just want to make the white plastic non reflective.

6. Cut a round disc of the filter material which has a diameter equal to the inner diameter of the main body. It doesn't have to be perfectly round. I used:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=midwest+products+pvc+red+704+03&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&cid=11128150600755133795&os=contents
that I bought locally at an art supply store (as well as a green sheet for further experimentation some day).

7. Insert one retaining puck, then the filter disc, and finally the other retaining puck making sure the larger puck section is for the Photon's nose end. I found friction alone held it all together rather well but glue could be used or small wedges of filter material if you want to making the retaining pucks more secure.

Keep in mind this works because the nose of the Photon Freedom Micro covert http://www.google.com/search?q=photon%20freedom%20covert&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ASUT_en&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=shop:1&source=og&sa=N&tab=if&biw=880&bih=753  is a cylinder with the same size as the inner diameter of the BIC pen tube. Here is the silencer shown removed, for when you want white light:



By painting the inner walls of the "silencer" pucks black with the black marker and recessing the filter disc inside away from the front surface a few millimeters, I've maintained the "covert" status (no side light emitted), important for stealth use and better for astronomy applications as well.
 

[NutSAK]

Well done.  I might have to buy a covert just to have some fun with this mod.

Thanks for the great write-up! 

[frugalscotty]

Mzil, you must be an engineer. I wouldn't have thought up such an elegant solution. Bravo! 

[Neil]

What an excellent mod.  Superb