How Can Different Color Light Beams Help You See Better?

In this section, we going to discuss 4 most common light colors found in EDC flashlight: red, blue, green, and ultraviolet.  

We will give you tips on how to best utilize each one of the colors to help you see better.  

Red Light

As a Police Officer, I've gotten use to seeing a red dome light inside of most police cruisers.  

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Without much consideration, I would almost always use it at night, when I needed a light.  But, why was this?

It actually turns out that red light is the easiest on your eyes at night and can help you preserve your night vision.

When to Use Red Light

• EDC flashlights with red light are great to bring for camping, hiking, backpacking, hunting, or really anywhere else where you might need to preserve your night vision.
• There used in the military, police, and many other professions

Green Light

EDC flashlights emitting green light are a good balance of brightness and intensity.  Green is right in the middle of the visible color spectrum.

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Green light allows for better visibility and contrast at night, without producing lot of light energy (intensity).

When to Use Green Light

• EDC (standalone) or tactical flashlights mounted on weapons emitting green light are best utilized when hunting or sight seeing at night.  
• Green light has a further reach at night, but less intensity making it easier for you to identify animal targets without spooking them.  
• It is believed that animals can not detect green light.
• Darkly colored animals are also much easier to identify using green light with better contrast.  

Blue Light

EDC flashlights with blue light will produce higher energy light then those of green and red.  

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This means that they can activate fluorescence (glow) in objects, animals, or fluids.   

When to Use Blue Light

• EDC flashlight with blue light are best used when fishing at night to find and attract fish. 
• Hunters can also use blue light to track animals by urine and blood. 
• The higher energy levels present in blue light will activate fluorescence (glow) found in some fish, animals, and fluids such as blood and urine.  

• Blue light like UV light can be used to identify counterfeit currency.   

Blue light will also attract fish at night due to it's higher levels of energy.  

Ultraviolet (UV) Light

Ultraviolet light has the highest levels of energy output found in the visible light spectrum.  Ultraviolet light is also considered harmful.

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This is why UV light is uncomfortable to look at as well as harmful to our skin.

However, the high energy levels can also be beneficial.  They can easily activate fluorescence (glow) in objects, animals, or fluids.

When to Use Ultraviolet Light  

• Camping and Backpacking - UV light can help you identify insects, bugs, scorpions, and even some snakes.
• Hunting - UV light can help you track animals by blood or urine.
• Fishing - although blue light is preferred, UV light can help you see fish at night by activating their glow.
• Outside of outdoor activities, UV light can be used to identify counterfeit currency.   

Science Behind Light

Visible Light Spectrum

To fully understand how different color lights found in EDC flashlights help us, we must first understand the visible light spectrum. 

The visible light spectrum contains all of the colors that are visible to us or (detected by our eyes.)  

White light contains all the colors of the visible spectrum.

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Without going into much detail, light is emitted in electromagnet wavelengths.

Human eyes are limited to seeing only the wavelengths that are found in the visible light spectrum.  

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The eye will not be able to detect any colors beyond that, such as infrared.  

Colors that we see in objects are simply the color wavelengths being reflected from the object back to our eye and then detected by the eye based on the wavelength. 

Fluorescence

Fluorescent objects or substances can reflect light as well as absorb the energy of the light.  

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This absorption of energy excites the atoms in the fluorescent object or substance causing it to emit fluorescent colors (glow.)

Ultraviolet color has the most amount of energy, while red has the lowest.   

Not every object or substance has fluorescent properties.

Human Eye Color Absorption

Humans can see different colors through the interaction between actual light and the receptor cells found in our eyes.  

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Eye's color sensitivity varies at different levels (intensities) of light.

Some colors can appear to be brighter during the day and dimmer at night. 

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