Red light for home defense carbine?

[Univibe]

Wouldn't it make more sense to have a red flashlight attached to the gun (streamlight, etc.), rather than a white one? That way, if you turned it on and then off, you wouldn't ruin your night vision. Does anybody make one?

 

[smoothshooter]

Red light may not show enough detail to accurately define whether the suspect/attacker has a weapon or not. Could be important in court later.

 

[Kanewpadle]

From what I’ve seen the last few years the red light has gone the way of the dodo.

The technology of white light has improved. The beam reaches out farther and more focused so the ambient light isn’t blinding.

I have an Olight 300/1450 lumen light on my house gun. It’s not over powering.

 

[torizus]

Good point. Can go either way.

A few variables involved but I think that since we are talking "Home defense", that immediately implies the presence or possibility of family, pets etc..
The first priority for me would be the safety of occupants so I would want a clear view to identify any target. Any adverse effect that a bright light might have on you would probably be more so on any target that it directed on.

 

[Rodan]

The main purpose of a weapon light is to identify the threat... red light doesn't work well at all for that. It's hard enough with white light.

 

[CH4]

Red lights are for submarines, brothels and cop cars.

 

[Fishinfool]

I sometimes use a high power LED light with a red lens cover for coyote hunting at night. You need a higher lumen light to see detail with a red lens, so I don't know that it really helps preserve night vision in that circumstance. The red color does seem to spook predators a little less though. To me, a low powered red light does help preserve night vision for things like map reading, but not at the brightness needed for target identification at any distance.

Larry

 

[colt_saa]

In terms of Personal Home Defense, I do not bother with a weapon mounted light at all. My home defense carbine over by the bed is a 12 gauge pump. Though I have been towing with the idea of adding the new Crimson Trace laser to it.

Back to the lights, I do have a Streamlight on one of the HKs

Most of the older Streamlights can have their bulbs changed out for red LED module. I am not sure of the newer ones

We changed the bulbs on our MP5/10s 15+ years ago

The unit puts out several hundred lumens of light and is more than enough. And as you already know, your pupils do not close down like they would under even dim white light. We use the monetary on switch mounted on the right side of the forend instead of turning the light on all the time with the switch, so it does have a benefit

A second benefit is that the red LED bulb draws less power than the original bulb. Batteries last longer and the light runs cooler

 

[ContinentalOp]

Just my opinion, but using a sufficiently strong white light will have a much more negative effect on an attacker than on you.

But I think your concern is valid. What I did was experiment with different light strengths in my home after my eyes had adjusted to the normal level of darkness (there's always some ambient light in my home). I did this to check for the effect of glare that comes off the walls as well as how quickly my eyes can recover their night vision. For me, I found that about 200 lumens give me sufficient light to identify a potential threat, doesn't produce excessive glare, and allows for quick recovery for my night vision (but will be disorienting to anyone the light is aimed at). While I don't use a WML, I do keep a flashlight on my nightstand. I use a 25+ year-old Surefire 6P with a Malkoff 200 lumen warm flood LED lamp assembly. I find it to be an excellent tool for the purpose. I also have my EDC light, a Nitecore MT1A, handy by my computer (when it's not in my pocket), and it has 180 lumens.

I also have LED night lights installed. While not particularly bright, they do produce enough ambient light to see if anybody's in my home. While I don't live in Fort Knox, I have layered my security such that anyone attempting to get inside will have to use a lot of force, taking time and making a lot of noise in the process, making it pretty obvious that anyone able to get through that is a threat while (hopefully) giving me time to wake up, grab my gun, and call 911.

If you still want to try a red light, you may be able to find a filter that mounts on an existing light. I haven't followed the Surefire product line for quite some time now, but at one time they sold different colored filters. In a previous job I had collateral duty as a first responder, and part of that job was cleaning up any blood. I had a blue filter on my 6P to make it easier to see. I do know they made a red filter, too. However, I don't know how durable they'd be on a WML. On the other hand, trying a mountable filter first may be a relatively inexpensive way to see if it would work for you before investing in a purpose-built red light.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jessie]

Nope. Because it f I need to use that weapon I want to unequivocally see what I’m shooting at and continue to see it clearly until the threat is over.
I also want to blind the assailant to hopefully make that happen sooner.
I don’t plan on trying to see in the dark at that point...light it up brightly.