Red, Blue or Green Light

[SoonerTex]

I am about to buy a headlamp and remembered conversation on this subject. I searched forums and what threads I found were fairly old. Is Red still the best/favored color light for night hiking/camping? Thanks SoonerTex

[Colter]

Generally I like a white light for hiking, except if I'm specifically trying to not bother other people, like when packing up in a shelter, for example. Then, I'll use a red light if I have one.

[Jester2000]

I too prefer white for hiking & red for in camp. You only need green if you're hunting.

[fiddlehead]

I know most ultra runners in the 100 mile category prefer white.
They worry about eye fatigue.

I believe red is for the military as it is not seen from far away by others.
I have a turquoise Photon II that I like around my tent but, when ultra running, i use white.

[Snowleopard]

Use a dim red light if you want to preserve your night vision.
Generally white is going to work best and not seem eerie. But, the human eye is most sensitive to green and there are some bright green LEDs. Someone on WB has posted on a MYOG green LED headlamp.

[Slo-go'en]

I'm the one who made the green led headlamp. I found it to be very effective when hiking in snow, as it has much less glare reflecting back then white light. How well it works in the summer when everything around you is green is yet to be seen. To my knowlage, there are no green led headlamps currently commercially available.

Red is too dim for hiking. Good around camp when you don't want to blind other people. Many headlamps do both red and white and I would get one of those.

[Jester2000]

You can find green LED headlamps commercially available on hunting web sites. Green picks up blood trails better than red.

[Slo-go'en]

You can find green LED headlamps commercially available on hunting web sites. Green picks up blood trails better than red.

That makes sense, good to know. But your not suppost to be hunting at night, are you?

[Wheeler]

Red preserves your night vision and is WAY less offensive to others.

[Wags]

i think blue would look cool

i thought green hid the blood, hence why the army choose green for the inside of its field hospitals

[SoonerTex]

Thank ya'll for your thoughts.