Night Vision ......good read

[Cane Pole]

When I was in the military, all night vision was red. There were no LEDs, so every light had a red lens or globe. It worked. Seems the military is now going green.

https://www.itstactical.com/intellic...-night-vision/

[wannabe fisherman]

When I was in the military, all night vision was red. There were no LEDs, so every light had a red lens or globe. It worked. Seems the military is now going green.

https://www.itstactical.com/intellic...-night-vision/

I guess they got tired of all those tickets they got for "RUNNING RED LIGHTS"

[BJH]

Tom I think we are about the same age and I think we only had candles and coaloil lamps.

[dhaire]

I flew helicopters for 20 years and all our night vision gear was green.


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[Ketchn]

never used night vision myself , but to be sure technology is amazing these days

[Cane Pole]

I flew helicopters for 20 years and all our night vision gear was green.


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Been about 50 years since I saw the inside of a chopper. Useta take sight tours quiet often. All I remember is Butts go numb from vibration.

[dhaire]

Been about 50 years since I saw the inside of a chopper. Useta take sight tours quiet often. All I remember is Butts go numb from vibration.

Wish that was all. Flew Chinooks for 7 years and lost a large part of my hearing. They are also right when they say Aviation is hours and hours of boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror. Loved every minute of it but glad to be retired and fishing.


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[Cane Pole]

I understand. Boredom is the silent killer.

[wicklundrh]

Originally, the use of red light dates back from the times of the dark rooms when most photo paper had zero issues with red light. As time went on, more studies were done on the eyes and effects of red light, sensativity, night vision (normal not aided) and so on. One of the best descriptions I have found in recent years comes from the Equipped to Survive website and is quoted below. It also list the reason why pilots (and many others) choose green over red. Many of todays optics (scopes, FLIR, goggle, monocol, ect...) have the option for the user to select red or green based on their eyes and their reception to light. It also allows for the adjustability of brightness. Another reason why one "might" be used over another involves "markers, Painters, target identifies", ect... due to sensativity levels of certain devices and products, I will not get in to specifics here but.

Most military people operating in dark combat environments are equiped with becons that can only be seen under certain versions of night vision and not visible by the naked eye. Recon type sitiations require the operator to "paint" a target with a laser. Again, this is NOT visible by the naked eye and can only be seen under certain types of aided devices. One last thing, Apache pilots (sit in the back) and fly using a monocal and FLIR, the gunner (sitting in the front) who is in charge of navigation uses NVG (or night vision). Tracer rounds cannot be seen with FLIR however you can see them just fine with NVG. This is basic and I am not getting in to too much detail here BUT, we ARE still using both red and green. Some maps are designed to ONLY be red with green lights now! Just an FYI and a good read.

"A red light has been the traditional choice for retaining your night vision since before WWII when the military settled on red as the best choice. Recently, there has been a move to green and blue-green light, precipitated in large part by the military's change to green, which itself has been primarily motivated by the increased use of night vision equipment. As it turns out, green light also offers some advantages over red as a means to retain night vision capability. However, it isn't cut and dried.

Total brightness, or illumination level, of the light has a potentially more significant effect on night vision retention than does the choice of red or green. Because your eyes are more receptive to green light, we gain better visual acuity at lower light levels than when using red light. Green also allows for differentiation between colors that red does not and the magenta used on aviation charts, for example, is readily readable under green light, not always the case with red.

Both reasons contribute to the fact that pilots and many others generally seem to prefer green over red, it simply makes it easier to see and read in the dark cockpit. The potential problem is with the actual illumination levels we use, not the color of the light. The brighter the light, the more negative impact on night vision, both in our capacity to see and in how long it takes to gain back optimum night vision. This is true regardless of whether it is red or green.

Ideally, you want to use only as bright a light, red or green, as is necessary to perform your chores and no more. However, if you have a brighter light than you actually need, a brighter green light will generally have a more negative effect than an equally bright red light. Green or blue-green has a greater capacity to adversely effect night vision because the eye is about 100 times more sensitive to these colors, so even moderately too bright light can have a serious deleterious effect.

Another complication is that individuals' visual acuity at low light levels varies quite a bit, so what would be perfect for one, might be too bright or too dim for another. In other words, without some means to vary intensity, odds are no light will be perfect. Bottom line is that red or green will both perform adequately, but what you really should be more concerned about is to avoid very high illumination levels, of either color, if retaining night vision acuity is your goal."

[Cane Pole]

Aboard ship, the Navy used red lamps with low illumination. You could see but couldn't see well enough to avoid the knee knockers.