Recommend me a Red LED flashlight for stargazing

[MaStAViC]

Hello, I hope you're well.

My friends and I will be stargazing within a month, and we're looking for flashlights with Red LEDs to preserve night vision. I have a budget of ~$40 for one flashlight, and a budget of ~$15 for another flashlight for a friend.

I did some very basic research and these are my top picks at this time:

• Celestron PowerTank Glow 5000 for $39.95
• Celestron 93588 Astro Night Vision Flashlight for $17.19
• COAST PX20 Dual Color 315 Lumen LED Flashlight for $19.97
• HQRP 9 LEDs Pocket Red Light Flashlight for $9.45

If it matters, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, USA. Thank you!
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[Dave_H]

One is powered by 9v battery, usually not very economical. Also for multi-colour (generally) make sure you can control red only without cycling through white or any other colour(s).

Depends how demanding you will be on this light; all sorts of fancy ones at all kinds of prices. At the low end, you might get
away with a red-only LED bicycle rear light or similar.

Dave

 

[Stefano]

I received information today about a Convoy S2 with red light (from the official shop) Convoy.
There are two models with red light and they are quite cheap, there are two types of led to choose from.
It's a model with 12 brightness groups to choose from, so you'll also have the ultra-low brightness you need for your stargazing.
After seeing the photo I think that for me I would choose the model with 620 nm

 

[hsa]

The Coast PX 20 has a separate button for red and white and it is a nice size. I think the separate buttons are important and I like that flashlight. Just saying.
Dark skies.

 

[electromage]

Would it help to use a headlamp for what you're doing? When I photograph at night I like to have my hands free, and many headlamps have a red beam option. The Nitecore NU25 would be a good example, and under $40. Then you also get two white beam options for other tasks.

Most of the examples you linked don't look very well constructed, even though the Celestron ones are presumably meant for what you're doing. The Coast looks like the best option of those four.

My vote for a dedicated red flashlight would be a Weltool M6-RD, $22.99 at Amazon, so you could just buy two of those and still be within budget. Unlike some red lights which are made for hunting, this would be well suited to close up tasks. Weltool also makes quality lights in general. They make the M7-RD with a much higher output too, but that's out of your budget.

 

[troutpool]

Sofirn C01R is a simple, inexpensive 1xAAA light, a three mode twisty, always starts on Low. Red light only. Worth considering, I think.

 

[Stefano]

Sofirn C01R is a simple, inexpensive 1xAAA light, a three mode twisty, always starts on Low. Red light only. Worth considering, I think.

I have heard very good things about this flashlight from several people, but if I look for information about it the page on the Sofirn site gives an error, a web page problem or has it been discontinued?
Also on Aliexpress it is given as "not available"

 

[electromage]

I have heard very good things about this flashlight from several people, but if I look for information about it the page on the Sofirn site gives an error, a web page problem or has it been discontinued?
Also on Aliexpress it is given as "not available"

It looks to be discontinued.

 

[fulee9999]

The Sofirn C01 is still available and is still an amazing tiny little light

 

[TMedina]

Not strictly a flashlight, but a number of headlamps have red light options. I've been using a couple of Black Diamond models that ramping red light outputs, as well as memory modes so you don't have to reset each time.

The Black Diamond "Spot Lite" is on sale for $20 (https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/outlet/spot-lite-200-headlamp/?colorid=6699), and they have other options as well.

Maglite has their Solitare (single AAA) in red for $22 - it's fairly bright with a single output level.

 

[fulee9999]

The Black Diamond "Spot Lite" is on sale for $20 (https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/outlet/spot-lite-200-headlamp/?colorid=6699), and they have other options as well.

The SPOT350 is also on sale, and it's a better version of that, actually it's a pretty great headlamp.

 

[TMedina]

The SPOT350 is also on sale, and it's a better version of that, actually it's a pretty great headlamp.

I have the "Spot Lite" and the "Cosmo" - both on sale from REI; I used the manufacturer's website as a quick reference - happily, they're on sale there as well.

I don't think OP could go wrong with any of the sale models sporting red light; I liked the Cosmo well enough to buy a backup while it was on sale. The 'Lite (heh) lives as my quick grab travel headlamp - in fact, I used it this morning to navigate through a dark bay and pack my bag.

 

[MaStAViC]

Thanks for all the responses! We're only interested in flashlights and not headlamps for this particular activity.

 

[MaStAViC]

My vote for a dedicated red flashlight would be a Weltool M6-RD, $22.99 at Amazon, so you could just buy two of those and still be within budget. Unlike some red lights which are made for hunting, this would be well suited to close up tasks. Weltool also makes quality lights in general. They make the M7-RD with a much higher output too, but that's out of your budget.

Thanks for the suggestions! We mostly need to use the flashlight with red light so we can walk in the woods from our car to the cliff to stargaze, and I don't think that penlight will give off enough light for us to trust our footing and to light our paths, unfortunately.

 

[MaStAViC]

The Sofirn C01 is still available and is still an amazing tiny little light

View attachment 31623

I was going to buy it on AliExpress, but its slated delivery date is October 2nd, which is a bit late. We definitely need it by the end of September. Is there another site we can buy from with faster shipping but has approximately the same price? (I've purchased flashlights from AliExpress before without issues, but recognize their shipping from China is generally slow.)

 

[Burgess]

Great thread here.



My suggestion:
Walking in the woods, I myself find a Red light
to be all but USELESS ! ! !

I would use a normal "white" flashlight,
at a Sub-Lumen level here.

Wouldn't adversely affect your night vision,
and your woods-walking is much safer.

 

[Stefano]

It looks to be discontinued.

I managed to find this Sofirn C01 with red led on Aliexpress, it is called "Sofirn C01 Special" "

 

[knucklegary]

I managed to find this Sofirn C01 with red led on Aliexpress, it is called "Sofirn C01 Special" "

When they were available, the Sofirn C01R sold out fast on their site. 365nm Deep Red, twisty 3 levels all usable. Great little light!

Black Diamond Storm, I see now has integral 2600mAh USB rechargeable battery. Can anybody comment that owns one. Does UI have low voltage protection?

I am currently using Petzl because of the ability to change out batt packs while in field. However, Petzl headlamps offers very little to no waterproofing. Users have to rely on a ball cap brim to add shield of protection during down pours. Too bad they haven't yet redesigned an o-ring seal to battery access doors.

 

[Flynn's Arcade]

In the club I belong to it's a eclectic mix of red emitting lights. Rigel Systems Starlite Mini , Photon Proton Pro , Photon Freedom, Fenix Tk25 and a few from Jetbeam and Fenix with red filters and a few we don't know who made them

 

[Stefano]

I am currently using Petzl because of the ability to change out batt packs while in field. However, Petzl headlamps offers very little to no waterproofing. Users have to rely on a ball cap brim to add shield of protection during down pours. Too bad they haven't yet redesigned an o-ring seal to battery access doors.

Are you using a Petzl red light model?
If so, which one ?