# Pilot looking for red/white LED headlamp for flying?



## CC268 (Mar 6, 2017)

Hey guys,

I am looking for a quality headlamp that has both red and white LED output (red is basically a necessity for night flying as the white will kill your night vision real quick). Something that has a single strap (not over top of the head as this will interfere with a headset). No budget requirements, but would prefer not to spend $200-$300 on one (although I am open to suggestions).

Thanks.


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## CC268 (Mar 6, 2017)

The Petzl ACTIK looks like a decent choice with red light...


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## Bdm82 (Mar 6, 2017)

Nitecore NU30 has white led, high CRI white leds, and red leds as well. 
The red is a little bright for my preference, but it is far less $ than your budget so worth checking out. 
I reviewed it a few weeks ago on here.


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## CC268 (Mar 6, 2017)

Bdm82 said:


> Nitecore NU30 has white led, high CRI white leds, and red leds as well.
> The red is a little bright for my preference, but it is far less $ than your budget so worth checking out.
> I reviewed it a few weeks ago on here.



Oh wow awesome! Thanks for the suggestion, that looks like a nice headlamp for the money. I'm going to see if anyone has any other suggestions over these next few days. If I don't get any better suggestions I will purchasing that one!


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## Tachead (Mar 7, 2017)

I personally would never trust a Nitecore for a mission critical task like flying a plane. They are not known for their reliability and don't have the greatest quality control, build quality, or reputation imo. Not to mention the model suggested has a built in battery which prevents you from carrying a spare set of batteries. I would go with something from Petzl or Surefire. Both are trusted by various law enforcement agencies, search and rescue organizations, Militaries around the world, and/or by other people/organizations that participate in sports and activities that require very reliable gear(eg - rock climbing, mountaineering, caving, etc.). Both also have models that fit your criteria. I also recommend carrying a spare headlamp(in addition to your main) on your flights with a backup set of batteries so you have a redundant system.


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## OttaMattaPia (Mar 7, 2017)

Tachead said:


> I personally would never trust a Nitecore for a mission critical task like flying a plane. They are not known for their reliability and don't have the greatest quality control, build quality, or reputation imo. Not to mention the model suggested has a built in battery which prevents you from carrying a spare set of batteries. I would go with something from Petzl or Surefire. Both are trusted by various law enforcement agencies, search and rescue organizations, Militaries around the world, and/or by other people/organizations that participate in sports and activities that require very reliable gear(eg - rock climbing, mountaineering, caving, etc.). Both also have models that fit your criteria. I also recommend carrying a spare headlamp(in addition to your main) on your flights with a backup set of batteries so you have a redundant system.



If he carried two of them, that should mitigate the possibility of disaster to an acceptable level....and still be a few hundred bucks below the budget of one of the expensive ones?
Possibly leaving funds for a spare GPS or handheld radio?


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## CC268 (Mar 7, 2017)

I don't see a Surefire headlamp with red filter or light?

My plane itself actually has an overhead red light, but it doesn't light up my nav/comm radios well as it is overshadowed by my Garmin GPS. I also have an iPad with Forefligbt and a handheld radio in case of lost comms.

I am a bit disappointed as it seems like none of the nice brands carry a headlamp with a red filter/light (surefire, zebralight, Olight, Fenix, etc)

At least Petzl has some nice options. Seems like it's between the Actik or Tactikka


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## iamlucky13 (Mar 7, 2017)

Zebralight has two red-only (no white) headlamps - the H502r (625nm) and H502pr (660nm "photo red")

You can also make a stick-on (using glued on velcro or magnets, for example) filter for a white light. The high CRI lights tend to have more red output and should pair better with a red filter.

As a separate consideration, very low intensity white light actually is not as bad for night vision as commonly believed. Obviously you're familiar with how a red light works for you, so that's your baseline option, but you might at some point experiment (not in flight, of course) with headlamps that have a sub-lumen moonlight or firefly mode to see for yourself.


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## CC268 (Mar 7, 2017)

iamlucky13 said:


> Zebralight has two red-only (no white) headlamps - the H502r (625nm) and H502pr (660nm "photo red")
> 
> You can also make a stick-on (using glued on velcro or magnets, for example) filter for a white light. The high CRI lights tend to have more red output and should pair better with a red filter.
> 
> As a separate consideration, very low intensity white light actually is not as bad for night vision as commonly believed. Obviously you're familiar with how a red light works for you, so that's your baseline option, but you might at some point experiment (not in flight, of course) with headlamps that have a sub-lumen moonlight or firefly mode to see for yourself.



Yea I would really like to have both white and red. I can use the white for preflighting the airplane, general use, survival if needed, and the red for in cockpit operations. 

At this point the Petzl Actik is at the top of the list. 

I appreciate all the feedback...hopefully people will continue to chime in on the various options


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## Tachead (Mar 7, 2017)

OttaMattaPia said:


> If he carried two of them, that should mitigate the possibility of disaster to an acceptable level....and still be a few hundred bucks below the budget of one of the expensive ones?
> Possibly leaving funds for a spare GPS or handheld radio?



There are many reasonably priced Petzl models and any one of them would be a safer bet then a Nitecore imo. Petzl has been making headlamps for 44 years and are designed for and tested by world class mountaineers, rock climbers, cavers, backcountry explorers, etc. They are also trusted by many organizations and government agencies. Nitecore is a small Chinese company started in 2007 that only recently started making headlamps, has a mediocre reputation, and are not trusted by any major organizations that I am aware of. It's just my opinion but, I would trust a Petzl any day of the week over a Nitecore and they are not even my favorite headlamp manufacturer. 

Surefire on the other hand are quite pricey but, again considered to be very reliable and trusted by many. After checking their new models I see that they don't offer a red light like the OP wants though.


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## Tachead (Mar 7, 2017)

CC268 said:


> I don't see a Surefire headlamp with red filter or light?
> 
> My plane itself actually has an overhead red light, but it doesn't light up my nav/comm radios well as it is overshadowed by my Garmin GPS. I also have an iPad with Forefligbt and a handheld radio in case of lost comms.
> 
> ...



Sorry, I forgot they don't have a red light on their headlamp models. Keep in mind though that low level white light is quite good at preserving your night vision. 

Yeah, if you didn't need the red light in addition to the white I would have recommended Zebralight or Armytek. ZL does make a couple of red light only models though if that would work.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Petzl. They may not have the nicest white tints on all their models but, they make good reliable headlamps.


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## Tachead (Mar 7, 2017)

CC268 said:


> Yea I would really like to have both white and red. I can use the white for preflighting the airplane, general use, survival if needed, and the red for in cockpit operations.
> 
> At this point the Petzl Actik is at the top of the list.
> 
> I appreciate all the feedback...hopefully people will continue to chime in on the various options



Yep, the Actik looks nice. Check out the Reactik and Reactik+ too if you are interested in the light automatically changing it's brightness as you get closer or further from your plane during your preflights. I hear their reactive lighting models work well.


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## CC268 (Mar 7, 2017)

Thanks I will take a look at the Reactik as well then


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## Bdm82 (Mar 7, 2017)

While I do think some of the pooping on Nitecore on here is undeserved, I will confirm/agree that Petzl has better QC and a more established and consistent reputation.

If it is mission critical, go with the Petzl. Period. 

The Nitecore is new, untested long term, and coming from a brand that doesn't have as much on the line in the headlamp space. The Petzl is tried and true. 

But why did I throw out the Nitecore to start with? Well, it provided another option. Also, it is cheaper and doesn't need additional batteries to be bought. It had the longer beam distance white led combined with high cri white and red leds...best of all worlds, in theory, too. But the Petzl lights mentioned have red, white, and will be statistically more reliable. 

Since "2 is 1 and 1 is none" is the accepted mantra around these parts, having a backup of some kind... perhaps a small AAA light or something like that would be wise if the lighting is life or death or mission critical.


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## CC268 (Mar 7, 2017)

Thanks for the feedback guys - haven't bought anything yet but I am thinking the Petzl Actik with the Core battery would be a solid way to go. The Nitecore looks great, but I don't like the fact that the battery isn't replaceable. That is my only gripe about it.


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## RedLED (Mar 8, 2017)

CC268 said:


> Yea I would really like to have both white and red. I can use the white for preflighting the airplane, general use, survival if needed, and the red for in cockpit operations.
> 
> At this point the Petzl Actik is at the top of the list.
> 
> I appreciate all the feedback...hopefully people will continue to chime in on the various options


Captain,

The Surefire lights have a red snap on lens. For aviation, I would go with SF. I'm a pilot, too just Gen. Av., and don't really go up much anymore. Especially after landing at SFO with the transponder out and a heavy 747 be hind me, and a 777 heavy to my right. The Tower was pretty upset. 

I fixed the transponder by by banging it with my flashlight, and it came Back to life and back to the air and to PSP. Had no trouble with LA Center and So Cal approach tracon, and approach to PSP. 

The first gray hair I had at 23, was when the passenger in the back seat of our 152 said "what about that jet," and a second later a Boeing 737 went right over us just out of PSP. Their wake turbulence threw us around like nothing, as they were already at several hundred miles an hour, and we are at some slow climb, just awful. That was a real near miss and I think the tower knew it, and did not tell them to watch for Cessna traffic, runway heading, and climbing, after their takeoff. Now I stick to motorcycles, no rules. 

Go go with the Surefire for this.


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## ssanasisredna (Mar 8, 2017)

There is a lot to be said for this. If you are at the lux levels where your pupil is fully dilated, there is little advantage to red unless it is deep red which few people use. Bright red does cause your pupils to close, but not as much as bright white light will. The white even at low levels gives much better peripheral vision, but not sure that's going to be much use to you. While low level white light is likely to be as good for your night vision as red, most headlamps are going to be a pain w.r.t. locking out/turning on bright modes. Dual light sources are likely to serve your better just from a user interface practicality standpoint.




iamlucky13 said:


> Zebralight has two red-only (no white) headlamps - the H502r (625nm) and H502pr (660nm "photo red")
> 
> You can also make a stick-on (using glued on velcro or magnets, for example) filter for a white light. The high CRI lights tend to have more red output and should pair better with a red filter.
> 
> As a separate consideration, very low intensity white light actually is not as bad for night vision as commonly believed. Obviously you're familiar with how a red light works for you, so that's your baseline option, but you might at some point experiment (not in flight, of course) with headlamps that have a sub-lumen moonlight or firefly mode to see for yourself.


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## RedLED (Mar 8, 2017)

Also, remember red light makes red lettering on sectional charts invisible, like "Caution intensive jet traffic" at Mirmar which I think is a USMC MCAS now? They used to train the Navy F14 pilots there, and it was fun to fly though their airspace the were buzzing us every where while on approach to SAN.

My Co pilot/pilot friend, was freaking out once, and I told him they will not hit us, not these guys. Not a chance. I dug every second of it.


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## CC268 (Mar 8, 2017)

RedLED said:


> Also, remember red light makes red lettering on sectional charts invisible, like "Caution intensive jet traffic" at Mirmar which I think is a USMC MCAS now? They used to train the Navy F14 pilots there, and it was fun to fly though their airspace the were buzzing us every where while on approach to SAN.
> 
> My Co pilot/pilot friend, was freaking out once, and I told him they will not hit us, not these guys. Not a chance. I dug every second of it.



Who uses paper sectional charts anymore ? With ForeFlight those days are gone, so using red light isn't as big of a deal on the iPad screen.

I will check out the Surefire red filter, although I think $200 is pretty overkill. The Petzl is nice as it is relatively cheap and I can use both white and red light without having to manually put a filter on.


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## Repsol600rr (Mar 8, 2017)

I have a 2017 model petzl tikka and it or the actick should serve you well. If you are interested in the usb charging feature but want user replaceable batteries try the black diamond revolt. I have one as well and while it isn't as bright as the petzl it maintains it's output longer on high and also has red leds. It takes 3 aaa or uses nimhs that have the wrapper cut to a certain length. You can get the batteries from black diamond or make your own from other nimhs like eneloops. But it comes with a set in the package. You can always use nimhs in the petzl and charge them stand alone but I really do like the built in charging on the revolt.


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## RedLED (Mar 10, 2017)

CC268 said:


> Who uses paper sectional charts anymore ? With ForeFlight those days are gone, so using red light isn't as big of a deal on the iPad screen.
> 
> I will check out the Surefire red filter, although I think $200 is pretty overkill. The Petzl is nice as it is relatively cheap and I can use both white and red light without having to manually put a filter on.


I know, but you still need them in the event a device goes down.


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## JCOENG (Jul 8, 2018)

I was going to start a new thread asking this same question, hoping this is still an active thread. New here to the forums and can't believe how much knowledge there is in here on all aspects of these lamps.


I've narrowed my selection down to 2, the Zebralight H502pr and Surfire Minimus.


The red light is more important for me to be a good color and the right coverage in the cockpit. I have a cheaper COAST HL7 headlamp that I got from Costco that I'll carry as backup which has red/white that I can use for preflight if the red isn't bright enough.


My main concern is that I wear glasses and the COAST headlamp reflects in the top of my glasses creating a hot spot. The red is very spotty and I think I'd prefer a flood type headlamp but looking to the experts for opinion would floody be worse with reflections on instruments and windshields? I also prefer a top strap as I put it on under my headset anyhow so it won't interfere, the benefit is its less pressure on my head for prolonged time which gives me a headache.


I like the cost of the ZL better but its not much of a concern, just want the better light source and coverage. Any thoughts on the color/effectiveness of the pr lamp of the ZL or the red filter on the SF?


Outdoor Gearlab gave the following cons: Short battery life, low brightness and distance scores, expensive. I've heard the SF is great for some aspects, like the variable output but I think the ZL is programmable and I could experiment to find the correct setting. also heard the SF is poor on runtime compared to the ZL. The white/red is a nice to have in one package but ultimately my concern is the hotspot in glasses and quality/brightness of the red in the cockpit.


Thanks guys!


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## Keitho (Jul 8, 2018)

I use the ZL on the back of my bike because it is so floody. I also use it camping and stargazing because of the great low modes. The programmability is limited: one click will always be to "high" (program a couple different versions of "high", just as you can program a couple different "med" and "low"), hold will always go to low, med, high, double-click will flash on high momentarily and go to medium. 4 clicks gives you a rough battery life. 

It comes with a head band, no top strap. Ultra light, so no need for a top strap even when jogging; but, you might want to use another brand's headband if you have that need.

I don't have the SF, so can't comment on that one. I will say I'm loyal to ZL in general because I like their UI, efficiency, and build quality.


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