Hi BLF experts.
I really like using my little nitecore NU17, but I’m suffering from the bugs. Even with low lumens, the cold white of the headlamp attracts everything around. And since I live in a tropical country, everything is a lot.
I need a headlamp with warm light 3000k to 4000k
to fish without being disturbed by moths, beetles and other creatures.
Any suggestion?
Honestly I don’t know that 3000K to 4000K will make any difference……and even 2700K may still draw lots of them. Sometimes it’s just the light itself, not necessarily the color of it. The old really-yellow incandescent “bug bulbs” still seemed to attract a fair amount although they were better than normal bulbs. I can say that my own 4000K lights seem to attract the same amount of moths and crane flies and all the little buggy things as any of my whiter emitter lights do. Sometimes an ultralight headnet is worth its weight in gold even if nobody is biting you.
Simon at Convoy has lots of flavors of 2700K and 3000K (and 4000K and all the rest) in his store….here’s a link to his headlamp offerings. These are angle-head lights, not the traditional style like your Nitecore.
Sofirn also has a few in 2700K (and some in 4000….but they generally stick to 5000 with most lights).
Maybe you could find some yellow/orange acrylic sheet material, cut a piece out and fasten it over the lens to see how things go? Sometimes acrylic clipboards and rulers are super cheap to buy and make things with, and while it will cut down the lumens they’re still pretty clear and transmissive. Maybe green would be a more effective color? I’m not sure.
If you don’t mind using it, red light is a lot less likely to attract bugs to your face.
Something like Sofirn’s D25LR could be an option, since it would let you use a normal white light when bugs aren’t a concern.
Red does seem to stymie most moths but I still get beetles and other widgets with it on…depends on time of year, though…and I’m not in the tropics even though it’s extra super buggy here, too, from about March to October.
Try this one, just have to mount it as headlamp
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32819806062.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2isr
agree!
https://www.superbrightleds.com/blog/led-lights-attract-bugs/1697/
“shorter wavelengths (UV, blue, and green light) are more visible to bugs than longer wavelengths (yellow, orange, and red light)”
however mosquitoes find us by following our CO2 trail, from our breath. Even in full darkness they will find us.
https://off.com/en/education/insects-101/how-mosquitoes-find-you
“Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide humans and other animals emit.”
so, use smoke mixed into your exhalation stream, to deter them from following your breath trail back to your face. And or, use some other repellent.
As an alternative, use blue light to attract mosquitoes to a trap… thats how the blue lights work on bug zappers…
It’s one of the reasons why outdoor headlamp must be warm and another reason to keep light as low as possible (no light spam).
Armytek Wizard C2 WR. Insect reaction to White & Red light - YouTube *While red may not work for all bugs, it certainly works for some. I got the wizard C2 WR back in November. The start of bug season will be here within a few weeks. I’m going to try it for a few months as different bugs come around. It looks to me like they were using a cool White model versus the warm. And it appeared to only be one type of bug. So your results may vary. That WR has four different red levels from very low to holy cow that’s a lot of red.
Red works really good in Michigan. And we get a lot of bugs. Which is why I can’t figure out why they didn’t make the LT1 camp lantern with red and white LED’s. That ramping from warm white to cool white is worthless for camping.
C2 WR Warm on low (not moonlight) measured at 5 ft shows 3750k however the cri is at 68. Duv 0.0041 Opple. Red low measures at 5000k and 63 cri.