I’m a total newbie here trying to do some research and not make a mistake. I have spent some time searching the forum but most of the info I’ve found is outdated so I thought I’d ask. I’m sorry if I missed a recent posting that would help and I would appreciate being pointed in the right direction if this has been discussed to death!!
I am looking for a pair of gun mounted lights to use for hog hunting. I want a green LED that will work for identifying hogs out to at least 150 yards. I don’t mind spending what it costs to buy a good quality product. The hunting will mostly be done from elevated stands.
I have been looking at Wicked Lights A48 Ambush, Elusive Wildlife XLR250 and a few others that are marketed as “hunting lights”. I know some of these lights started out as inexpensive imported lights that were repackaged, the price hugely inflated and marked to hunters that didn’t know any better. I’m trying to avoid making that mistake!!
I have also spent time on eBay and Amazon and there are lights that are ridiculously cheap but the reviews aren’t great. Some of the reviewers have purchased lights that either don’t work out of the box or fail after just a few uses. I don’t want to make that mistake either!!
So, I came to the experts, or at least folks who know way more about this than I do and that aren’t trying to sell me something.
Recommendations of what to buy or what not to buy would certainly be appreciated!!
Welcome to BLF,
May want to check out the KD Light Green C8 style light. The C8 is still the best light for its size and can be configured or modded as you wish.
Surprised nobody mentioned the Odepro hunting light. Comes with a host and I think 4 drop-ins: red, green, white, and IR, all tucked into a carrying-case (foam thingies with cutouts for each piece).
1. reflector light with a wide reflector
Has a sharp hotspot and a little corona to light target up even if aim is a little further off
C8 with SMO reflector and Cree XP-E2 @1.4A
2. aspheric thrower with variable focus
Brinythe B158 or B158B are really good,
the focus does not change from recoil as need to be twisted
Same 1.4A 4 AMC 1 mode driver
Have you considered building your own light? I recently started building some, no color lights yet but I’ve done a few white ones. MTN has been my go to and I’m very happy with the items I got from there. Nice thing is, if a part ever fails, you’ll know how to replace that part without buying a whole nother flashlight. As well as upgrading or modifying a certain part.
Nutshell version, the eye is most sensitive to the yellow-green part of the spectrum (which is why yellow simply looks brighter than, say, red or blue), the eye doesn’t focus on blue very well at all, so if yellow ruins night-vision, the extremes of red and blue green are left. Green is closer to yellow and still doesn’t ruin night vision all that much. So, green is often used as a better alternative to red.
I think it’s because red-tinted lights were used in darkrooms (to not foul undeveloped film) that people associate red with night-vision.
And don’t forget the Purkinje effect, where in dim light, red objects look black. The eye’s sensitivity in dim light shifts to the blue end of the spectrum. But, alas, the eye doesn’t focus very well in blue light.
I have one off the HS-802 with a white XR-E Q5. Its a real thrower for such a low output led. If you choose green I would expect a 100yd shot to be a good range but they might be hard to spot with such a tight beam.