Folks, 1st let me say that I cannot believe the amount of knowledge, time, and effort that you have exerted in this area. I stumbled across your site when searching for flashlights for myself and my 2 son-in-laws. You folks are talking way over my head, and now I am reluctant to call them a “flashlight”.
I am looking for the best, affordable “light projecting devices”. It appears that your BLF 6 will fit the bill. My question concerns the different tints advertised by Banggood. I hope I do not offend anyone, but I want mine for tracking deer after dark. I always want an immediate, no pain kill. Even with the best shot placement, that is not always possible with the deer’s adrenalin. I never give up on tracking a wounded deer- that is why I want the best light. Blood trails can be hard to track after dark and even more difficult when covering Autumn leaves. I currently have a Surefire 6P that I received as a gift, but I need more light.
Which tint would be best for my needs? I also a suggestion for a general purpose one Christmas gifts for my SILs. They are “techies” and much smarter than I am.
Any suggestions are welcome, and THANKS for all your hard work. Also, thanks to the moderater for the help. Steve
It sounds like you have a particular need. The good news is that you want to buy several lights, for gifting, but you are the only one worried about color.
Buy one (or more) of each tint and keep track of them when they come in. Take them out in the woods, try them out, and keep the one(s) you like. Once you have a few examples in front of you, it should be easier to see which ones you like.
I can’t keep them straight, and the color chart simply confuses me. I am not artistic enough to apply the words ‘cool’, ‘warm’, and ‘neutral’ to the color of a light. Perhaps if I got them all together and had someone talk me through it in person I might retain it for a while.
“Why, yes, I DO need all of these lights, it’s an experiment - for science!”
Warmer tints seem like they might be a hinderance with golden/rosey hues perhaps causing the blood droplets to blend in with leaves, but I haven't had the chance to test it.
Not sure if this translates to tracking blood in the wild, but my wife uses blue (445nm) light for finding blood in the forensic lab she works in. You don't want to be using blue for prolonged periods at it can damage your eyesight (search blue light hazard). Amber shooting glasses might be enough to provide adequate protection as most of them block UV (such as 405nm) which is close to blue.
EDIT: I just asked my wife her opinion. She does not think blue light would work for blood tracking in the wild. She said they look for the absence of florescence in the lab. Since most clothing fluoresces to some extent, they can find blood as it actually reduces florescence. She also said they use 405nm (violet) to find blood. They use blue to find saliva and semen. In the case of saliva/semen, they look for florescence (not lack of florescence).
