Red Cabin Lights

[SaucySailoress]

I wonder if the guy who wrote the article has ever stood watch at night??

[sarafina]

This was pretty interesting;

The Eye and Night Vision

Particularly the bit about where your vision works worst and best in different light conditions. Sounds as if at night you can train yourself to look slightly off center of the subject and actually see it better...

[Don1500]

Originally Posted by sarafina

This was pretty interesting;

The Eye and Night Vision

Particularly the bit about where your vision works worst and best in different light conditions. Sounds as if at night you can train yourself to look slightly off center of the subject and actually see it better...

Take a look at the second star from the end of the Big Dipper's handle, looking directly at it you can not see that it is a double star, look off a little and sometimes you can see the two stars. Practice helps here.

Just a note about this stars I mentioned:
The star Mizar marks the bend in the handle of the Big Dipper, the famous star grouping within the northern constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Look at this relatively modest star some night and, if you've got good eyesight, you'll see a fainter star just to its northeast. Mizar and its companion, Alcor, have often been called the "horse and rider," and were once considered a test of good vision. In fact, the 13th Century Persian writer Al Kazwini wrote that "people tested their eyesight by this star." The 14th Century, Arabian writer Al Firuzabadi referred to it as "the test" or "the riddle". Equally puzzling is whether the two stars actually orbit one another or whether they're just two stars that coincidentally appear in nearly the same direction.

Celestron.com\SkyScout

[cfarrar]

In the military aircraft I flew, all my cockpit lighting was green, including displays, background lighting, and utility lights. Still, color is less important than amplitude. Green or red will work if you keep the lights as dim as possible.

Someday we'll all have access to cheap, high quality NVDs. Now that will be really cool for night sailing!

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Don1500

I am thinking of putting in a separate set of red lights to light the cabin during sailing. This will give me the light I would need to get around in the cabin without destroying my night vision (It's bad enough as it is.) Probably only one flood for the cabin and one spot at the nav table would do the job. This would be a separate circuit from the white "In Port" lights.

Has anyone done this? What are your results if you have.

You might find the following post of interest: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tion-3711.html

I have "Red" all of the discussions about red night lighting not being necesary or effective on this Forum and others and the assertions do not comport with my experience either flying (UH1B, RVN, 1965), aboard ship (USS Oriskany, CV 34, 1966) nor aboard my own yachts at sea (1967-2010--from California to Mexico to Florida). While there may be "better" alternatives, dim red "night-lighting" seems to preserve ones night vision whether from a CIC to the Flight Deck of a Carrier or the Nav Table to Cockpit of a sailing yacht.

FWIW...

[gbanker]

guess I will be the contrarian here as we have had, and still do have, red lights in addition to white and have never seen (no pun!) the need for red lights. Guess my eyes adjust rapidly.

[maxingout]

My eyes seem to adjust rapidly to changes in illumination, and so I never bothered to install red lights on board Exit Only.

We didn't do much coastal cruising at night, and so I guess that's probably why I didn't find a need for red lights at night.

Offshore, we keep a good lookout and have plenty of time to dark adapt. Also, I have night vision binoculars that I use if there is any question about lights being on the horizon at night.

I am an eye doctor, and I do know for a fact that it takes time for eyes to dark adapt at night. The speed of dark adaptation can be significantly reduced in certain eye conditions. In some patients, we have even done dark adaptation curves to measure the amount of impairment in dark adaptation. Most people can dark adapt to the same level, but some folks might take two or three times as long to achieve the same level of sensitivity in their night vision.

Your cone (daytime visual system) doesn't function well at night in dim illumination. Your rod (night time visual system) is extremely sensitive, but their are no rods in the exact center of vision. Hence, you have to avert your fixation a few degrees to see things most clearly at night. The rods bleach out quickly in bright light, and then you have to start out doing dark adaptation all over again until full sensitivity of the rods is restored.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Don1500

I am thinking of putting in a separate set of red lights to light the cabin during sailing. This will give me the light I would need to get around in the cabin without destroying my night vision (It's bad enough as it is.) Probably only one flood for the cabin and one spot at the nav table would do the job. This would be a separate circuit from the white "In Port" lights.

Has anyone done this? What are your results if you have.

Another approach is the Energizer 1 Watt LED Head Lamp sold at Wal*Mart. It has a red LED's as one of the settings and is about the best $20.00 boat purchase I ever spent. It comes in real handy during our late fall race series where we are often finishing in pitch black. Can't use interior lights on deck but I have night vision when ever I turn my head. Some nights when it is overcast you just can't get night eyes no matter what..

I have night illumination in my cabin but find I use my $20.00 head lamp more than the interior lights. I have three of these on-board and guests love them too.

Outdoor Battery Powered Lanterns & Hands Free Headlamps from Energizer.com

Image Courtesy Energizer

[Bash]

...and please ignore the thread clutter, those of you who have normal color vision.
**********
As you may know, there are various types and degrees of colorblindness. I have a less common and more severe type, and my eyes are red-deficient. I actually have prescriptions for rose-tinted sunglasses that help me see such things as stop signs when I'm driving.

Not only do I see through camouflage particularly well, but I have spectacular night vision. On the other hand, I tend to be more sensitive to light than most normally sighted people. I've discovered, when night sailing, that my crew mates tend not to appreciate this.

For me, red cabin lights make an enormous difference. I've experimented with both blue and green LEDs, as well as low-intensity white LEDs, and have found that they don't provide nearly the relief that red cabin lights provide.

If you protanomolous or have any form of achromatopsia, low-intensity red cabin lights will provide an enormous benefit while making a night passage.

I've found it helpful to explain my condition to crewmates during night passages, especially in terms of telling them that turning on a white light will incapacitate me more than a normally sighted person. I've also found it helpful to let them know that I may need assistance determining the color of lighted marks when approaching a harbor. (Which is why I have a chart plotter with radar overlay at the helm of my own boat.)

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Bash

...and please ignore the thread clutter, those of you who have normal color vision.
**********
As you may know, there are various types and degrees of colorblindness. I have a less common and more severe type, and my eyes are red-deficient.
For me, red cabin lights make an enormous difference. I've experimented with both blue and green LEDs, as well as low-intensity white LEDs, and have found that they don't provide nearly the relief that red cabin lights provide.

If you protanomolous or have any form of achromatopsia, low-intensity red cabin lights will provide an enormous benefit while making a night passage.

Interesting, the theory would suggest for Protans (those with a red deficient colour defect, but note if you have a red green colour deference does not mean you are a Protan, there are other types) red night illumination should make less difference preserving night vision than it does with the rest of the population.

[bigpuff]

i put red leds behind my slated locker doors.looks great & gives just the right light at nite...

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by gbanker

guess I will be the contrarian here as we have had, and still do have, red lights in addition to white and have never seen (no pun!) the need for red lights. Guess my eyes adjust rapidly.

I think the foregoing illustrates that there is simply no "right" answer to this discussion. As genetic research has shown in medicine, because of differences in genetic make-up, people can have dramatically different reactions to the same medications. I am sure the same holds true for people's ability to retain their night vision such that what works for one will not for another rendring the discussion of what's "best" moot. The question then becomes, what's the best way to determine what's appropriate for a given individual. While Red may work for some, blue works for some as well, green for others and low intensity white for still others.

Don1500's original question was:

I am thinking of putting in a separate set of red lights to light the cabin during sailing. This will give me the light I would need to get around in the cabin without destroying my night vision (It's bad enough as it is.) Probably only one flood for the cabin and one spot at the nav table would do the job. This would be a separate circuit from the white "In Port" lights.

Has anyone done this? What are your results if you have.

It would seem that the separate fixture question has been answered.

FWIW...

[Don1500]

I believe I do have my answer, don't sail at night.

Seriously, I will try red lights and see what it's like, maybe use the Headlamp as has been suggested, before rewiring the cabin.

The Red/Orange?green lights in the cockpit of military aircraft actually served two purposes. 1. Night vision. and 2. A white light in a cockpit would be visible for miles and the aircraft could be detected by this alone. In today's aerial combat that is not so important since the fighters probably never see each other anyway. And contrary to what you see in the movies there is no small white light in the helmet to illuminate the pilots face.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

I think the foregoing illustrates that there is simply no "right" answer to this discussion. As genetic research has shown in medicine, because of differences in genetic make-up, people can have dramatically different reactions to the same medications. I am sure the same holds true for people's ability to retain their night vision such that what works for one will not for another rendring the discussion of what's "best" moot. The question then becomes, what's the best way to determine what's appropriate for a given individual. While Red may work for some, blue works for some as well, green for others and low intensity white for still others.

The ideal colour does vary depending on the task. Red for example is no good if accurate colour rendition is required, but the advantage of red is due to the fundamental properties of vision and does not vary from individual to individual , unless there is disease or a genetic disorder.

[svbravo]

Does anyone know of a red/white led headlamp that uses AA batteries instead of AAA's? I hate to add another battery size to the inventory. All of the two color units I've found use AAA's, unfortunately.

Adam
s/v Bravo
Seattle