I came across this comment from someone on another website.

Have ya'all heard anything about this?

One warning about LED's, Especially on Boats; I was told by a SAR Helicopter Pilot that LED bulbs don't show up on night vision Goggles. he says a Light is the best way to be found at night, but your best to use a normal Incandescent bulb.

-Peter

Posted by: Peter at January 28, 2009 10:32 PM

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2009/01/led_cabin_lighting_from_ikea.html

I have a hard time believing that. It's still white light. NVG's even pick up IR light which our eyes can't see.

LED's show up in NVG's just as much as any other light source. As mentioned above NVG's can even pick up infared (IR) light.

I'm not really sure what the issue is on that website that you posted.

Does any real boat captain leave it to his interior galley lights to be spotted by the Coast Guard? If so, he probably deserves to drift at sea a few extra days to think about it.

Don

What do you get when you cross equestrian animals with a rubber cylinder and 10 men on ice?

Horse Hockey!

NVG's work with ambient light. White LED's are in the visible wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Only in certain situations where you have an Infrared light source that is outside the spectrum wavelength of the night vision device will the NVG not be able to amplify it - thinking of a certain pairing of equipment on a certain class of ship. Hmmmmm......

Even then, there may still be some amplifying light provided to the NVG.

Check this out...

http://www.faa.gov/other_visit...a/2009/SAFO09007.pdf

If the lights are green then we might have a hard time seeing it through NVGs but other than that, it is no problem seeing an LED. If you really want to be seen, use a bright red light.

I was at West Marine the other day and saw a hand held emergency distress laser about the size of a Surefire G2 flashlight that was advertised to get up to 20 mile range of visibility.

Anyone had experience with those?

quote:

If you really want to be seen, use a bright red light.

...preferably one that is at the end of a plastic, metal or cardboard tube and buring at several thousand degrees F!