Blue accent lighting - new trend?

[Overcurrent]

On my last two coast trips (Beaufort and Bald Head) I have noticed several of the big sportys and yachts with BLUE LED accent lighting on deck, on the bridge, and on the tower (if equipped).

Is this a new fashion trend, or has there been some recent discovery about blue lighting and night vision ?

I gotta admit, it looks nice....

[stevek185]

I was stationed on the USS Barry DDG-52 (Arleigh Burke class destroyer). We used blue lights to in Comabat Information Center (I was an OS). I was told that it was better for your eyes when viewing a screen. Don't remember the effect on the charts though. I don't recall if we had blue lights in the chart room or not.

[Fubar512]

It's a "style" thing. And the best color for depth perception is yellow/orange. Red is best, as doesn't kill night vison (sensitivity). Blue light is not good, as it kills color perception and forces the pupils to constrict (killing night vision). Blue lasers can be used as weapons to stun the central nervous system...take a clue from that. That's also why most people find blue lights somewhat offensive...without knowing why. Green light isn't bad, as your eyes are most sensitive to shades of green, but because of that, your pupils allow all shades and intensities of green light to pass through them. That's why green lasers are the worst, you cannot "feel" them damaging your eyes.

And just in case your wondering where these pearls of wisdom are coming from, I recently had to bone up on laser safety as part of my job.

[Boz]

Blue light is not good, as it kills color perception and forces the pupils to constrict (killing night vision). Blue lasers can be used as weapons to stun the central nervous system...take a clue from that. That's also why most people find blue lights somewhat offensive...without knowing why.

I find blue lights most offensive when they're on the roof of that trooper's car riding my back bumper.

Seriously, some of the newer police lightbars with the pulsating blue high-intensity LEDs really play havoc with my vision. When I spot one on the side of the road up ahead, I have to shift my eyes to look as far away as possible without losing sight of the road.

[eliteftlaud]

its funny you mention it, i just bought 4 led light bars (blue) to go under my gunwales and light up the hole deck...

also, u/w lights can help attract baitfish to your chum a lot quicker.. imo

[ScarabChris]

You guys probably won't believe this but I was one of the first to do this. In early 2002 I installed a small blue neon tube up in my radar arch and headed off to the Columbus Dar Ragatta which is a huge on water party. There is usually 3,000-5,000 boats that attend the 3 day event.

Pretty much every boat is partying at night. I turned my blue neon on and cranked up the music. I was the only boat with such a light. Before we knew it we had hundreds of people flocking over to see what was going on. I had a sensor that made the light flash with the music, that along with the ladies dancing on the bow drew quite a crowd.

The following year there were a bunch of boats with blue lights, and mor every year. Now I see it on almost every boat. Now its my business.

[Fubar512]

I find blue lights most offensive when they're on the roof of that trooper's car riding my back bumper.

Seriously, some of the newer police lightbars with the pulsating blue high-intensity LEDs really play havoc with my vision. When I spot one on the side of the road up ahead, I have to shift my eyes to look as far away as possible without losing sight of the road.

Actually, "disorienting"is the term I should have used...

Boz, my late girlfriend suffered from epilepsy. She actually had a seizure once after she was pulled over for a routine document check, due to the flash interval, intensity, and color of the cruiser's mars lights.

Fish are most sensitive to light in the blue-green part of the spectrum, as that's the color of light in their environment.

[Fubar512]

By the way, I just did a bit of research and found that tuna are most sensitive to light between 450-490 nanometers, with the peak at 475 nm. In plain english, very bright blue.

[one4water]

You guys probably won't believe this but I was one of the first to do this. In early 2002 I installed a small blue neon tube up in my radar arch and headed off to the Columbus Dar Ragatta which is a huge on water party. There is usually 3,000-5,000 boats that attend the 3 day event.

Pretty much every boat is partying at night. I turned my blue neon on and cranked up the music. I was the only boat with such a light. Before we knew it we had hundreds of people flocking over to see what was going on. I had a sensor that made the light flash with the music, that along with the ladies dancing on the bow drew quite a crowd.

The following year there were a bunch of boats with blue lights, and mor every year. Now I see it on almost every boat. Now its my business.

Isn't it a no-no to have flashing blue lights on the roof unless you are Coast Guard?

[ScarabChris]

Isn't it a no-no to have flashing blue lights on the roof unless you are Coast Guard?

I'm sure it is. But my light wasn't on the roof it was under the arch so all you saw was the inside of the boat flashing. And we weren't underway, we were anchored in a large pack of boats. It must not have bothered the CG because they drove right by us.