When buying one, they say to go with a "350 BLB". The one they sent says 365nm on the side.
-
The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
-
We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules
Let's talk UV: bought a $19 light and made an interesting find
- Thread starter Red Beard
- Start date
Chickenhawk
Active Member
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
- Messages
- 128
Wow, interesting. I would also love to see the before and after pics.
I have a “black light” and I took some pic previously. I saw some “glow”, but on thread on my pack and on a prusik.
I am not sure if it is some type of bringhtener or just reflection.
DayOne pack did not glow, but the stitching glowed/reflected.
Weird, why would one put in UV brightened into thread?
I am too afraid to run the light on all my hunting gear! I’ve already overshot the hunting budget and season has not started yet.
I am not sure if it is some type of bringhtener or just reflection.
DayOne pack did not glow, but the stitching glowed/reflected.
Weird, why would one put in UV brightened into thread?
I am too afraid to run the light on all my hunting gear! I’ve already overshot the hunting budget and season has not started yet.
These have been posted here before but I couldn't find a link for them from here so I just reposted the YouTube links (apologies to the OP, I would have preferred to give you credit). The Part 2 covers a lot of deer eye physiology. Studies at the University of Georgia show that deer see in the "blue" color spectrum. While the video doesn't specifically address UV light, the UV wavelength is on the blue end of the spectrum. It makes sense to me that they may be able to perceive UV reflection.
Regardless, I found these videos very informative from a hunters standpoint.
In 2016 I was scouting public land in a long sleeve white shirt, light sand color pants and my red hat that were so popular that year and I saw a doe close by....I crouched down and waited....she eventually walked within 10 yds of me and never gave me a glance.....i dont know if i buy into the uv stuff
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2019
- Messages
- 8,109
The military has done studies on this as well. Don't ask me to cite any sources but I remember looking at descriptions of Genuine Issue (GI) military clothing at places like Brigade Quartermaster and others and the dyes and stitching they used were purposefully manufactured to ensure that there were no UV brighteners in them. I used to be way more concerned about it then I am today because now everyone makes clothing detergent without brighteners or perfumes which is what I have used with no noticeable issues in the deer woods. I like All or Tide Free & Clear but back in the day I used to steal my moms "Woolite" detergent to wash my cammies in before deer season.... oh yeah and then a rinse with baking soda and another rinse with clean water then out on the clothesline to dry, especially in the early fall to get that fall smell in them. I know they used to warn that the camo on the general market was designed to appeal more to the hunter than hide em from Game so that's why I did then and still do now to some extent mostly use Military Camo in the early season especially.
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2018
- Messages
- 1,981
Interesting. I'm guessing there's some sort of imaging out there that can pick up UV or they're concerned with canines picking up the UV? I found this link that's interesting: https://www.meddeviceonline.com/doc/seeing-the-unseen-new-fujifilm-camera-will-re-0001 That's an old article too so I'm guessing there's much better technology out there.
I've been using that Atsko for awhile since it seems like it fades my camo less and doesn't stink as much so I can't say for sure if I've noticed any difference. I also use a lot of surplus clothes because it's durable and cheap.
Last edited:
gr_andrews
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2018
- Messages
- 30
I started black light testing my stuff two years ago and stopped wearing the ones that outshined the others.
Immediately started seeing more wildlife.
Causation or correlation?
Maybe just the boost of confidence in my gear.
If it works. Send it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Immediately started seeing more wildlife.
Causation or correlation?
Maybe just the boost of confidence in my gear.
If it works. Send it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
All free and clear. No uv no perfumes no extra marketing kerfuffle. I’m sure there are other cheaper options.
this is why I like wool. Natural fiber. Dyed not printed.
this is why I like wool. Natural fiber. Dyed not printed.
Hubby11
Member
Thing is, deer don't walk around the woods with a black light or UV flashlight. I get that they see into the UV spectrum better than we do but I don't buy the idea that we are potentially glowing in the dark from a deer's perspective. To see things that reflect UV light you still need UV light so in darkness you should be fine.
I am curious what the are the percentages of UV light to visible spectrum light at dawn/dusk but still doubt anyone is seriously glowing. Not that it hurts to minimize your visible signature. I use no die/perfume laundry detergent because it irritates my skin. I suspect there is more of a benefit with respect to the perfumes rather than the dyes.
I am curious what the are the percentages of UV light to visible spectrum light at dawn/dusk but still doubt anyone is seriously glowing. Not that it hurts to minimize your visible signature. I use no die/perfume laundry detergent because it irritates my skin. I suspect there is more of a benefit with respect to the perfumes rather than the dyes.
These are great videos.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who hunts at night.
Seriously though, I agree with you. As if we needed another thing we can't possible know whether it's working or not to obsess over. So now you're telling me my carbon lined, electromagnetic-field blocking fabric also needs to be invisible in the UV spectrum? Whattaya think I am, Batman?
I'm glad I'm not the only one who hunts at night.
Seriously though, I agree with you. As if we needed another thing we can't possible know whether it's working or not to obsess over. So now you're telling me my carbon lined, electromagnetic-field blocking fabric also needs to be invisible in the UV spectrum? Whattaya think I am, Batman?
We can possibly know. But we probably won’t. And even if we can’t “know” in the Very precise, specific sense you’re Alluding to, we can do some reasonable assumptions based on what we do “know”.
I don’t think it’s a thing to obsess over though. I think camo is dumb but I wear it to hide from people and because it makes me feel like I’m hunting and it’s part of the fun. But I can make a few logical assumptions based on what we know about deer vision to determine that odds are good that printed synthetic camo that reflects UV light to a high degree will stand out like a sore thumb to them. It’s not “knowing” in the sense that it would be too expensive and time consuming to test the theory. But I can play the Numbers. And in doing so, there’s a ton of upside:
- less money on clothes
- less impact on environment by buying gentler detergents
- longer lasting clothes because of gentler detergents
- less time obsessing with what pattern camo to get.
I guess there are downsides though:
- it will annoy the butternuster
Wait, is that an upside?
Yes, You can spend too much time thinking about this, what rope to use, 375grain arrow or 500 grain arrow, micro adjusters or not. It’s the off-season. It’s a pandemic. It’s the internet. There is a middle ground here.
stick me in the category of folks who believe odds are in favor of deer being able to pick out our camo printed synthetics washed in liquid cancer. Also stick me in the category of thinking it’s probably not a big deal if you do all the other things you’re supposed to do most of the time.
if you subscribe to doing the most average stuff and you’ll beat the odds most times, don’t pay attention. If you’re playing situational ball, it likely matters to a degree that affects outcomes...
Not trying to start an argument, but I'm not really tracking what you're saying about datkness either. Maybe you could explain what you mean a bit more.
The way I understand it is that the sun emits UV rays. Our eyes are not calibrated to pick up the effects of that part of the spectrum in daylight though. It is only when you filter out other light (isolating it by turning out the regular lights and only allowing UV light) that we can begin to perceive those effects.
Excerpts from a letter from the University of California 1989:
"The human lens contains a filter that blocks UV light from reaching the retina. The UV filter in the humans lens has a yellow appearance and also absorbs heavily in the violet and blue. This filter is not present in the lens of ungulates. They receive much of the UV light that we filter out."
"The price that humans pay for protection from the UV light and slightly higher acuity in day light that is provided by the UV blocking filter is an extreme loss of sensitivity to much of the spectrum where rods are sensitive."
"We do not see UV because in never reaches the retina. Animals without the UV filter have an enormous advantage over humans in ultraviolet sensitivity. For example, rod sensitivity is still fairly high to UV light with a wavelength of 380nm (long wave UV). The lens in the human eye blocks over 99% of this light. This means that based on this factor alone eyes that don't block UV will be over 100 times more sensitive to 380nm light than humans. One can easily see that with all these factors multiplied together, under many conditions, ungulates are expected to see hundreds of times better in dim light than humans."
Last edited:
That's the thing, we don't hunt deer after dark. Sunlight contains UV light. So if there is UV rays in sunlight, and a deer can see UV light (which is what science tells us), then our clothes reflecting UV light would at a minimum make those clothes appear "brighter" to deer and at the other extreme would make us shine like a mirror does when someone reflects visible light at us. My guess is it falls somewhere in between.
But like @kyler1945 said, I assume we all wash our clothes at least occasionally, it's easy enough to do it in detergent without UV brightener.
Exactly!
Guess I wasn't necessarily trying to get into a dispute over the validity of the science in the OP. I was just trying to understand the reason this isn't a regular topic of discussion among hunters. I mean, WE BEAT SCENT CONTROL TO DEATH every single season. Discussions range from "you do you bro" to smoking vs. activated carbon vs. ozone. This season, we've seen an explosion in the amount of discussion regarding the race to see who can accurately fling a 1300gr arrow into the non-scapula of a 3D target from 91yds.
Why is no one taking a picture of their new Cruzr or Flex with the lights off? Uh, wait a minute... please don't do that @Blinginpse!
Seriously though, I say this because my Evo lit up like a Christmas tree when I hit it with a UV light.We put out a lot of conent about tips and tricks to help achieve the highest level of stealth possible. I was wondering if this is one of those things a few folks had read up on and are employing as a secret weapon.
Practical application... there's a go in an hour before sunlight vs. creep in during grey light discussion going on right now. Would it change anyone's approach to the answer if you knew you looked like a smurf walking around the woods at first light?
Exactly!
Guess I wasn't necessarily trying to get into a dispute over the validity of the science in the OP. I was just trying to understand the reason this isn't a regular topic of discussion among hunters. I mean, WE BEAT SCENT CONTROL TO DEATH every single season. Discussions range from "you do you bro" to smoking vs. activated carbon vs. ozone. This season, we've seen an explosion in the amount of discussion regarding the race to see who can accurately fling a 1300gr arrow into the non-scapula of a 3D target from 91yds.
Why is no one taking a picture of their new Cruzr or Flex with the lights off? Uh, wait a minute... please don't do that @Blinginpse!
We put out a lot of conent about tips and tricks to help achieve the highest level of stealth possible. I was wondering if this is one of those things a few folks had read up on and are employing as a secret weapon.
Practical application... there's a go in an hour before sunlight vs. creep in during grey light discussion going on right now. Would it change anyone's approach to the answer if you knew you looked like a smurf walking around the woods at first light?
I'm not sure why it's not discussed more. I remember my father talking about it 30 years ago when I was a kid. It's why he liked wool. I have been reminded myself a couple of times in the past 30 years. The last one being the backpack story I mentioned above. I'm guessing it's because the way deer see UV is just well enough to occasionally make a difference, (low light, right conditions, etc.) so people write it off as something else. If it was like we flashed a mirror at them and they took off 100 yards out every time we washed with UV brighteners, then it would be a bigger discussion.
Stopped washing hunting clothes with anything other than baking soda about 25 years ago. No idea if that helps or not but at least now with using a saddle I can swing my smurf azz around the tree so they cant see so much of me.