improving night vision any tips?

[Man of Tanith]

Evening All
i have rubbish night vision and wondered if anyone had any tips to improve it?
i eat loads of carrots already

[markie*mark0]

dont have lights on around camp?

[nuggets]

you could try these, maybe help a bit ???

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&k...l_677r4rqis3_b

[mountainm]

Having just completed some intensive bedtime training with our two year old I can say my nightvision improves with "use". However you could wear an eyepatch when needed, to keep one eye "sensitive". No joke.

[Robbi]

one trick i learnt was don't look directly at what you want to see, look at it in your peripheral (sp ?) vision and you'll "see" it much better.

[Kepis]

if i remember correctly it takes about 30 minutes for your eyes to really adjust to the darkness, as an amateur astronomer i obviously spend a lot of time outside and i will go outside and let my eyes adjust to the darkness for a while before i start observing, i only ever use a red lens on my torch and if i have to come inside for a pee or a cuppa or i have to use white light, i will shut my domanant eye, ie the one i use to look through the scope tight shut, it's looks a bit strange and you get comments about Pirates "arrrr jim lad" and all that carp, but it does work.

If im doing lunar observation, i use a moon filter to reduce some of the Moons glare, but i will use my other eye to observe, particulary if im then going on to planetary or nebula observing where i need the better vision in my dominant eye to be able to discern faint details.

As mentioned above, just being out in the dark without illumination on a regular basis will slowly give you better night vision, one of things we (eldest & i) like to do is go on night walks and not use a torch unless we really have to, it's amazing how much detail the eye will pick up after about 30 minutes or so.

[tiger stacker]

Use your ears to listen for objects, trees swaying running water noisey animals. Vit A is what carrots give you, the urban legend may be true. As Robbi said don't look directly at what you wish to see, outline or edges can be seen due to shadowing. In the desert the complete pitch black of the ulu was unnerving, PNG helped for direction.

[SCOMAN]

I'm with Kepi's keep all lights to a minimum I found it was slightly longer than 30mins to really get your eyes tuned. Red lights or no dim them if possible if you're pumping out loadsa lumen irrespective of the colour you'll not see a lot. Nights on the bridge of ships got me into strict light discipline routines. Even when I've been out walking at night if I lose my night vision I tend to sit it out so I don't go stumbling over something and hurt myself. Light discipline and experience are the key factors IMHO.

[ged]

You haven't said in what way your night vision is impaired in poor light.

One common way (unfortunately I know about this first hand) is that as you get older the lenses in your eyes start to become crystalline instead of a nice uniform jelly. That means that instead of getting one image of whatever you're looking at on the retina, you get more than one image, or perhaps even many images superimposed. It seems as if you can't focus but in fact it isn't a focus issue. In bright light the iris is tiny and the light only passes through a correspondingly small part of the lens. That means there's a good chance that the light will only pass through one crystal, or at least a small number of them. In that case your vision might be quite good. I can manage fine without glasses in the day fo all but close work. But in poor light the effect is a lot more pronounced because the iris is dilated, so that the retina can see more light, but that means that most of the lens passes some light. I find that at night, spectacles improve my distance vision a lot more than they do during the day.

You might benefit from an eye test.

[Teepee]

I've been going out for a walk or run in the dark just about every night that I've been home for the last 3 years. Through fields around my village, I never take a torch either.

My theory is that it will improve my night vision.

I can honestly say, it aint made a jot of difference .

[lannyman8]

Sam, from someone in the know Kepis is bang on, only after adleast 30 mins will your eyes start to adjust 40 - 50 mins is better...

again NO WHITE LIGHT!!! red is best with green then blue if you dont have red, red with green or blue aswell is just enough to see what your doing...

practice walking around a flat area at night with no light, then move on to uneven areas etc etc etc.

you know your good when you can drive a lanny at 40mph and not crash (that much) with no lights....

[Ogri the trog]

The only tip I've not read so far is to move your head like an owl does - really!

it allows "fresh" light-receptors to come into play as the image is always moving over your retina - you'll not see much detail but you will get a larger overall impression of "something" being there.

ATB

Ogri the trog

[AndyJDickson]

30 mins or so waiting does help and a little more is needed if you are at dawn or dusk times. Instead of buying a coloured filter for your torch use left over roses sweetie papers. It's the best time of year to find them. I also find that relaxing yourself and focusing on other senses will let ypu eyes adjust without realising. A mentor of mine in the forces used to do a type of meditation ( without the humming and wig eyes open of he was on sentry) to pass the time. I don't know if it was said but an eye patch for your dominant eye can help if you have to use a light.

Also there are some decent light enhancement glasses you can buy although I'm not really one for taking away from the natural ability of the human body

Sent from my HTC Salsa C510e using Tapatalk

[ateallthepies]

I have heard of people who loose their sight and their hearing improves to compensate. I wonder if the reverse is true?

Steve.

[mountainm]

I have heard of people who loose their sight and their hearing improves to compensate. I wonder if the reverse is true?

Steve.

I don't think they improve as such, more that the sounds are interpreted better. Like the echo location kid. Not sure if the mind can "process" vision better?

[Bigfoot]

As said above, get accustomed to the dark (open your eyes a bit wider than normal for 30 mins, sounds daft but it helps) and get a red lens for your torch if you need to look at fine detail such as a map. Don't switch it on for anything that you can comfortably work with in the dark, you will just reduce your night vision capability again.

[bert333]

The only tip I've not read so far is to move your head like an owl does - really!

it allows "fresh" light-receptors to come into play as the image is always moving over your retina - you'll not see much detail but you will get a larger overall impression of "something" being there.

ATB

Ogri the trog

Agree with Ogri but for a different (aka the real reason!)
You have 'rods' and 'cones' in your retinas.
The cones, (photopic vision) situated centrally, are the photor receptors for colour
The rods, (scotopic vision) situated around them, are the photo receptors for black and white -
The central fovea only has cones in it.
As there is very little colour at night, looking to the side produces a clearer image as you allow the little light available to strike the 'rods' more.
and yes, you do look like an owl when you do this!
Fresh bio carrots work too
and if all that is not enough, there is always this

[Robbi]

one trick i learnt was don't look directly at what you want to see, look at it in your peripheral (sp ?) vision and you'll "see" it much better.

would that not be the same as this ?

[DavidJT]

The pirate eye-patch thing, isn't injury related. Sailors would keep one eye adapted for the dark below decks and one for the bright caribbean sun light on deck, when they went up or down the patch would get flicked over to the other eye.

[ged]

The only tip I've not read so far is to move your head like an owl does - really!

it allows "fresh" light-receptors to come into play as the image is always moving over your retina - you'll not see much detail but you will get a larger overall impression of "something" being there.

Owls' eyes are fixed in their sockets. To move their eyes they have to move the whole head. In addition, the feathers around the owl's face form very effective sound collectors for their ears. Owls move their heads mostly to adjust the time differences (of the order of tens of microseconds) between the sound signals from their ears so as to locate prey. Although the owl has a reputation for good night vision, in fact much of this reputation is down to its excellent hearing and the ability to locate prey using sound.

Having said that moving the head does give much improved depth perception, and can help the brain sort out visual clutter. It's a technique I use a great deal when riding motor-cycles, especially in the rain when the visor is wet and/or dirty.

... As there is very little colour at night, looking to the side produces a clearer image ...

There is very little light at night. The colour is still there, you just can't see it. The lack of colour perception is because those receptors near the centre of the retina which give us a colour image need bright light in order to function well. Most of the colour-sensitive cells are concentrated in the central 2mm or so of the retina. In poor light, if you look slightly away from the things you need to see, then you're using a part of the retina which is sensitive to lower light levels than the part near the centre (which we use for things like reading and close work). Unfortunately the areas of the retina which are sensitive to lower light levels also have fewer light sensing cells, so vision there will never be so clear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fovea

[dienekis]

Try to see with your senses and dont concetrate in the eye.Just let it flow..

[Wayland]

I posted this a while ago, it might be helpful.

[FGYT]

one trick i learned a long time ago from an old guy

is if you go into the dark you find a pin point of light ie a distant street lamp or a single bright star stare at it and use your hands like Binoculars ( we where shown using 2 toilet rolls but hands work to )

stare at the light in the center of the the Tubes then slowly pull the tubes/ hands fwds concentrating on the pin prick of light and after a couple of mins once you get to arms length you can carrry on

Ive always found my night vision is better after doing that than just waiting the same time ( have no idea why or if its a wives tale but it works for me )

the looking round the area of interest to use the more low light sensitive donut of receptors works

also keep your mouth open ( slack jaw Yokel ) as it helps your hearing along with cupping your ears if your looking for sound etc ( just dont get caught cupped ears, mouth open, wide eyes and furtive looking )

I used to go out in the new forest with dark sunglasses on for the first 20mins as i knew the paths and trees it wasn't a problem but turned night into day when you did take them off

ATB

Duncan

[ged]

One thing to watch out for if you're using a red light is missing things on your map. Many years ago when I was new to skippering a yacht I was sailing on a night passage off the east coast of England. I was using a red filter on a lantern to look at the charts. We had a near miss with a much larger vessel, and some time later I looked at the charts with a white light. I'd sailed right through a traffic separation scheme without even knowing it was there. Because it was marked in red on the chart, it was invisible -- at least to me -- under a red light. After that experience I never again used a red light for anything on board.

[santaman2000]

One thing to watch out for if you're using a red light is missing things on your map. Many years ago when I was new to skippering a yacht I was sailing on a night passage off the east coast of England. I was using a red filter on a lantern to look at the charts. We had a near miss with a much larger vessel, and some time later I looked at the charts with a white light. I'd sailed right through a traffic separation scheme without even knowing it was there. Because it was marked in red on the chart, it was invisible -- at least to me -- under a red light. After that experience I never again used a red light for anything on board.

That's why aviation charts must be "Red Light Readable" before they will be approved. I would have thought the same was true for maritime charts but apparently not?

[lannyman8]

One thing to watch out for if you're using a red light is missing things on your map. Many years ago when I was new to skippering a yacht I was sailing on a night passage off the east coast of England. I was using a red filter on a lantern to look at the charts. We had a near miss with a much larger vessel, and some time later I looked at the charts with a white light. I'd sailed right through a traffic separation scheme without even knowing it was there. Because it was marked in red on the chart, it was invisible -- at least to me -- under a red light. After that experience I never again used a red light for anything on board.

good point Ged, NEVER NEVER NEVER use a filter when map reading, white light is a must, you combat this by taping up your torch with black tape to hide the light, then make a very small pin prick hole through the tape, it really works well....

regards.

chris.

[Pandabean]

Ogri did a workshop at the Moot last year which was pretty good and made me realise that a torch isn't always necessary and that you can see quite a bit if you are without a light. You just got to let your eyes adjust.

The pirate eye patch was on Mythbusters a few months ago and they showed it did work. Keep one eye in the dark ready and remove the patch in the dark when you are ready to cut em down like dogs....or find your way around if you a pleasent chap.

[mrcharly]

That's why aviation charts must be "Red Light Readable" before they will be approved. I would have thought the same was true for maritime charts but apparently not?

They used to always just be black and white, for this reason.

Coloured charts are much easier to use when course planning, so have gradually take over. It's a good idea to pre-plan before a night passage, and make notes about things like TSS.

[Dark Horse Dave]

Some tips here as well: http://www.skillsforwildlives.com/20...-night-vision/

[santaman2000]

They used to always just be black and white, for this reason.

Coloured charts are much easier to use when course planning, so have gradually take over. It's a good idea to pre-plan before a night passage, and make notes about things like TSS.

I suppose so but the colored aviation charts have been the norm here since before I started flying (decades now) All the colors have to be red light readable for them to be approved though. I've never tried my topographic maps but I suspect the same is NOT true of them as many features on the topos are in red. Haven't really looked hard at the bathyspheric maps yet.