LED Headlamp for Sight Augmentation

[RickT]

Strange, huh?  Wife an I practice on a short range with a huge, overhanging tree.  This time of year the targets (steel challenge) and sights can be in shade.  Worse yet this sight picture changes from target to target.   This really affects the value of our practice session as it relates to normal match conditions.  The solution: wear an LED head lamp to provide more consistent sight visibility.

 

This also has proven beneficial during our indoor dry fire sessions.  You young guys/gals are probably thinking "who needs this?".  Well, wait until you turn 70.

 

BTW, we have been through every front/rear sight combination.  White dots work best for us by far providing at least consistent visibility of the three blades/posts.

 

Probably not match legal!

 

[lgh]

My local club's indoor lighting is not very good and everyone without optics complains during the indoor season. Your idea about the headlamp has been entertained by myself and others! Another indoor trick is to put a drop of phosphorescent alien green Testers on the white dot(s) and charge them up with a lamp or sunlight before you go to the range. They are pretty bright. Don't use fluorescent since that only reflects light.  Or try fluorescent or FO with the headlamp. It might work.

 

 

[xpierrat]

See if you can find a "black light" head lamp... and then revisit the fiber optic sights that way the FO sights will just glow with little or no added light to the gun /hand etc to distract you.    The white dots look best because of the white light source which has little uv to glow the FO 

 

and ya I know your 70 year  old challenges.... Its why I went to RFPO and CO.... LOL  If I could see the front sight then I had no chance of being able to see the rear plates on OL , Speed option and even Show down.... add the loss of hearing most of us old farts suffer from and.....  well you know what I mean.

[RickT]

The issue with exciting fibers with a headlamp is that there would be very little of the fiber illuminated, but it's a very interesting thought.  The death knell for FO is the location of the sun - low and over my right shoulder.  The right-side fiber is completely in the dark or that sun location.  Flat lighting such as an overcast side isn't bad, but if the background is bright and the sights in the shade you can absolutely loose the sights.  Fortunately not a problem at a normal match.

 

Solved my hearing by leaving my aids on at a fairly high level and turning my electronic muffs off.  Doing this I can hear the steel fine.  I know I shouldn't use the sound and I don't wait for it, but the lack of sound confirms a miss as I'm headed to the next target.

Edited December 8, 2017 by RickT

[lgh]

11 hours ago, RickT said:

The issue with exciting fibers with a headlamp is that there would be very little of the fiber illuminated,

Some of these issues can be circumvented by putting a drop of phosphorescent paint (pp) on the end of the rod pointing towards the rear. The pp do not reflect light but rather absorb light and store it for some time, typically a few hours when it is fully "charged". When the phosphors relax down to the ground state, they emit light. I just put a drop of Tester's alien green on a FO front (use a tooth pick) and it works well under poor lighting conditions. You have to first paint on a base coat of white for the pp to work best. I painted the whole front sight white and then just the pp on the FO. I charge it under a std light bulb and it glows nicely. Not perfect under all lighting conditions but way better than alternatives. You can put white and then pp on the whole front sight and FO will still stand out because it is augmented by the light it directs down the tube. Outside, the pp really glows.

 

The paint can be removed if you change your mind.