How to Make Night Vision Flashlights

Backyard astronomy is a lot of fun, but using a flashlight to read a star chart in the dark ruins your night vision. No one wants to wait several minutes between looking at the chart and looking at the sky. Flashlights that circumvent this problem are available in stores, but it's cheaper and easier to make your own night vision flashlights at home.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Red plastic wrap
• Flashlight
• Tape

1. Buy holiday red plastic wrap. This is available in most grocery stores after Thanksgiving and in some specialty shops year round. Stock up while it is in season if you're really starting to enjoy backyard astronomy.

2. Choose any household flashlight. Any flashlight works, but generally it is best to pick an average to small-sized light. A flashlight with a regular bulb is a better choice than a super bright LED bulb.

3. Pull out some plastic wrap and fold it back toward the roll at a distance wide enough to cover the end of your flashlight with a couple extra inches on either side.

4. Fold the plastic wrap back over itself until you have a piece 1/8-inch thick. The width should still be able to cover the lens of your flashlight with a couple extra inches on both sides. This process takes a little while, but the night vision filters are durable and reusable.

5. Tear the plastic wrap from the roll. Fold your creation in half from left to right to form a square-like shape.

6. Place the square over the end of your flashlight and tape it around in a circle at the edge of the light.

7. Take your night vision flashlight out for a late night test run.

Tips & Warnings

• Use electrical tape to attach the square to the flashlight. It pulls off the flashlight easily.

• Add additional layers of plastic wrap if you have an extremely bright flashlight. You want the light coming out to be as red as possible.