Flashlight - Accessories

Accessories

Certain accessories for a flashlight allow the color of the light to be altered or allow light to be dispersed differently. Translucent colored plastic cones slipped over the lens of a flashlight increase the visibility when looking at the side of the light. Such marshalling wands are frequently used for directing automobiles or aircraft at night. Colored lenses placed over the end of the flashlight are used for signalling, for example, in railway yards. Colored light is occasionally useful for hunters tracking wounded game after dusk, or for forensic examination of an area. A red filter helps preserve night vision after the flashlight is turned off, and can be useful to observe animals (such as nesting Loggerhead sea turtles) without disturbing them.

Detachable light guides, consisting of rigid bent plastic rods or semi-rigid or flexible tubes containing optical fibers, are available for some flashlights for inspection inside tanks, or within walls or structures; when not required the light guide can be removed and the light used for other purposes.