Lights.com—Laser Flashlights
Laser flashlights are a common name for LED, or Light Emitting Diode flashlights. They are called laser flashlights, because they produce an extremely tight, focused beam that cuts through smoke and fog like a laser. Additionally, like a laser, the light from an LED flashlight has a very distinctive, monocolored look.
Laser Flashlights Basics
These characteristics are related. Unlike an incandescent bulb, which produces light in a broad spectrum of color, both a laser beam and an LED give out light waves in a more limited spectrum. A red LED, like one used as an indicator light in many electronic products only gives out light in the red part of the spectrum. LED flashlights that produce white beams, produce them by coating a blue light emitting LED with a phosphorescent element that produces a pure white light when energized.
Whether they come from the sun, a lightbulb or a campfire, light waves diffuse and disperse because of the different wavelengths they are emitted. Because LED wavelengths are more uniform, they don't disperse as quickly. For the professional rescue workers that use them, this means that these laser flashlights throw a much tighter beam.
Not only is this beneficial in scenarios where light must penetrate fogs or smoke, but it also allows for a smaller flashlight to do the job of a much larger one. This allows the rescue worker to carry a smaller, lighter flashlight and reduce his or her load. This, in turn lets them react to their environment faster and better.
