Used in the military for checking maps and what not without losing your full natural night vision. I have not seen it used on a weapon, I don't think we will, I think a brighter light offers you more advantage to get those light rays expanding and getting you the biggest arc of view possible. It's also half an advantage when in the suspects face to disorientate and/or temporarily blind them, otherwise it is basically doing a job as a laser. The cons with this are obvious, they can simply engage the light but in a force-on-force situation in low-light conditions it's a natural occurrence you have to deal with and learn to counter (I.e. the FBI grip).
"Pilots in World War Two were operating 24 hours a day. They were often flight planning and briefing right up until takeoff. By wearing red-tinted glasses or goggles for 20 to 30 minutes before flight, they could night adapt and plan. Red-tinted lenses block the visible spectrum except for red, and since red doesn’t destroy rhodopsin, your eyes night adapt. The Army used red filtered flashlights to read maps and documents while maintaining night vision. The military has changed to a blue green which is almost as effective but reveals colors."
In US SF Selection you have to be 50 meters away from the road and HALTED to use a red-light.
It can also be used as an aiming device or reticule for instinctive shooting techniques used by the British Special Air Service.
And you are moving from room to room, environment to environment. You may hit a full-light room and lose your night vision straight away and then your best chance is a bright light. If you really meant for Night Vision Goggles (NVG) then maybe a 'dim' version would be better:- quite like subdued or dim tracers, as NVG's work off the ambient light available in the environment and can become quite difficult for identification I believe this would help. All just theory though...
Surefire hand grip light with low power LED thumb light switch (great for ship boardings. The LED helps you see without giving off a light AD, giving away your position) ...
Also, good article on the human eye:
http://loadoutroom.com/1186/night-visio ... nd-pilots/ ...
What do you think of strobe flashlights? Or avoiding stroboscopic effects?