Some say that a red light source must be able to shine from one side of your hand to the other otherwise it won’t have the grunt to penetrate through the skull and into the brain tissue.
For amusement, we put that to the test. We took one of the individual 670nm LEDs used in the Well Red Coronet* and tested it out.
For the detailed results, click here. Spoiler alert: It worked magnificently.
So what about the red lights in LED strips that we use in Cossacks?
I’ve been testing out a strip of 670nm LED strip. I masked the lights on the LED strip and only left 4 little LED lights shining. In the dark, they looked pretty bright, but when I put my hand over them, I couldn’t see any red light coming through. So I can say categorically that 4 little LEDs on a red LED strip don’t pass the Hand Test.
However, in the Cossack we use a full 5 metre LED strip just around the outside of the frame, so that’s an awful lot of individual LEDs shining onto your head. It is very possible that the light from a clump of LEDs from LED strips will penetrate through the hand.
I’d suggest, though, that you don’t worry about this concept, and just get cracking on making your Cossack. It may be home-made, but I’ve had consistent positive feedback from Cossack-wearers all over the world.
Cossacks can and do help. As long as they are worn, of course!
* For interest, there are 40 of these LEDs in the Coronet.
Red lights on the brain 