A GA night flight needs white light for the preflight and red light in the cockpit that does not start with a white flash. This page leads with the Coast PX20, a dual-color white and red light. Bright white-only lights for an airline ramp walkaround are on the airline flashlights page.
By a working airline pilot · How we pick · Last reviewed Sep 28, 2026 (ET)
What changed: new category page for GA white-and-red lights, led by separate red and white buttons.
Top picks
The short version — labels come from our full write-ups below.
Lumen and runtime figures are the makers’ or the retailer’s listed numbers. Where a maker cites ANSI/PLATO, that is noted on the card. Prices are what we saw on a live page on Sep 28, 2026.
Coast PX20 was $16.99, in stock, on Amazon. Spot 400-R was $47.97, regular $79.95, on blackdiamondequipment.com. INOVA T8R was $125.99 at Sporty’s and $139.99 at Nite Ize. ACTIK CORE was $87.95 on petzl.com. The Petzl row has no thumbnail: the official images we opened were dark composites with feature text.
Red that does not start as white
On a dark ramp, a white flash while you hunt for red is the failure mode. Two of these lights publish a way around that. Two publish actual red lumens. Only the INOVA does both with a number attached to the red beam.
GA framing: The Coast listing is dual color, white and red, at 315 lumens of white. It does not print red lumens. Black Diamond says red night vision “activates without cycling through the white mode.” That is brightness memory for the white levels, plus a red path that skips white — Black Diamond does not call it color memory. The airline page is the one for a 1,700–3,100 lumen white walkaround light.
Red mode: Dual color, white and red. Red lumens and red runtime are not in the listing’s spec table.
Battery / charging: 3×AAA alkaline, included. Not rechargeable.
Weight / size: Not listed on the Amazon spec table
Other: Water resistant · ANSI FL1 · lifetime warranty
Price: ~$17 — listed $16.99, in stock, on Amazon
Longest listed white beam at 142 m, against 100 m high on the Spot 400-R and 115 m max on the ACTIK CORE
Lowest confirmed shelf price here at ~$17 ($16.99), against $47.97 for the Spot 400-R
3×AAA cells included, so a fresh set is a swap rather than a USB charge
315 lm for 1 h 15 min, against 400 lm for 4 hours on the Spot 400-R
Red output is unpublished, against 165 / 24 lm on the T8R and 2 lm on the ACTIK CORE
Not rechargeable, unlike the USB lights beside it
Choose the PX20 when you want white and red in one pocket light and the price is ~$17. Vs Spot 400-R: 315 lm for 1 h 15 min against 400 lm for 4 hours, with a longer listed beam (142 m vs 100 m) and a lower price (~$17 vs $47.97).
White: High 400 lm / 100 m / 4 hrs · medium 200 lm / 60 m / 8 hrs · low 6 lm / 12 m. Low burn time is printed as 225 with no unit on the US page, so it is not stated as hours here.
Red mode: “Red night vision has dimming and strobe modes and activates without cycling through the white mode.” Red lumens are not listed. Brightness Memory is described for turning the light on and off at a chosen brightness, which is a white-level memory, not a named color memory.
Battery / charging: BD 1500 mAh Li-ion, charged by micro-USB
Weight: 86 g
Other: IP67, tested to at least 1.0 m for 30 minutes · digital lock · battery meter · recycled-fiber headband
Price: ~$48–$80 — listed $47.97, regular $79.95. Product data listed Graphite and Azul as available and Bordeaux as unavailable. The page template also includes an Out of Stock badge, so confirm the color before you order.
400 lm for 4 hours, against 315 lm for 1 h 15 min on the PX20
Lightest published weight here at 86 g, against 88 g on the ACTIK CORE. The PX20 and the T8R do not list a weight.
Red path that Black Diamond says skips the white cycle, on a headband
Red lumens unpublished, so you cannot compare them with the T8R’s 165 lm or the ACTIK’s 2 lm
High beam is 100 m, shorter than the PX20’s 142 m
micro-USB pack, not a cell you can swap the way the T8R also accepts two CR123s
Choose the Spot 400-R when you want both hands for a preflight and a red mode that the maker says does not cycle through white. Vs PX20: 400 lm for 4 hours against 315 lm for 1 h 15 min, at $47.97 against ~$17. The PX20’s listed beam is longer, 142 m against 100 m.
White: High 762 lm / 3 hours 50 min · low 40 lm / 30 hours. Nite Ize labels these as ANSI figures.
Red mode: High 165 lm / 3 hours 20 min · low 24 lm / 22 hours 30 min. Nite Ize describes a knurled control that switches between the white beam and the red beam. Sporty’s describes that dial as switching beams without cycling through modes.
Battery / charging: Recharges in approximately 4 hours on micro-USB. Also runs on two CR123 cells.
Weight / size: Not listed on the Nite Ize or Sporty’s pages we opened.
Other: High, low, strobe, and SOS, per Sporty’s. Nite Ize lists the light in stock at the brand store.
Price: ~$126–$140 — $125.99 at Sporty’s (the page showed both an in-stock label and a backordered label) and $139.99 in stock at Nite Ize.
Only handheld here with published red lumens: 165 and 24, against an unpublished red on the PX20 and 2 lm on the ACTIK CORE
Highest white output among the handhelds at 762 lm, against 315 lm on the PX20
White low runs 30 hours at 40 lm; red low runs 22 h 30 min at 24 lm
Highest price in the set at $125.99–$139.99, against ~$17 and $47.97
White high is 3 h 50 min, shorter than the Spot 400-R’s 4 hours, at a higher lumen number (762 vs 400)
Weight is unpublished, so it cannot be compared with the 86 g Spot 400-R or the 88 g ACTIK CORE
Choose the T8R when you want a number on the red beam, not only a promise of red. Vs ACTIK CORE: red high is 165 lm for 3 h 20 min against 2 lm for 60 h. Vs PX20: white is 762 lm against 315 lm, at $125.99 against ~$17.
No product photo on this card. The official ACTIK CORE images we opened were dark composites with feature text and color chips, so they are not used.
White, with the CORE battery (ANSI/PLATO): Max power 625 lm / 115 m / 2 h · standard 100 lm / 60 m / 7 h (reserve 2 h) · max burn time 7 lm / 10 m / 100 h
White, on 3×AAA: Max power drops to 450 lm / 100 m / 2 h · standard 100 lm / 60 m / 10 h (reserve 20 h)
Red mode: Continuous 2 lm / 5 m / 60 h. Strobe visible at 700 m for 400 h. One button “for quick and easy selection of brightness or light color.” Petzl does not claim the lamp remembers the last color.
Battery / charging: Included CORE pack, 1250 mAh / 3.6 V / 4.5 Wh. USB-C, 3.5 hours. Charging cable is not included. Also takes 3×AAA/LR03 (not included).
Weight: 88 g · IPX4 · lamp warranty 5 years · CORE battery 2 years or 300 cycles · listed $87.95 in red, black, blue, and green
Price: ~$88 — $87.95 on petzl.com. The buy widget showed an in-stock count and also an out-of-stock notice tied to color SKU, so confirm the color.
Highest white output among the headlamps: 625 lm against 400 lm on the Spot 400-R. The T8R handheld is higher still, at 762 lm.
88 g, within 2 g of the Spot 400-R
Red runtime is 60 hours, the longest listed red runtime, at 2 lm
2 lm of red against 165 lm on the T8R — a locator, not a chart light
One button selects both brightness and color, so this is the light on the page that does not give red its own control
On AAA cells, max power is 450 lm, not 625
Choose the ACTIK CORE for a light headlamp with a 625 lm white max and a long, very dim red. Vs T8R: 625 lm and 2 lm red against 762 lm and 165 lm red, at $87.95 against $125.99. Vs Spot 400-R: 625 lm for 2 hours against 400 lm for 4 hours.
Maker and retailer spec pages for output, runtime, weight, charging, and how red is selected, plus the shelf price on a page opened the same day. The split with the airline flashlight page is the job: airline walkarounds in that set are bright white rechargeables, and this page is white plus a red path that does not begin as a white flash. We did not lab-test these lights.
Amazon: Coast PX20, $16.99, in stock. Spec table: 315 lm white, 142 m, 1 hour 15 minutes, 3×AAA, dual color white and red, water resistant, ANSI FL1, lifetime warranty.
Black Diamond: Spot 400-R, $47.97, regular $79.95.
