No idea if these are THE best, but they are good, and the seller is outstanding.

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

Good luck finding one. Out of 6? advertised as "black light" I have bought, only 2 is actually black light (365nm). Most are of 395-405nm which is just purple light.

Spiderwebman.net

Just look for "365nm" whoever selling black lights.

 

Spidermanweb is the guy I linked to on eBay.

I leave those things on the ground for weeks, rain, snow. Never had one go out.

 

I haven't tried these since my old fluorescent blacklights are still working but I saved this link a few years ago when someone (perhaps here) suggested them.

realUV™ LED Lights by Waveform | Waveform Lighting

 

I'm off to put some of the Spidermanweb ones in the Ebay cart & get them after payday. What's the difference in wattage, is it brightness or area coverage?

The ones I've seen on Amazon all seem to just be purple even though they say they're 365nm (whatever that means).

 

365nm is the wavelength of the light, which is not visible to the human eye, whereas higher numbered wavelengths start becoming visible with a blue glow (not that they can't also provide a flourescent glow to affected materials if < 400nm or so).

 

At 365nm the light is a UV light. Like the kind to cure resin or when you get gel nails. The same light they use in crime scenes to find bodily fluids. It's the same light you'd use to display or hunt for uranium glass at thrift stores.

Your ghosts will glow so hard they'll look like they're from another dimension since the light very rarely casts any 'shadows'.

This also means you need to be very cautious with eye protection. Do not look into the light. Do not put the light in an area where someone will walk and stare into it like an idiot. The further away the object is, the less UV is being broadcasted on that object since it spreads out in a fan. So using these kind of lights in a display is not destructive to the props since we typically put them many feet away.

This was the same light I was looking into for my beef netting web for my roof. As I didn't want any light leak to accidentally hit the neighbors houses with my classic purple "black light" I got at clearance from HD one year.

 

I have a UV flashlight to check out glassware. A former neighbor had a hoard of glassware, some displayed, most of it in boxes all over the house, & I ended up being in charge of helping clean out his hoard so I got one to see if he had anything worthwhile, maybe a few nice uranium glass pieces & of course, it was a big ole NOPE.

I came home & started going through an old box of my own stuff & found a beautiful green candlestick that was my grandmother's so I got it to use it & thought "What the heck, let's see if this one glows" & by god it did!! I had a nice uranium glass candlestick in storage all this time & it's nicer than anything in the neighbor's hoard.

This also means you need to be very cautious with eye protection. Do not look into the light. Do not put the light in an area where someone will walk and stare into it like an idiot.

Thanks for this advice.

 

They are not an area light, per se. They are small-ish, physically. I find the coverage good, but I wouldn't expect it to do a large area. They would cover a small set piece of a few life size figures, but would not do a 20'x20' area well. But part of it is what you want; from a longer distance you would get less pop, but also less unwanted light. Lastly, I wouldn't expect absolutely no unwanted light, it's just significantly less than many others.

I did buy a large blacklight floodlight from spiderwebman maybe 7 or 8 years ago, but I think it was a true one-off that he had when I asked him if he had any big ones. Never hurts to ask, though.

Good luck with the display!

P.s. Random additional point. I bought a blacklight flashlight from Amazon for like $10, just because I did not know they existed and wanted to see what they would do. It was amazing! For anyone who wants to use UV lighting in their displays (and most of us under-utilize it), I highly recommend for helping you design, make, and set up your display. You don't need to always be plugging a black light in and out. Plus it will just be awesome to send my 12 year old out trick or treating with it. I should prolly buy at least one more for my middle kid as he will want one too.

 

The haunts around here use Eliminator Lighting EBK-400. Very old school, power Hungary and hot but it’s true black light and powerful.

 

I have been using Onforu flood lights exclusively for years now. They all have lasted and I recommend them. I keep them in my Amazon Wish List to get notifications on sales.
The black lights come with an on off switch and the rgbs come with a on off switch and remote to change colors.
Just remember they (all brands) get quite hot. And figure out your required wattage for the effect you are looking for.

 

Also as stated in a previous post, 365nm would be ideal but Uber expensive and hard to find. 385nm has done well for me so far.