How can I make a light to read in bed with a partner who needs complete dark to sleep?

I have tried various commercial products but they all cast too much light into the room. I need something that puts the light only onto the page or allows me to read in limited light eg night vision or has a screen between us but that needs not to be intrusive or ugly when not in use.

Comments

[Smokedasphalt]

Very Simple.
Just make a cone with a white LED at it's vertex.
Cover the inside of the cone with aluminium foil or anything that will reflect the light hitting the sides of the cone.
This setup will focus light only on the book and nobody else will be disturbed!
You can, ofcourse, increase or decrease the number of LEDs according to your preference.

[bomberman3]

While this does focus the light, his partner may still be disturbed by the indirect light reflecting off of the book.

[Smokedasphalt]

He can adjust the brightness of the LEDs by using resistors or any other method. Light reflecting off the book will be diffused and won't be so bright. It would take a super-sensitive partner to react to such dim light! :P

[jocasam]

That sounds good and may well be within my capacity.

[lemonie]

Read in a different room. Or Get a "night-vision" device. L

[jocasam]

Being apart isn't much fun tho and the device is to expensive.

[lemonie]

Yea, but being together isn't much fun for your partner who is trying to sleep. Alternative: assuming the paper may be fluorescent, use a UV LED? L

[miiwii3]

I don't know if this will work but try night vision goggles. the shed no light(unless your partner see infrared then you have bigger problems) tell me if this works

[jocasam]

Sorry - can't afford them.

[CrawdadMan]

Get her the eye covers for sleeping. those will allow you to have light and her to have total darkness.

[jocasam]

Tried but tehy make her too hot. No not in that sense!

[Jayefuu]

This may be overkill, but how about a projector screen? They allow no light through, you could mount it on the ceiling above the bed and pull it down when you want to read, then pull it again when you're done for it to retract into the ceiling. Some of them make a bit of noise with the mechanism so if your partner is a light sleeper one of the quieter ones might be best.

[jocasam]

That's more practical than my screen ideas but 'overkill' may be right tho will try if other sugggestions don't work.

[owen99999]

build a big wall in between!! (please note that with this option, sex in NOT an option) blue lights are quite dim, but you can read with them.

[jocasam]

May try blue light as brick wall would lead to real blues!

[keydogstony]

A simple book light should do the trick. Only $4.99 on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/robotic-LED-clip-on-reading-book-light-night-light-map_W0QQitemZ150310897982QQcmdZViewItem

[jocasam]

Tried that but too much stray light.

[mikeasaurus]

with some slight modifications this might work.

[jocasam]

Now that's what i call lateral thinking. Trouble is i can't knit

[cdubnbird]

studio lights have black flaps on the side of the lights so they can project a light onto a surface without getting any light on an undesired surface. you could do the same thing except much smaller and with a flashlight or something of the like.

[jocasam]

I'll think about this a bit more but could well work.

[Atomman]

Here's what I did (accidentally) to make a light like that. I bought a plain, LED reading light from the dollar store, kept it on for about 35 Hours and then came back. It was bright enough to read, but is dim enough to let anyone else sleep. -Atom

[jocasam]

Sounds good thanks

[Grathio]

If they need complete dark then a normal book light will probably spill way too much into the room. Instead get 1 book light and 1 XXXL black hoodie. Use the book light as normal. Don't wear the hoodie, but put the hood on your head backwards, look down the neck hole, your arms backwards through the arms and read the book inside the hoodie. The hood will keep it in place and the body will block most of the light from escaping into the room.

When not in use you can fold it and keep it next to your bed or under your pillow.

You'll probably want to cut the arms short so its easier to get your hands in and out, and maybe cut the neck hole larger so its easier to see.

It will look silly while you're using it, but thankfully the only other person who could see you will be happily asleep.

[jocasam]

ta - this is one that i may well be able to use and will be warm on cold nights too!