Small, low-level, emergency lightsource?

H

HolyRoller

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Jul 18, 2007
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http://www.unitednuclear.com/traser.htm

I came across this on another, COMPLETELY unrelated, forum and figured one of these little things could be a pretty good idea in case of emergency.

It offers a continuous, green glow for 10-20 years. The light might not be powerful, but it is constant, reliable, and requires absolutely no power sources or charging.

At the very least you can hang one off your pack as a marker for night hiking.
 
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That's really neat, have to look into those. I thought it was going to be a thread asking for a recommendation... 'there's these things called glowsticks...' :D
 
I think you'll find a few of us own these. I love mine. If you're one of those people who misplaces their keys, all you have to do is turn out the lights and look around. The females in my family love them too. Keys get dropped into purse. To find keys, look in purse and grab the only thing that is glowing. Someone over on candleforums used to sell them. Maybe he still does. I think they were about $15 a few years ago.
 
There was a powerful military version of this encased in a rubber housing. I believe it came from the UK and cost over $100 US. I hung around your neck. I would't keep it in my pants pocket too long!!!!!
 
I have a Ball automatic watch, it has 60 -that's sixty tritium vials set into the face. This sucker glows bright enough at night to do real close map and text reading. Makes me "sniper bait" at night, but it sure glows!

dm1022a-pc1a-night.jpg
 
it's called a Betalight. It is considered a radioactive source due to the radioactive tritium gas that glows. The radioactive gas exites a phosphorous layer inside a glass vail.
The halflife of tritium is about 12 years, meaning the ouput will be 50% of the intial output after production. After 24 years it will produce 25%, after 36 years 12,5%.
Be aware of this fact, the lights you buy could be a few years old.
Also be aware that tritium is used as a booster for nuclear weapons and is considered a controlled hazardous material and i believe it has import regulations.
Cheap Betalights uses inferiour materials so the tritium cold slowly leak away, diffuse thru the wall of the container, or even breakage.
It won't make you radioactive, but just don't ingest the stuff.
:D
 
Yeah, those Lucce de Notte things are awesome. Fantastic craftsmanship, but way over my meager budget. I got a couple of fairly large tritium vials off a guy on CPF a while back, but haven't done anything with them yet. I can't figure out what to do with a 2" and 3" vial.
 
You can get them on Ebay for about $15. They come from the UK, and are listed as tritium glowrings.
 
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