Glo Toob Lithium

This is a new version of the Glo-Toob designed to use a C123 lithium battery instead of the A23 battery used in the previous version.

The toob has 11 modes of operation selected using a redesigned cap button. To switch modes you have to turn the tube on, wait five seconds and then turn it off and on without a pause. Now switching on and off will change modes. To fix a mode just leave the unit on in the selected mode for four seconds.

The lithium version has 11 modes of operation: flash mode, beacon strobe, fast strobe, slow strobe, SOS, pulse, half flash, bounce, ramp up, 100% constant on and 25% constant on. It can use either primary or rechargeable 123 batteries without problems as long as the battery fits in the tube. Not all rechargeable 123 batteries are the same size.

The new model is 80mm (3.15'') high and 24mm (0.95'') in diameter it is bigger than the older model to acomodate the new larger 123 battery. With this battery the tube can from 24 hours to 100 hours depending on the selected mode. The push button cap is splash proof and the standard package includes a lanyard and twist cap. With the twist cap the tube can be used up to 100m deep making it suitable for diving applications. (328 ft).

The new model is easy to operate and the push button cap has a very good tactile response making it easier to switch modes. To our taste the unit has too many fancy modes and only two constant-on modes, it is doubtful to have 9 signaling modes and strobes and yet only 2 levels of constant brightness in the interface.

With a long runtime and 360 degrees illumination the tube is great for small rooms, tents and as a marker if you hike, dive, cycle or do any kind of night activities it has many applications and is a practical device to have in your kit.

The lithium version is available in blue, red, amber, green, white and IR for $40 at Lighthound.

Do It Yourself: LED Throwies

LED throwies are simple home made illumination devices using a LED, a battery, some duct tape and a magnet. They were created mainly as a way to do urban graffiti but can also be used as simple illumination devices, trail lights and markers.

The basic throwie model requires a 10mm LED (red pictured but other colors can be used), a 2032 coin cell battery (very common and easy to get), some duct tape and a magnet, neodynium magnets recommended.

The construction is simple just make the LED legs contact the positive and negative sides of the 2032 battery, since a LED is a diode this will only work in one position. Stick the magnet to the positive side of the 2032 battery and wrap with ducttape. To use it just stick it to a metallic surface and voila!.

Runtime for a simple throwie can be several days, with a red LED one week of runtime is normal depending on the LED used and the quality of the battery. If you want to use the throwie as a marker or locator you can use a small piece of paper to prevent the contact between the battery and the LED and remove the tab when you want to use it.

Variations include the use of a photocell to turn on or off the LED based on ambient light extending runtime, adding a simple switch, use of 3mm or 5mm LED and smaller batteries to make it even smaller etc etc.

For the ones that like minimalistic EDC you can always have one ready in your kit with a tab to prevent activation and use it when you need it, they are easy to do, can be made by children, fun to use and economic.

If you want even more information you can read this article at Instructables.com

Illumitacks Feeder Lights And Trail Markers

The Illumitacks are similar to LED blinkies used in parties and for fun. The difference being the stronger construction of the Illumitacks and that they don't blink.

The 'tacks use a small green LED powered by a CR927 coin cell battery, twist the body and the light will turn on, untwist and off it goes. There is a very strong magnet at the bottom that can be used to attach this little devices to any metallic surface.

Feeder lights are used in hunting, you can attach the illumitack magnetic LED. feeder lights to your corn feeders barrel, timer control unit, feeder legs or on leaves or twigs above baited area and have the most economical and convenient hog hunting light on the market today. The green light won't spook game according to the manufacturer.

Besides hunting the lights can be used to mark trails or locations at night, each light uses two CR927 batteries and runs for about 50 hours with one set, the lights are not regulated so they will get dim as the batteries are used. After 24 hours they are still very visible, the green color is an excellent choice for trail marking since it is the color that human eyes see better. In our tests the lights were still visible after 48 hours from 100 yards, so they are quite good to mark locations if you need to hike back at night.

The 'tacks are sold for $24.95 in a package of 10 including replacement batteries. You can order and read more about them from the Official Website.

Petzl E-Lite

The e-lite is a very small headlamp from petzl, it weights only 30 grams including the batteries, the light comes with a headband and a protective case in red color.

This small headlamp has 3 white leds and one red led powered by two C2032 coin cell lithium batteries. The light has 5 modes of operation selected moving the red lever in order they are: white minium, white maximum, white strobe, red strobe and constant red. The runtime is 35 hours in maximum mode and 45 hours in white minimum, a lot longer in red mode.

The lamp can be used with the supplied headband or removed and clipped to a belt, backpack, a hat or other objects, it can be used as a marker or a beacon. As a headlamp it is fine for indoors use, use inside a tent or close works but certainly not suitable for exploring. The light Waterproof down to -1 m.

You can read more in Petzl's website. Or oder for $28.99 from TAD Gear.

The guardian light

The Guardian is a small clipable domed led light. It comes in five different colors: amber, aqua, blue, red and white. The light uses a couple of C2032 coin cell lithium batteries.

The light is turned on or off twisting the dome, if you keep untwisting the dome will open to change the batteries so don't untiwst a lot or you will risk losing parts of the light accidentally.

Depending on the position of the batteries the light will be turned on in constant mode or blinking mode, since you have to open the light and reverse the batteries to change the mode I would say that the light has only 1 mode of operation but can be selected among 2 when installing the batteries. The runtime is about 100 hours in constant mode and about 250 hours in blinking mode.

In the back of the light you can find a plastic clip to clip the light to a belt, hat, backpack and other objects.

The domed light is good as a beacon or a marker but probably not good enough as an area light or a flashlight, it is certainly a good and small marker for several needs.

You can read some extra info or get it for about $12 following this link.

Krill Lights

The Krill lights are en electronic alternative to chemical glow sticks commonly used in the military, camping and many other areas. The light is generated by electroluminiscence, no bulbs no leds, in the same way that a watch display glows. This means the lights provide a smooth 360 degrees ambient illumination without any beams or patterns.

They are available in different configurations, you can get them in 360 degrees or 180 degrees beam, there is a "Extreme" version that is brighter than the regular one with a shorter runtime and there is also a shorter version called "mini". The regular version can run for about 120 hours with one set of batteries while the extreme version runs for about 50 hours. The available colors are red, yellow, orange, blue, white and green.

The polycarbonate case with o-rings for sealing is extremely resistant and waterproof, the lights can be used up to 50 feet and will resist serious impacts and abuse. Compared to the chemical sticks the krill lights are less fragile and have longer runtimes but they are not as bright as the regular green light sticks, to our observes they were aproximately 75% of the chemical ones.

At a price of $25 to $30 the Krill lights are great tools as markers and soft illumination devices and require less care than the chemical lights, for normal use the "extreme" version is probably the best while the regular version becomes an option when you need extremely long runtimes.

You can read more and check for dealres at the official website.

Make your own: Glow Stickies

Glowstickies are very useful to locate things in the dark, if you can't get the ones filled with tritium that glow constantly for about 10 years you probably need a stick that is charged with light using glow in the dark materials (GID).

To make your own glow stickies you need a container, the GID material and some small splitring or something similar to provide an attachment point.

The case can be either a small acrilic tube that you can cut to the size you want, it can be a fuse or it can be the case of a mini chemical glowstick that is emptied after being used. For the GID material I use and recommend GID powder or Sand from Glowinc, the green powder/sand can glow for more than 12 hours after being charged with daylight for just 20 minutes and they are also charged with incandescent or flourescent artificial lights.

They have different colors with different afterglow times. You can either fill the stick with the raw powder or raw sand or use a mixture of clear Epoxy and GID powder, in that case make sure you saturate the epoxy as much as you can with the GID powder to have maximum brightness and runtime. To seal the ends if you use the raw powder or sand you can use crazy glue or similar.

A simple project to do and the materials are fun to use with no special tools required. Maybe you can give them a try. If you experiment with different media for the GID powder let me know.

Cyalume Chemical Glow Sticks

Chemical glow stickies are used in several situations, from parties where they are fun to serious signaling in the army or rescue operations.

All of them work snapping a plastic tube which makes a small vial of very thin glass break inside releasing a chemical to make contact with the surrounding media, this creates a chemical reaction that produces light for some time and then just fades away becoming unusable.

There are different sizesof glow sticks, the mini glow sticks that are about 2 inches long (5cm aprox) are great for EDC kits can be used to mark milestones if you go hiking to attract attention if you are on a bike, in case of emergencies etc. They come in different colors: red, white, orange, green, blue, purple, hot pink, aqua. The runtime depends on the color and the size of the stick, the green ones are usually the ones that last longer reaching up to 12 hours of usable brightness. Please note that there are many combinations of sizes, colors and runtime, ranging from 12 hour stickies in red to 5 minutes ultra bright stickies in orange etc.

It is important to know that you should keep the stickies in their envelopes protected from light and safe of impacts to avoid breaking the small vial inside them.

A pack of 50 mini stickies can be ordered for $10 including 7 or 8 different colors. You can check all the available versions and order from ExtremeGlow.

Glo Toob FX

Glo toob are markers available in different colors. The toobs provide light in 360 degrees so they are used either to light up small rooms or as signaling devices, they can't be used to illuminate an objet since they don't have a directional beam like flashlights.

The FX model has 7 different modes: 100% constant on, 25% constant on, Flash, Fast Strobe, Slow Strobe, Sos and Throb. The runtime goes from 30 to 80 hours depending on the mode selected.

They are available in different led colours: red, blue, green, amber and white. The green one is the most visible (green is the color that the eye sees better) so it's perfect as a marker, the red one is suitable to preserve night vision (red is the color that less affects the eye), amber is nice for ambient illumination, blues are cool and might be used to detect substances that contrast better under blue light (blood for example), the white one is of course general purpose. There's also an IR model suitable to be used with Night Vision equipment.

The toobs have negative buyancy (they float), are waterproof and shock proof, they use an A23 battery, not your every day battery but is not hard to find either. You can find more information at the official Glo Toob page. Pricing is about $22.