Ever Shrink Tubed Your EDC?

ILL-Luminated · Feb 15, 2007

I'm going to buy a Fenix L0D and I'm thinking to cut down on dings and scratches it wouldn't be a bad idea to shrink tube the body and head (using an xacto knife lightly around the head/body joint to free its movement). Has anyone ever explored this type of thing to add more wear and tear life
to your keychain EDC?

gunga · Feb 15, 2007

Yep, did it a bit on a garrity light before I got my fenix. Need a better size of tube tho...

Overall, it does what you expect, just doesn't look as nice as it used to. Kind of like putting plastic on your couch.

It does make the light more grip-able tho.

Just pre-cut the tubing first so you don't have to cut the light.

derrick · Feb 15, 2007

But battle scars add character!

You could also try the rubber dip used for the handles of pliers.

Would also be nice if you ever have to hold it in your mouth.

ILL-Luminated · Feb 15, 2007

Both great ideas, thank you! I've never used rubber dip before, I'd have to experiment
with that first on one of my retired EDC's. Is there much of a science to getting
the dip linear? I was also thinking that pre-cut & lettered (to customer specs) heat shrink tube would fill an interesting market gap. I haven't googled it yet, but
has anyone ever heard of a place where you can order custom lettered shrink tube?

keysandslots · Feb 15, 2007

Make sure the body is clean, mask anything you don't want covered in rubber and just dip and remove very slowly. You can also use liquid latex, which is basically what the tool dip stuff is.

Randy

Fenris · Feb 15, 2007

Using the rubber dip stuff will probably cause the light to run alot hotter than it should. It would all depend on the light, I suppose.

TigerhawkT3 · Feb 15, 2007

I've been thinking about getting some heat shrink for my lights. Any good places to buy the stuff?

greg_in_canada · Feb 15, 2007

I have heatshrink over the body of my L0P (and previously my Arc AAA). Mostly to make it mouth holdable.

I did try heatshrink over the head of my Arc AAA (to hold a tiny diffuser) but the heatshrink stretches after a while and then slips.

On my L0P the body heatshrink doesn't slip when it stretches due to the flat sides but I do re-heat it ever couple of months because it feels better when there is no play.

Greg

NotRegulated · Feb 15, 2007

I used shrink tube over the body of a 2x123 Aleph E series tube in the past. It made the body too smooth or slippery. It was warmer to the touch though.

TORCH_BOY · Feb 15, 2007

Yes, I did it to get a better grip

Scythe_rr · Feb 16, 2007

I found this thread interesting, I hope it helps!

Mike

ILL-Luminated · Feb 16, 2007

Mike,

Thank you, that is a great thread!!:goodjob:

Ever Shrink Tubed Your EDC?

ILL-Luminated

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gunga

Flashaholic

derrick

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ILL-Luminated

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keysandslots

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Fenris

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TigerhawkT3

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greg_in_canada

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NotRegulated

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TORCH_BOY

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Scythe_rr

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ILL-Luminated

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