I currently have a Veleno Quantum D2 on my keyring, but I've decided that it's a bit impractical so I'm weighing up the AAA options instead. But I've got quite used to the tritium locators which happen to look awesome on that particular light. So now I'm thinking I'll buy one of the Veleno locators (as soon as I can afford such an indulgence).
However, the current ones available from Veleno aren't titanium, steel, aluminium, copper, or some similarly commonplace metal. They are zirconium. I have no experience with zirconium, so I decided to google its properties (weight, strength, etc.) and came across some interesting warnings:
http://www.ehs.pitt.edu/assets/docs/combustible-metals.pdf
Similar to magnesium??? That does not sound like something I'd want on a keyring. Especially not wrapped around a vial of radioactive gas! To be fair, reading on, it sounds like it will only react to certain chemicals that I'd be unlikely to come into contact with and if I did then I'd have other problems. Still, the possibility of fine particles (which could perhaps scrape off) being spontaneously combustible in air doesn't sound good.
So, does anyone here have more of a materials science background and can say if I'm overreacting or if there are indeed genuine risks with zirconium that would warrant more careful handling than throwing it in a pocket with a bunch of keys?
For that matter, although I like the spiral design of these locators I'm not totally set on it. Does anyone else make something similar? I'd probably prefer titanium or perhaps bronze, regardless of the validity of these safety concerns, anyway.
However, the current ones available from Veleno aren't titanium, steel, aluminium, copper, or some similarly commonplace metal. They are zirconium. I have no experience with zirconium, so I decided to google its properties (weight, strength, etc.) and came across some interesting warnings:
http://www.ehs.pitt.edu/assets/docs/combustible-metals.pdf
"Hafnium, plutonium, thorium, uranium and zirconium are all highly combustible metals. The hazards of this group are similar to those of magnesium, and the same safeguards should be applied except as noted..."
Similar to magnesium??? That does not sound like something I'd want on a keyring. Especially not wrapped around a vial of radioactive gas! To be fair, reading on, it sounds like it will only react to certain chemicals that I'd be unlikely to come into contact with and if I did then I'd have other problems. Still, the possibility of fine particles (which could perhaps scrape off) being spontaneously combustible in air doesn't sound good.
So, does anyone here have more of a materials science background and can say if I'm overreacting or if there are indeed genuine risks with zirconium that would warrant more careful handling than throwing it in a pocket with a bunch of keys?
For that matter, although I like the spiral design of these locators I'm not totally set on it. Does anyone else make something similar? I'd probably prefer titanium or perhaps bronze, regardless of the validity of these safety concerns, anyway.