Do you think glowsticks are history due to LEDs?

[fieldops]

Do you think that glowsticks are obsolete due to long running LED lighting?.......geeze this test would have made a good real post

[CLHC]

Not by a looong shot—

[carrot]

Heck no. I carry 3 chemical glowsticks in my bag for emergencies... cheap and disposable. And I have no qualms in giving them away in case of a blackout. ::shakes his fist at the gods of urban electricity::

[GhostReaction]

You might want to try posting at general light discussion. Well tritium seems to be taking over glowstick I do belive.
Glowstick VS Led is unfair.

[zespectre]

Glow sticks are great for -fun- but I don't trust them for any sort of emergency prep anymore. The manufacturers commonly state they have a shelf life of 2-4 years but I have discovered far too many that simply don't work even though they are well within their "shelf life". To make matters worse the only way to test is to snap them and then that's it for use.

[jtice]

Glowsticks are here to stay.

I use them a good bit, they make EXCELLENT markers,
and in some situations, provide plenty of light.

I do alot of caving and always have some with me.
you would be suprised how bright they are if you are totally night adapted.

I ussually have at least 50 sticks in my inventory at all times.

~John

[Omega Man]

LEDCandle's glow stickies have given me a love for glowsticks I've never had before.

[greenLED]

They are two different lighting tools.

In my mind, Glowsticks are primarily markers and last resource lighting tools because of their omnidirectional and relatively dim light output. True, you can use a LED as marker (see Glo-Toob), but they're mostly directional lighting devices. Also, glowsticks are finicky in their half-life/storage; I don't know how many times I've cracked one to discover the chemicals have degraded and I won't get a glow. LED lights are more reliable in that respect (assuming you use batteries with long storage lives).

So, no, Glowsticks are not history due to LED's.

[twentysixtwo]

Having done a few night dives I can say that I would NEVER favor a LED based light stick over a chemical one.

Assuming it hasn't been stored in a hot car for a few years, the light stick is as reliable as it can be - guaranteed light for the next X hours. The LED on the other hand would likely have some way to change the battery. Water gets in, the light goes out.

Also, for night runs, chemical glow necklaces are still far cheaper than the electronic equivalent. BTW if you're in Michigan there's a great night run each fall - the "Lightfest Run" on Hines Drive...

[zespectre]

Originally Posted by twentysixtwo

Assuming it hasn't been stored in a hot car for a few years, the light stick is as reliable as it can be

I'm afraid we'll have to just agree to disagree. Some of the lightstick failures I've had could certainly be attributed to storage in a hot (or very cold) car but not all of them.

Used in situations you describe where you activate the light stick and then go do something I think they are fine because if they don't work you can get another before you start.

For emergency situations where you are already IN the situation and then snap one and hope it works... ummm, not me, no thanks. I'd much rather have an LED based unit that I can test once in a while.

Now remembering to test once in a while...

[twentysixtwo]

Actually, what I meant was that assuming that it works when you snap it , you know it is going to work for another so many hours. If you're scuba diving you don't want to worry about it springing a leak at 100' and shuting down.

I have had ones that are 10-15 years old that I stored in the freezer. I snapped one recently for my daughter to play with - worked as good as new.

I don't think they're good for emergency lighting based on their limited light and other drawbacks mentioned.

I agree it's a big downside that you can't test them out. For emergency lighting I'll favor a lux1 light with mongo runtime and lithium batteries.