Am I missing something? (GITD question)

[sourcehill]

I got my Jetbeam the other day and it came with two tail cap buttons. One bright orange and one GITD. The GITD button only glows after being charged with another flashlights beam and dies down in less than ten minutes. The world of flashlights is very new to me and I'm boggled by Jetbeam's GITD button design.

 

[MrGman]

Obviously you fail to realize that if you had your back up ultra violet flashlight in your back pocket you could use that to light up the floor or ground and see that glow in the dark tail cap and still keep everything else dark thereby having the illusion that you did something useful by finding the flashlight with another flashlight without any one else really knowing it.




Okay yeah, the real usefulness of it escapes me too since most "glow in the dark" things need a really strong light to activate them like you said and if you had that really strong light you really won't need a "glow in the dark thingy that you were trying to find in the first place". Unless of course you are that mythical some one who really wanted this thing who still lives back in the 60's with Black lights running 24/7 and glowing Jimi Hendrix posters etc, on the walls, then your/there GITD thingy would always be there reminding you of where it is.

Watch dials that need to be charged so you can see them glow for all of 10 seconds escape me too. But when I'm playing (actually real work but its just so much fun I wonder why they pay me :naughty with the UV light at work my watch lights up really cool and it is easier to read the time than in normal daylight so it gets half a point for being semi useful feature.

Now here is a semi useful thing. I have a can of glow in the dark spray paint (water based) that some one gave me. I painted a + on the inside of the garage door and use it to test out LED flashlights. I put the light on it for 5 seconds from a certain distance and then look at how long and how bright it glows after I shut off the flashlight. Kind of interesting. Not earth shattering brilliance. But I can see the differences the various flashlights make on it quite readily. FWIW

 

[sotong_kia]

Probably in the event that there is a power failure, the GITD will be glowing enough for you to find it..

But yeah, GITD is old technology already..

GITD watch is useful when I was in the military. Use a Small light, cover it over the watch and flash it once (making sure no one sees the flash.. cover it with a cloth or something..especially if behind enemy lines) and then read the time..

 

[swxb12]

I got my Jetbeam the other day and it came with two tail cap buttons. One bright orange and one GITD. The GITD button only glows after being charged with another flashlights beam and dies down in less than ten minutes. The world of flashlights is very new to me and I'm boggled by Jetbeam's GITD button design.

My C-LE v2 has an orange O-ring behind the lens that glows. It is so dim that I barely notice it even with night-adjusted eyes.

And about those GITD buttons...I think they're sort of a gimmick. My lights are pocketed/holstered, so I don't even get a chance to charge them up in a realistic situation. If you must put a GITD beacon on the light, you're best off attaching a small tritium fob like the kind Merkava sells in the CPF marketplace.

 

[Bigsy]

The "baby blue" GITD wares on dealextreme is top rate imo, both o-rings and tailcaps seem to charge from the smallest about of light and hold it for an impressive amount of time.

Only trouble is the colour, it's a bit effeminate to be doing up you big manly tactical flashlight in baby blue...

 

[Bunk3r]

The "baby blue" GITD wares on dealextreme is top rate imo, both o-rings and tailcaps seem to charge from the smallest about of light and hold it for an impressive amount of time.

maybe compared to others, but i was disappointed with mine, its OK but i find it needs a lot of light to make it glow as well as i would like and whilst it maintains some glow for a length of time it is only at a very low level.

 

[adamlau]

Once the novelty of GITD switch boots wears off, you will find them to be rather useless short of serving as an identification marker versus conventional boots.

 

[bob4apple]

"Only trouble is the colour, it's a bit effeminate to be doing up you big manly tactical flashlight in baby blue..."

Not really, blue is for boys of any age, even baby blue.
Besides, no man should fear any color, even (gasp!) a
pretty princess pink.

 

[BigBluefish]

I think the only purpose for the GITD clickies and o-rings is that they are simply 'fun.' I mean, I don't care how old you are, what guy doesn't like stuff that glows in the dark???? Well, except stuff that isn't supposed to be glowing in the dark....

 

[m2usa]

Heh... yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It is kinda cool, but then again it doesn't really serve any purpose when it doesn't activate easily. When I first started looking at all of the cool lights out there at vendor sites there was all of the GITD sections (I had no idea what the acronym meant at the time.) When I checked it out, I thought, "who uses this stuff?" Then I got my JB C-LEv2 and found the same GITD button on the back and the bezel. Yeah, it doesn't really work, but as it was said earlier, every guy thinks a GITD thingy is cool even if it only lasts for a few minutes.

 

[Steve L]

The most usefull I've found is a Bezel GITD O-ring. At least it charges up every time you use your light. With the GITD button, you need another light source to charge it up.I put one in my Novatac 120P with good results.

 

[Valolammas]

Well, there's GITD and then there's better GITD... I didn't really know any better until I got some of andygold's keyfobs. He makes them with the best Glowinc glow powder and they really glow! After a fresh charge, they are bright enough to read by in the dark and they glow for hours (the brightness diminishes fairly soon, of course, but if you charge them in the evening, you can still easily see them the next morning).

The next best thing I have is glow cord I bought from Lighthound. I made a lanyard out of it for my bedside light. I never really charge it, it just sits there by the bed. And yet, when I wake up in the night and my eyes are dark adapted, I can see it glow and know where my light is.

I have to agree that mostly GITD stuff is just cool to play with, but it also does work and isn't totally useless.