Radioactive Tailcaps?

[Chroma]

I recently purchased an Ultrafire A10. It has a glowing tailcap but it's really odd in that it glows even when not exposed to light. It's not a bright glow, just a very dull glow that you can see in a totally pitch black room, all night long.

When I had it on my dresser with my other lights (in pitch black because any lights at night bother me), I noticed a glow on the tailcap.

Question is, is this anything to be concerned with? Is it tritium based or something else?

I've had this light for six months to top it all off and let my daughter play with it when she was play camping.

I'm sure the radiation (if any) is negligible, but just wanted opinions. Is it possible for a GITD tailcap to stay glowing for 5 hours in pitch black?

 

[carrot]

GITD technology has come a long way and may in fact have just stored up energy during daylight hours. My diver's watch will have a faint glow to it throughout pretty much the entire night. To know for certain you would have to store it in a dark place for a couple days and check on it during night hours.

 

[Apollo Cree]

Go into a dark room. Bring another bright flashlight, preferably LED. Notice how bright the glow is. Now, hold the second flashlight over the tailcap, close your eyes, and shine the light on the glow in the dark area of the tailcap for a few seconds.

If the tailcap glows more than it did before, it's probably not radioactive.

 

[souptree]

You (and your daughter) have nothing to worry about as far as radiation from tritium vials goes. There are plenty of threads on CPF discussing the (lack of) danger in using trit vials on flashlights.

 

[andyw513]

Even if it was tritium based, several threads have been posted concerning a vial worn around the neck, later to be proven harmless.

There's also several statements saying that if all of the contents of a weapon's night-sight were to be ingested, there would be radiation almost equal to that of a dentist's x-ray.

Tritium is radioactive, don't get me wrong, but it's one of the least harmful radioactive substances.

I agree with the others in saying that it probably is just simple GITD collecting faint glows from daylight throughout the day, and even from lamps in the room. I doubt a light that cost 20 dollars would contain deadly radiation. At least you were concerned though, I would be too if i had a small one around it. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Apollo Cree]

I think the tritium apologists go overboard on the "tritium is safe" statements.

However, it's probably not dangerous unless you break the vial. Even then, the risk is pretty small.

I wouldn't create a situation where the kid is likely to deliberately break a number of tritium vials or eat them. If he decides to crush a bunch of trits and use them as glow in the dark face paint, it might be a problem.

 

[Slickseth]

No. Your tailcap isn't radioactive. "glow in the dark" material retains a small charge for a very long time.

If it was possible to inject silicone with radiation to make it glow, that tailcap would have been ALOT more expensive. But it isn't possible. And even if it was, it probably wouldn't even pose much more of a health problem than a day at the beach.

 

[Stillphoto]

Plus in a pitch black room, any faint glow is significantly amplified with your pupils fully dilated.

 

[Apollo Cree]

No. Your tailcap isn't radioactive. "glow in the dark" material retains a small charge for a very long time.

If it was possible to inject silicone with radiation to make it glow, that tailcap would have been ALOT more expensive. But it isn't possible. And even if it was, it probably wouldn't even pose much more of a health problem than a day at the beach.

You could have a tritium vial somewhere in the tailcap and a translucent silicone button. It's highly unlikely, though.

 

[Search]

I have GITD O-rings that will glow throughout the entire night. Most of the time barely even being in light.

It's very faint, but noticeable. No worries.