Dog light slap head

Like many people I walk my dogs in the dark sometimes. Some of the walks are away from streetlighting and the dogs are allowed to roam free as there is little in the way of danger. It is difficult sometimes to know where the dogs are if there is no moon, although they both have white patches. They are both not yet adult and I do prefer know where they are.

I have tried a proprietary LED collar solution, but mine had a string of small red LEDs with a flasher let into eyelets, and with maybe a 25% flash. The trouble was they got under the dogs neck fur and especially with the flashing the light was still virtually invisible sometimes even when the dogs were in direct line of sight. They died pretty quick in the rain although this is another issue, but the batteries didn't survive long anyway.

So instead we (my wife and I) used chemical glow sticks. They were better in some ways, but still not very bright, and they used to spring apart and drop off sometimes.

A couple days ago I got 10 white keychain lights from DX. They all worked. Bright.

You can guess the rest of the story. Tonight I put a key chain light on each dog collar. Fantastic. I was out for nearly an hour, and the light was barely diminished when we came back. I can use the same 2 lights again. Obviously they won't tolerate swimming, but I'll try poly bagging them in the rain. They hang down under their heads and illuminate the ground in front of their forepaws. Cool.

The dogs were totally unfazed by them. In fact I overheard one one of them saying to the other, "We got torches. I don't see any other dogs here with torches." There weren't any other dogs there at the time, so this has to be considered a success. :shakehead

w

Happy that you have seen the light.I have been useing this method for the last 18 months now and it sure beats reflective tape.:twothumbs Oh and for the rain just cut the finger off one surgical clove, secure the light in it with a rubber band hey presto rain proof,good luck.

You can replace the batteries in those but I would assume most dispose of them when they go dim because they are so inexpensive. I think DX sell replacement batteries for them. Not sure what would be cheaper tho.

Glad to hear your found a good solution to light up your doggies!

Have done this for years for my little black dog. Changed one led to a RGB flasher for holiday time.

BIGIRON said:

Have done this for years for my little black dog. Changed one led to a RGB flasher for holiday time.

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RGB flasher,what do they look like.cheers

Now you tell me.

Good tip about the surgical gloves tho'. Wonder if I can get DX to carry them...

w

Just bought a RGB flashing single led (a single led that changes colors red/green/blue at different intervals) from Radio Shack and put it in a CountyComm 20/$20 coincell light. Cut back some of the case to expose more of the led.

The finger of one of the clear plastic gloves used at the bulk self serve bins at the grocery store would work great. The price would be right.

wakibaki said:

Now you tell me.

Good tip about the surgical gloves tho'. Wonder if I can get DX to carry them...

w

Click to expand...

well tesco do them.

Almost forgot I use this at Xmas time and it's waterproof.£5.99 in the uk but maybe DX does something like it.it flashes RBW.

I bought 3 of the DigiLight Personal Illuminators in white from this dealer:

http://www.digicelldirect.com/

They have purchased the remaining inventory from DigiLight and were charging $6 each for the white, red, green or blue at a local gun show. They are waterproof to 5 meters and were happily strobing at the bottom of a fishbowl all day long at his table.
I'm pleased with them. They are bright, well made, have a good strobe speed, wide-angle visibility, have replaceable batteries, a waterproof switch and different attachment clips plus velcro.

I managed to get a small Luxeon flashlight to be mounted to the collar for a little bit to work as forward lighting. The dog didn't mind at all. As a matter of fact, I sensed that she may have enjoyed it since she wandered into dark corners to sniff things. They must have good eyesight in the dark, but I wonder if they would like some "assistance" in the dark by a doggy-torch? I wonder what they think about with this weird tool that allows them to see in the dark.

Anyway, it is tough to find a good light that can work as a position indicator. On miniature shelties, their fur often gets in the way of the little keychain lights. I thought about keychain lights with little "antennae" sticking up with a single diffused LED emitter. A good small power source is tough to come by, too. Then having to worry about making this device so you can take it off after each walk, or making it lightweight and durable enough that it can stay on the collar all the time. Hmmmm...

-Tony

You might try a Petzl Tikka Plus headlamp threaded through the dog collar. Set it to strobe.

Just noticed Nite Ize has a new LED flasher for just such a purpose:

http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=26&product_id=153

Looks like zbattery has the best price on them:

http://www.zbattery.com/nsl-03-10.html

I am going to get a couple. I have two beagles... and anyone who has ever had hounds can tell you how hard it is to keep track of them!

Just noticed Nite Ize has a new LED flasher for just such a purpose:

http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=26&product_id=153

Looks like zbattery has the best price on them:

http://www.zbattery.com/nsl-03-10.html

I am going to get a couple. I have two beagles... and anyone who has ever had hounds can tell you how hard it is to keep track of them!