Disinfect lights

Crenshaw

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edit: some photos added to make things interesting..:D

It occured to me this morning as i was packing my bag for the day and about to leave the house.

Our lights travel everywhere with us, they get put on alot of surfaces, used with dirty hands...etc etc etc....how much bacteria might be on them?

800px-Salmonella_typhimurium.png


e_coli.jpg


WestNile.jpg


i mean imagine you went to the toilet, and forgot to wash your hands, then played with the light, and put it back in your pocket. Say you then go to lunch, this time washing your hands, but while waiting for your food you play with the light.

So before putting my NDI back into its holster, i gave it a wipedown with a cotton swab with the same isopropynol alcohol i use to clean the threads.

what do you think?

Crenshaw
 
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Crenshaw

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Interesting point Crenshaw. In fact, with knurled designs, I think it would be quite scary if you tested how much bacteria is on there.
my thoughts exactly...ever seen those tv shows, or magazine fact pages...
distrubing amounts of bacteria can be found just about anywhere...

just a thought, what was the last potentially bacteria infested thing you touched...and whens the next time you washed your hands, throughrouly, not just water... everything in between could now be potentially be infested..!

i hope i dont come of as being too mitocondriatic..

Crenshaw
 

Robban

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I think generally people are too worried about bacteria these days. Just ponder this simple thing. You go to a public restroom, you do your thing, wash your hands and then turn off the water with the same hand you turned it on with and finally you grab the perfectly clean doorhandle (since eeeveryone washes their hands, right?) and exit...
 

generic808

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I'm constantly washing my hands and always care hand sanitizer with me wherever I go. Nobody touches my lights but me so the germs are not a big factor with my lights :cool:
 

FrogmanM

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This reminds me of the Aviator Movie(Howard Hughs?) But yes I must agree with you, my torches must be pretty dirty! :sick2:

Mayo
 

dougie

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Interesting topic but to put it in perspective a recent study of most pc keyboards found that the majority carried more bacteria than a toilet seat!

Of course you did clean the keyboard before you typed this post didn't you?...LOL:devil:

Seriously, unless you carry your light in your mouth regularly or use it in a particularly bacterial rich environment like EMT's Paramedics etc then I doubt you have anything to worry about except paranoia.

Doug
 

e2x2e

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I think generally people are too worried about bacteria these days. Just ponder this simple thing. You go to a public restroom, you do your thing, wash your hands and then turn off the water with the same hand you turned it on with and finally you grab the perfectly clean doorhandle (since eeeveryone washes their hands, right?) and exit...


Not me. I open the handle with a paper towel.
 

bitslammer

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+1 to the feeling that we have a near hysteria over bacteria these days.


From Scientific American
Humans Carry More Bacterial Cells than Human Ones

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id...acterial-cells-than-human-ones&sc=WR_20071204


And an NPR piece that sites a few reputable sources. Basically you need exposure to bacteria to train your immune system. Kids in "too clean" environments suffer asthma, allergies, and underdeveloped immune systems.

That being said if I dropped my light in a toilet I'd certainly sanitize it but I'm really against all the hand sanitizer and anti bacterial crap being strewn around. This eventually will lead to more reisitant pathogens just like the problem we have now with drug resistant bacteria. Good old fashioned soap & water are plenty.

http://www.livescience.com/health/070914_too_clean.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6603670
 

warlord

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Probably not very many bacteria can actually survive on your flashlights let alone thrive. They need food, protection from UV, the correct temperature, environment, etc. I think you'd be surprised how few bacteria are actually on your flashlights and any you may find would probably last only a short while.

In a couple of my Bio classes we've had to swab areas to check for bacteria growth. Urinals, doorknobs, and bathrooms in general provide fewer (if any) specimens than a public drinking fountain or our shoe bottoms (dirt is filled with bacteria)

FWIW, I'm a paramedic and I use the availible disinfectants on my EDC regularly. The best one I have access to is basically a bleach dilution. But infected bodily fluids ending up on my light is a real possibility. Otherwise, If I were you I wouldn't worry about it at all.
 

Robban

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Not me. I open the handle with a paper towel.
Do you also wear gloves when shaking hands with someone?
Do you use a paper towel when you turn on the faucet in the kitchen at work?
Do you wipe down your mouse, pen, stapler, etc every day?
When exiting a building, do you clean the door handle?
How about light switches?
Handrails around stairs?

I'm not trying to be an *** (ok, a little bit :D ) and I'm not singling you out at all. What I'm trying to say is that bacteria are absolutely everywhere it just seems people assume that places that are not a bathroom (as an example) are somehow much cleaner. Like bitslammer says we need to be exposed so that our bodies gets a bit of a workout to handle everyday life. Being too clean is bad just as being too dirty is bad.

And like warlord above says dry and cold surfaces such as handles and the like aren't really a good place for bacteria to settle down and set up camp. I've done swab tests myself around bathrooms, desks and the like and it's surprising to see just how little life you find there as compared to say your fingerprint.

There, enough with my barely coherent and only slightly educated ramblings. I'll leave it to the pros.
 

kramer5150

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I read somewhere a test done by a microbiology student (IE hardly scientific) He ran some tests at restaurants and found that the highest concentration of urinary bacteria outside the restroom is in the mint candy bowl at the front desk :faint:. Which makes sense when you factor in how many people don't wash up after using the restroom, before leaving. I'm not a germophobe by any stretch, but I do wash my hands after using the restroom at home and away. I have to set an example for my kids:grin2:

I have really dry skin. I am always wiping my lights and removing pieces of dander from the lens, o-ring lube and switch caps. I'm sure theres pieces of.... me... trapped in the knurled surface :green:.
 

jzmtl

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I think you are worrying about it too much. Hell your immune system even needs a jolt often to keep in top shape.
 

ninjaboigt

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LOL man oh man, i've been lurking on CPF for a while, and when i saw this post i had to sign up to tell you about my self,

i actually have OCD, and i do not shake peoples hands, i EDC latex gloves, ziplock bags, in order for me to open up public doors, i wash my hands before i do my thing in the bathroom, and after, i dont touch any of the faucets or stall doors or locks, i worry about germs way tooooo much, i dont even touch my car door handle, my cell phone and flashlights are all in zip lock bags( still functions really well with them in bags ) but its to protect them from " germs " and i use to wipe down all my flashlights, cell phones, credit cards, steering wheel, shifter noobs, ugh its a real pain, but im getting better, but i know deep down inside, that germs, wont kill me, the metal stress i have from OCD will kill me before any germs will. but a nice wipe down wouldnt hurt! it might hurt the O-rings. i actualy bought the new fenixes becusae their waterproof, so i can dunk them in rubbing alcohol for a few seconds, and that would make it clean for me. Dont let it consume u like the way it has for me, you will keep feeding it, and the hidden OCD inside you will grow...
 

e2x2e

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Do you also wear gloves when shaking hands with someone?
Do you use a paper towel when you turn on the faucet in the kitchen at work?
Do you wipe down your mouse, pen, stapler, etc every day?
When exiting a building, do you clean the door handle?
How about light switches?
Handrails around stairs?

I'm not trying to be an *** (ok, a little bit :D ) and I'm not singling you out at all. What I'm trying to say is that bacteria are absolutely everywhere it just seems people assume that places that are not a bathroom (as an example) are somehow much cleaner. Like bitslammer says we need to be exposed so that our bodies gets a bit of a workout to handle everyday life. Being too clean is bad just as being too dirty is bad.

And like warlord above says dry and cold surfaces such as handles and the like aren't really a good place for bacteria to settle down and set up camp. I've done swab tests myself around bathrooms, desks and the like and it's surprising to see just how little life you find there as compared to say your fingerprint.

There, enough with my barely coherent and only slightly educated ramblings. I'll leave it to the pros.
Do you also wear gloves when shaking hands with someone?--Yes
Do you use a paper towel when you turn on the faucet in the kitchen at work?--Yes
Do you wipe down your mouse, pen, stapler, etc every day?--Yes
When exiting a building, do you clean the door handle?--Yes
How about light switches?--Yes
Handrails around stairs?--Yes

LOL just kidding. But I do wash my hands with soap often and I am aware of what my hands are touching. Of course germs are on my hands...but I take reasonable precautions and I don't lick my hands either :)
 

warlord

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I read somewhere a test done by a microbiology student (IE hardly scientific) He ran some tests at restaurants and found that the highest concentration of urinary bacteria

You lost me at the urinary bacteria part...there's no such thing. Urine is sterile unless you have a UTI which is usually caused by bacteria found in the GI tract.:eek:

If your saying there were traces of feces or urine in the mint bowl I'm not terribly surprised but I am disgusted. I guess it's kinda along the same lines as don't eat the bar snacks.
 

LED-holic

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LOL man oh man, i've been lurking on CPF for a while, and when i saw this post i had to sign up to tell you about my self,

i actually have OCD, and i do not shake peoples hands, i EDC latex gloves, ziplock bags, in order for me to open up public doors, i wash my hands before i do my thing in the bathroom, and after, i dont touch any of the faucets or stall doors or locks, i worry about germs way tooooo much, i dont even touch my car door handle, my cell phone and flashlights are all in zip lock bags( still functions really well with them in bags ) but its to protect them from " germs " and i use to wipe down all my flashlights, cell phones, credit cards, steering wheel, shifter noobs, ugh its a real pain, but im getting better, but i know deep down inside, that germs, wont kill me, the metal stress i have from OCD will kill me before any germs will. but a nice wipe down wouldnt hurt! it might hurt the O-rings. i actualy bought the new fenixes becusae their waterproof, so i can dunk them in rubbing alcohol for a few seconds, and that would make it clean for me. Dont let it consume u like the way it has for me, you will keep feeding it, and the hidden OCD inside you will grow...
:welcome:

This reminds me of the movie "As good as it gets"... One of my favorite movies btw!!
 

Crenshaw

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i think one could argue that we have never had THAT much of a problem with bacteria in the past...BUT..

thier all evolving so, you just never know what strain could be next.

Far from OCD, i guess its just good to keep in mind where you hands have been

and while maybe not absolutely necesarry, giveing a light a wipe down every once in awhile cant hurt much right? just keep it away from the o rings, and away from the sticky stuff holding the foam battery thingy in the Arc-AAA.

Crenshaw
 
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