To paint a black flashlight?

I just bought a black flashlight (hasn't arrived, yet). I think that black is a great color for certain use cases, but for hikers and campers, it's suboptimal. Ever need to find a flashlight in the bottom of a pack, or in a tent at night? I don't think looking for a black light would be fun. (However, I lost both my flashlights on my last camping trip, and the fact that one of them was red didn't help me.)

I haven't decided whether I should paint the body or just wrap some masking tape around it. Has anybody else encountered this problem and done anything to fix it? If you painted it, which color did you choose? What type of paint?

Thanks for any advice!

Put one of those car key finders onto the lanyard .

I've done the opposite, and repainted a black flashlight that had exposed aluminum. I used epoxy based spray paint that is intended for touching up appliances. I have also seen the same appliance spray paint available in white and almond. As long as you stick to thin coats and allow about 24 hours for full setup between coats, it gives a nice smooth and glossy coat that holds up well.

i attach a glow tube to my immediate lights

When it's dark enough, you lose the ability to see colors well. I've never given it much thought but i know that some people belive that a black lure is optimal for night fishing because it's actually belived to be more visible because of the strong contrasting of total black vs slightly visible backgroud.

Typically, you could go with emergency Yellow or Orange, which tends to stand out against most natural backgrounds.

You could also wrap colored tape or even reflective tape around it, which may help you find your light (assuming you have a spare light to search for it).

Other options would be glow powder markings or attachments , but these need "charging" and the high visibility only lasts for about 5 mins, wherafter it wanes to a level you can only see it in absolute darkness.

You could also consider mounting tritium tubes or attaching tritium markers to your light.

NigelBond said:

I've never given it much thought but i know that some people belive that a black lure is optimal for night fishing because it's actually belived to be more visible because of the strong contrasting of total black vs slightly visible backgroud.

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Yeah... I had a martial arts teacher that said to blend in, one should never wear black. Maybe I should take it camping and actually try to find it in a dark tent before I do anything drastic.

Glow in the dark tailcaps can be useful or tritium. Easiest thing to do is buy a tritium keychain off of dx and attach it to the flashlight. Depending on the light, 10 bucks may seem like a lot to spend for this purpose, but if it is an expensive light it beats risking losing it right?

I use brightly coloured or fluorescant paracord lanyards on mine - yellow, orange or hot pink are easily seen in the dark with a minimum of light source - even better if you have a uv keychain hooked onto your pack for just such an instance.

highlight tape will also work well. But glow in the dark is not really a very good 'tagging' source for the most part - I've tried the strongest GITD stuff I can find and it's still really only a toy in the field. Tritium is way better and a marker beacon mode even better still, but not all lights have this mode.

does the title of this thread make anyone else think of "paint it black" by the stones?

I've been meaning to try some of that tool dip stuff sold to re-grip pliers and wrenches. Wonder if it comes in yellow.

DonShock said:

I've done the opposite, and repainted a black flashlight that had exposed aluminum. I used epoxy based spray paint that is intended for touching up appliances. I have also seen the same appliance spray paint available in white and almond. As long as you stick to thin coats and allow about 24 hours for full setup between coats, it gives a nice smooth and glossy coat that holds up well.

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great tip!

you can use glow in the dark tape.

Surefire G2 in yellow.



When your at it Benchmade Griptilitan in Orange.


Done.

Personally, I would never paint a flashlight :green: just seems like, one way or another, you'll regret it in the end. I suspect you have a black anodized aluminum light? Generally, anodize has the advantage of being VERY rugged but it still will chip (especially if its a cheap light). Paint is likely to wear or even peel off an anodized light, IMO, making a mess of it.

+1 for reflective tape (but only if you have another light source). Would be good for finding a light lost in leaves, grass, etc.

Tritium markers are my solution to being able to find my light (and I do a lot of camping), but these are specialty items and difficut to come by in the states. If you're feeling crafty, there should be plenty available by the end of the month:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=183824

Sounds like you would benefit most from a lanyard (maybe one that glows and/or reflects), preferrably with a tritium marker somehow attached. Search "glowring" on DX, and you'll find something that would work nicely.

The ideal solution, embedded trits:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/228465

Thanks for all the thoughts! I think you guys have thoroughly outlined the options, and I just need to decide what to do... I'm enough of a sissy to be scared of tritium, even though it's most likely quite safe and also the most effective solution. I will probably tape it with reflective tape, or orange tape, as soon as I find some.

Thanks for the advice!

piojo said:

Thanks for all the thoughts! I think you guys have thoroughly outlined the options, and I just need to decide what to do... I'm enough of a sissy to be scared of tritium, even though it's most likely quite safe and also the most effective solution. I will probably tape it with reflective tape, or orange tape, as soon as I find some.

Thanks for the advice!

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Any autoparts store will sell the reflective tape in red,white and yellow. It's the stuff that's used to repair broken taillight lenses. I use it to put little stripes on all my flashlights.

fishx65 said:

Any autoparts store will sell the reflective tape in red,white and yellow. It's the stuff that's used to repair broken taillight lenses. I use it to put little stripes on all my flashlights.

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same here, i have white (or silver :thinking on my Pelican M6 Bezel & some other flashaholics thought it was a Malkoff!!

fishx65 said:

Any autoparts store will sell the reflective tape in red,white and yellow. It's the stuff that's used to repair broken taillight lenses. I use it to put little stripes on all my flashlights.

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Actually it's in the same location as the lens repair tape but it is entirely different stuff. The lens repair tape is just colored tape used to "film over" a busted lens but has no reflective properties. Makes a quickie filter though and comes in red and yellow.

The best reflective tape I've found is the 3M stuff. More expensive but the cheap stuff is nowhere as near as good. 3M is the only stuff I'll bother with. There are also strips of "conspicuous" tape -- the stuff used on tractor/trailers. Highly reflective. Auto parts stores would have it and marine supply shops ought to as well.

Be sure to pre-clean the surface well with alcohol to remove any oils and such. As was said before the tape comes in white and red, but with a bit of hunting you might also find it in silver.

It doesn't take much light at all to make it easy to find the white tape. The red seems less reflective but shows up very well in snow, sand, etc.

There are reflective spray paint finish coats out there but around here at least I've only seen them for sale in 12 can cases. That would do an awful lot of flashlights.

I had trouble seeing my dark gray Coleman light when laying on a dark table at night, so I painted a stripe in one of the recessed rings using white nail polish (a few thin coats), using masking tape to make it neat. I figured tape would wear and peel off. It does the job.