Dangerous room pre-entry light balls

I got this idea from these LED ball lights that were supposed to be thrown in a room to illuminate the inside before you enter. Problem is that they were expensive and they were just 3 5mm leds. I liked the idea, I just didnt think it to be a serious attempt at the concept.

What I was thinking was something that would be a bright LED that would flood real well, maybe an MC-E or another LED with some sort of diffuser or lense.
Maybe base it off of a CR123 or something smaller, ideally a reliable, primary lithium battery.
Also make it weighted at the bottom so that the ball will tend to face upward when rolled in a room.

I dont think construction would be too hard. Get an aluminum ball, hollow out part of it for LED, lens and battery, and add a switch.

I have no way of machining aluminum or the experience to build this kind of thing but I can think of a few times where such a tool would have come in handy.

Anyone know of a light like this?
Can anyone here build a light like this?

If I start throwing fireballs around to illuminate the darkness instead of my flahlights I'm afraid the wife will finally force me into counseling, but in keeping with the CPF spirit if you all start doing it I will to.

I'm thinking SST-90 over driven maybe diffused maybe not if the head is designed to always point up for a ceiling bounce effect.

I think you've been reading my mind. I was thinking of doing the same thing. I was thinking sst-90s surrounding the ball. They only need to be lit a split second, so would need lots of power for a very short period of time. I doubt I have the time or money to built one in a decent time period though.

Something like a flashbang? An aluminium/brass ball surrounded with SST-90/MCEs/P7s direct driven. Press a switch and a 5 second delay switches the LEDs on, auto off maybe after 7 seconds?.
Choice between constant on or strobe :devil: Will need a high output battery for it though.

Instead of a "ball", a truncated icosahedron - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truncated_icosahedron can be used. With each (or perhaps selected faces for optimization) face being a mule LED.

Just a brain fart hehe

shiny disco ball ...

Great idea, I like the concept.

It would have to reliably light up on impact, not in your hand or on the way to delivery. You might get away with rolling one in gently on a time delay- but you might not if the person inside has sharp hearing and/or dark-adjusted eyesight.

Not quite new..some time during the late 90's I remember a catalog
listing ultra bright chemical glow sticks designed just for that purpose.
short lived but very bright, safer than phosphorus flares.. they might still
sell them today?

that sounds like an accelerometer to tell it when its come to stop and is sitting upright.

Uhh, wouldn't it be cheaper to use an actual flashbang?

If you wanted to "illuminate" the room, any floody light will do.

With this, it sounds like you might need at least 3-4 SST-90s with custom reflectors focused for maximum flood. I'm also a little curious about the circuitry required to deliver the full 9A to each emitter for a short burst, as well as the kind of battery you'd need to draw that current.

is this to stun whats in the room
or
just light the room up before you have to run in

if the second, it seems feasible, if the first not so much

I've never heard of such a thing so please post photos and a build log if possible.

To think that when I want to illuminate a room without touching a wall light switch, I always do it the simple way and turn on my Coleman Pack-away lantern. Talk about boring!

...if it's to "stun-n-gun," then a 4 second disabling strobe transitioning to a simple ON would probably be really useful.

It would disorient whoever is in the room, and then give you the ability to enter a lit room.



Just for kicks....and to get those cogs turning.....
http://www.simplypondkits.com/pond-...e&gbid=Alpine_Solar_LED_Light_Ball&TID=ALP346


.

A few practical questions if I may:

1. What if you inadvertently throw the ball into a closet? under a table?

2. If you don't know what the room looks like in the dark, how will you be able to aim where to throw the light orb for maximum effectiveness?

3. how big should this ball be?
- I ask because LEDS tend to emit light in a limited angle (i.e. 90deg for XREs)

assuming this ball will use a defuser
- The lumens would be spread over an area of 4pi(R*R).
- so a smaller ball will be brighter, but be able to house less LEDs and be less bright....

I believe these are the inspiration: link


Old thread: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2449019

I tend to just feel for the light switch on the wall through the doorway and use it turn it to turn the lights on, before entering a dark room.

I am sure there is an application for something like this, but I dont think room clearing is it.

If you enter a room using torches, you can see what you want to see, but any potential baddies can only see a blinding dot.

If you threw this device in, it lights up the room both for you and the baddies putting you on equal footing.

HOWEVER, if the room has 2 entry points, the described device could be thrown in from 1 entry, and the "tactical team" could enter from the other entry without using their torches.

By throwing the object in from 1 entry, any baddies in the room would probably look toward that entry (and in theory be lit up by the device) while the tactical team is entering from the other entry without their torches on, they would not be easily seen, particularly if a shadow was cast over that entry.

Anyway, just food for thought

I had not envisioned a flash bang sort of light. I kind of doubt that it would be as effective as need be for a SWAT team. Im sure it could ruin their night vision but I dont think it would blind them at all. Basic patrol officers sure dont get issued flash bangs.

If they were infrared that would be useful for night vision silent entry.

My idea was more just room illumination and the smaller side effect of distraction. Maybe roll it in and take a quick peak for layout then enter.
I think maybe 4 R5s would be better than an MC-E because you could angle them to flood more light. Though if it was designed to point upright then maybe an MC-E would work just fine based off ceiling bounce.

Ideally I am thinking of something small enough to wear on a belt. I dont want to have a baseball on a belt walking around. Im thinking something smaller, maybe 1.5 inch diameter?
The light would also work great as an area light. Though in that case you dont need it very bright.
Can the MC-E be run off of a 3 volt CR123? I dont think the heat sinking would be that great so if you ran it hard it couldnt be for very long.


Oh I remember another benefit. DOGS! sometimes you walk in a yard after making some noise and point a light but they dont come, then you walk inside and they come running. Maybe they would chase the ball in the room or you would see them sleeping...

eyeeatingfish said:

I had not envisioned a flash bang sort of light. I kind of doubt that it would be as effective as need be for a SWAT team. Im sure it could ruin their night vision but I dont think it would blind them at all. Basic patrol officers sure dont get issued flash bangs.

If they were infrared that would be useful for night vision silent entry.

My idea was more just room illumination and the smaller side effect of distraction. Maybe roll it in and take a quick peak for layout then enter.
I think maybe 4 R5s would be better than an MC-E because you could angle them to flood more light. Though if it was designed to point upright then maybe an MC-E would work just fine based off ceiling bounce.

Ideally I am thinking of something small enough to wear on a belt. I dont want to have a baseball on a belt walking around. Im thinking something smaller, maybe 1.5 inch diameter?
The light would also work great as an area light. Though in that case you dont need it very bright.
Can the MC-E be run off of a 3 volt CR123? I dont think the heat sinking would be that great so if you ran it hard it couldnt be for very long.


Oh I remember another benefit. DOGS! sometimes you walk in a yard after making some noise and point a light but they dont come, then you walk inside and they come running. Maybe they would chase the ball in the room or you would see them sleeping...

Click to expand...

The way I've always learned it is if you're with a team you just *** through. No peeking in. You want to get in and get out of the way of the guy behind you, clear baddies in your lane then cover the homies. :shrug:

Then perhaps a rod with a single R5 pointing from one side (kinda like zebralight H series, but it's gotta be round and good for rolling) - with the battery compartment drilled off center, so the batt becomes a weight to make sure the LED always ends up pointing upwards. This probably wont work that well on an inclined surface though, but just a thought.