What exactly do you use the Glo-Toob for?

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to put this thread, because I really cant figure out what the Glo-Toob really is to begin with. Is it a flashlight type object, or is it like a glow stick? According to the website its all of the above and more, and there seem to be different types/versions of these things. It doesnt look remotely like a flashlight, but they seem to talk about it like it can be used as a flashlight, but maybe they mean its like a flashlight, in the same way gluing 100 lightning bugs to your fingertip is like a flashlight(?)

Here's the battery type in Batteryjunction: Uses 1 x 23A 12 V Alkaline Battery. So, what exactly is a 1 x 23A 12v alkaline battery???

So, what real, practical purpose do they have aside from handing to your kids to run around around the yard with at night?

Oh, and how does it work?

While I have never used one I was under the impression they were best suited for super long run time camping type activity, kind of like a night light. Just a different kind of Glo Stick IMHO.

I owned a GloToob Lithium one for a couple years.
It is basically a personal night light, or a locator beacon.
Very waterproof. The body of the light is like a transparent, hardened epoxy or plexiglass-like material. At the bottom, sealed inside, are like 3 LEDs. Twisting the knob on the top turns the light on and off. The knob can also be used to switch between the 11 flashy modes.

It's a fine tent nightlight. Runtimes are quite horrendous for its constant-on modes. I don't remember the runtime for the flashy modes, but I reckon they weren't terribly impressive either. I was at a sleepover one night, and set the light on a coffee table on constant-low, and the light provided just enough light to light up the room and the path to the bathroom, yet was not bright enough to offend any sleepy eyes.

Other times, I attached the GloToob to my car's emergency pack, thinking it would be a nice beacon for when my car broke down and I had to walk along the road in the dark for a while. But since life does not give me those situations, I decided to sell it and get the $ instead.

It is NOT to be used as a flashlight, and is not suitable for such a function because it does not project light like a flashlight does. It is a BEACON sums it up.

Skip their gimmicky GloToob and get the much more useful FlashCap, one of my favorite Mag upgrades:

I keep one in each car, for some reason, but have never used one for an emergency. I also use them for marking our position when camping on the beach at night so i can easily return to camp without lighting up the whole area. On the other hand, my son and I tied them to our bottom rigs while fishing for drum in the outer banks at night, and caught some interesting fish, mainly sharks, which we released of course.

T

I own the glo-toob that takes 123A lithium batteries (because I have soooo many SF lights )
I used mine primarily when I went night diving. When attached to the tank valve with a zip tie or something, it can be useful to help your buddy find you underwater when it is absolute dark all around you; especially if you get clumsy and drop your primary dive light and did not have a lanyard attached to it. When diving its is always great to have backups of backups It is also useful in daytime dives when the visibility conditions are not too good. I like to set it on the mode where it flashes when I go diving.

It's an unimpressive beacon. I was advised not to buy it, did so anyways and regret it.
I got the Lithium 123 in White. I use it on strobe in pumpkins once a year.....soon... then back to sleep.

jamesmtl514 said:

I use it on strobe in pumpkins once a year...

Click to expand...

These are for pumpkins..

A23 12V batteries...I've used them for garage openers and car key fobs.

It's an alternative to glow-sticks. I've used Krill lights prior and the Glo-toob is smaller, brighter, and tougher. The only gripe I had was the A23 batteries but that was a sacrifice which kept the size of the glo-toob small. Simple operation...you tighten the cap until it turns on. IIRC, for multi-mode Glo-toobs you switch modes by twisting the split-ring of the 2piece tailcap back and forth to get the mode you need and then leave it on for 3 seconds to "save" the setting. Glo-toob also have clicky caps but those arent waterproof. The true waterproof (dive capable) cap is only waterproof if the light is turned on since it's a 1piece cap that you tighten onto the Glo-toob body.

I've bought about 12 of them (4 programmables, 2 IR, 2 blue, 2 red, 2 white) ages ago when I was in the military. They all worked great but I gave almost all of them away since they weren't of much use to me in the civilian world.

I don't know what LED they are putting in the Glo-toob these days...but $20 is a little steep.

HighlanderNorth said:

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to put this thread, because I really cant figure out what the Glo-Toob really is to begin with. Is it a flashlight type object, or is it like a glow stick? According to the website its all of the above and more, and there seem to be different types/versions of these things. It doesnt look remotely like a flashlight, but they seem to talk about it like it can be used as a flashlight, but maybe they mean its like a flashlight, in the same way gluing 100 lightning bugs to your fingertip is like a flashlight(?)

Here's the battery type in Batteryjunction: Uses 1 x 23A 12 V Alkaline Battery. So, what exactly is a 1 x 23A 12v alkaline battery???

So, what real, practical purpose do they have aside from handing to your kids to run around around the yard with at night?

Oh, and how does it work?

Click to expand...

I use my amber Glo Toob for getting ready for work at 4 AM so I don't wake my wife

I have a white and a red. I put them on blinky modes atop my company's display while at trade shows to lure in folks.

Other than that my 3 year old digs them.

They are useful during black-outs, mainly to light areas (e.g., corridors, bathrooms).

If you use the low 25% constant light-on setting, and primary 123A's, it can basically stay on for 3 nights. I use it often with the LiFePO4 rechargeable batteries.

Other uses as have already been posted, especially the beacon modes. It is very water-proof (the twisty-cap Lithium Glo-Toob) so useful for uses either near or under water.

It is a kind of glow-stick but actually a robust and useful one. Henry (of HDS and temporarily RA lights) tested glow-sticks and posted they had big problems with reliability, often they somehow activated their chemical light before you opened it and were dead on arrival when you actually needed them.

Glo-Toobs come in several colors, so for instance the beacon mode in Red should also serve on bicycles, amber is useful under foggy conditions, white should give you the strongest output, etc.

It is definitely not a flashlight since it has no throw and no strong output mode, though the 100% constant light on will (at the cost of runtime) provide useful area illumination.

I have two Glo-toob Lithiums in Amber and Red. The Amber is useful for night bathroom stops and for pumkin duty, the red regularly can be seen clipped to my backpack when I use the Boris bikes in our city (Cycles on street hire BTW). The flashy modes are very good and with a wide degree of visibility.

Happy Halloween!

Always wished they made one using AA.

i have two of them. one is mounted on my bike as a bike light (red). i used those little stainless steel ring things that you'd use for plumbing. then i JB-Welded the bolts really good, so it's extremely hard to remove even using tools. It's on there really tight. Boston is full of bike and bike-accessory thieves.

http://i.imgur.com/9TTGY.jpg



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also i have one (white) zip tied to the back of my messenger bag.

they are decent locator/beacons.


I'm a little upset with my red one though -- I got it just a few months ago and brand-new out of the box, one of the LED's on the inside was dead. emailed Glo-toob, no response. so their customer service sucks and/or is non-existant.


for what it's worth, i've got good use out of the lights for night time use. i use them about every day on my bike ride home. they are pretty tough too, surviving rain, hot/cold weather. i use RCR123's and charge them once every week or so.

Re: What exactly do you use the Glo Toob for

Yeahhhh, like a few people here, I bought one, thought it might come in handy for an emergency as a marker light. They were designed as a direct replacement for chem sticks under water, which it may do for well, but for everything else, you can find something that performs better and for less money. The saving grace is those A23 batteries are on almost every battery display I have ever seen and are fairly cheap.

AA version? now that's an idea.....

Re: What exactly do you use the Glo Toob for

I have the blue, green, red and white Glo-Toob lithums and use rechargeable LiFePO4 cells in them. My uses: Red on the back of my bike for night-time rides, Blue to illuminate my keyboard at night without having to turn on lights, Green on my backpack when I'm out during night-time events to allow friends to spot me, the White one I use in a tent at night for general illumination. They are not necessarily my go-to lights in most situations but I use them now and again.

A rechargeable single / double AA version would be great!

I use mine for my dogs -- I have the CR123 versions in amber, red, and green that are attached to their GPS collars. They're very bright and work out well. I don't recommend the blue one, the LED gives off UV which makes the resin glow a yellowish hue and causes it to not really glow like the other colors, and isn't nearly as visible.

I usually have to take the dogs out at night when people aren't around, and My TN31 works great for finding skunks before the dogs do (Well... Usually.)

Thought I'd give this a little bump.

jinx626 said:

Always wished they made one using AA.

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Me too. They are going to be making a AAA version of the Glo-Toob, I heard they'll be out in January and will just have 3 modes, 100%, 10% and a flash mode. Never owned a GT because of the oddball battery, I may get one now though.

I owned a red lithium glow tube for several years. It served mainly as a bikelight clipped onto my messengerbag or bike. I have also used it as a marking in the field with my work to illuminate a stairwell that leads to an underground bunker that is very easy to fall into at night.