Tritium Vial Luminous Output

funkychateau

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Apr 6, 2009
Messages
274
Location
Dallas, Texas, USA
Does anyone know the approximate luminous output of common tritium vials, perhaps as a function of size? For example, how large a vial is required to achieve 0.5 lumens of output?
 

AnAppleSnail

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
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Location
South Hill, VA
It would take an extremely large vial to get 0.5 lumens of output. I have had three tritium markers (Blue, green, and pink) of good quality in the 2mm x 15mm size. I estimate the output of all 3 together to be under 0.05 lumens, based on comparison to an RRT-01's infinite dimmable output, and other known-output lights.

There are a few globe-shaped tritium pendants - They are about $150 each and about 2cm in diameter. They might reach 0.5 lumens.
 

night.hoodie

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Aug 6, 2014
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717
Location
Lost City of Atlanta
Rated lumen output, I have discovered recently, is only a Lando (a fair Pilot!). So much depends on the state of your eyes, and the qualities of light and what is nearby or further away to reflect/collect light. With adjusted eyes and dialated pupils, even subluminal light can be the perfect brightness, and a couple lumens blinding. The state of your eyes is a moving target-- hard to know before dark exactly what you're going to need or want until well-experienced, so best to have options. I found tritium to be quite interesting, but also outrageously expensive and disappointingly fragile.
 
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