Tritium Betalight Review (in the US!)

Ordered a tritium Betalight from Penrith Survival in England, after waiting almost a month because of it not being available, I finally received it last week. The good news is that it's really cool, if you think a green Traser keyring is bright, wait till you see one of these. Even better, it has a radiation symbol on the bottom of it, all the better to frighten the wife with.. It is solidly constructed of a thick rubber casing. The bad news, all in all, I'm a little disappointed in my buying experience, when I ordered the Betalight, it was not listed as being out of stock, though thats a minor quibble as lots of places don't keep their websites updated as to stock availability. I also did not receive any e-mails from them about it being back ordered, I had to contact them first. I also received incorrect estimates as to when it would be in stock and shipped (it will be dispatched next week....and then wasn't)....My total price delivered was $81.84 US, which is seems pretty steep, $67.67 for the Betalight and $14.31 shipping. I would be happier, but when I received the Betalight it was damaged. There is a crack in the rubber near the lip, because of this, the cap which covers the tritium light source will not stay closed. It almost looks like the kind of cracking you get in old, dry rubber. I contacted Penrith Survival via e-mail describing the situation, and included pictures of the damage. I also asked if I could exchange this Betalight for another. My request for an exchange was ignored, with a terse reply that the Betalight was manufactured in November 2002, and that they had forwarded my comments to the manufacturer. Without putting too fine a point on it, what the hell does the manufacturer have to do with an exchange? I could probably fix the crack with a drop of super glue, but for $81.00, I shouldn't have to, I kind of expect it not to be damaged. As things stand right now, I cannot recommend this company for US customers, however, if they make this right, I will gladly publically apologize and retract my comments. Here are some pics of the Betalight, I apologize for the poor quality, I'm still figuring this camera out. The piece of paper sticking in the side of the Betalight is to show how far down the crack goes as it's a little difficult to photograph.

P.S. I'm so irritated about this I'm open to offers on the Betalight....

Have you sent a copy of this posting to the dealer? You might want to do so and include a note that this forum is read worldwide.
BTW, what is the listed size of your light?

GREAT LIGHT! I just ordered one last week and got my order in 4 days and after 5days with it I really love it.

Thanks for sharing this.. I WANT one of these lights, so I'd like to know how this comes out.

Originally posted by mrorange:
[QB]Ordered a tritium Betalight from Penrith Survival ...The bad news, all in all, I'm a little disappointed in my buying experience, when I ordered the Betalight, it was not listed as being out of stock, though thats a minor quibble as lots of places don't keep their websites updated as to stock availability. I also did not receive any e-mails from them about it being back ordered, I had to contact them first. I also received incorrect estimates as to when it would be in stock and shipped (it will be dispatched next week....and then wasn't)....My total price delivered was $81.84 US, which is seems pretty steep, $67.67 for the Betalight and $14.31 shipping. I would be happier, but when I received the Betalight it was damaged...I also asked if I could exchange this Betalight for another. My request for an exchange was ignored, with a terse reply that the Betalight was manufactured in November 2002, and that they had forwarded my comments to the manufacturer. Without putting too fine a point on it, what the hell does the manufacturer have to do with an exchange? I could probably fix the crack with a drop of super glue, but for $81.00, I shouldn't have to, I kind of expect it not to be damaged. As things stand right now, I cannot recommend this company for US customers

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Sorry about that MrO - welcome to the wonderful world of British Customer service. [I have had stuff found, bought, shipped and received from the states before UK suppliers have even replied to the first email ]

Penrith normally have a better rep than that, and I'd have thought they'd make it right for you.

But you'd recommend the light itself? [Oh, don't blame them for shipping costs - they're pretty horrid here]

Well, I said if Penrith made it right I would publically apologize, and it looks as if they are going to. I received an e-mail from them today stating I can send the damaged Betalight back to them and they will replace it, as well as refund the return shipping amount, or if I'm in a really big hurry, I can purchase another Betalight, which they will ship free, and they will refund the cost for the new light as well as the return shipping cost once they receive the original damaged Betalight. Either solution satisfies me and they have regained my confidence, I retract any negative comments I made previously. As far as the Betalight itself, it's built really tough, I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone that they purchase one. Just as a little test last night I left the Betalight uncovered on my nightstand, after my eyes became adjusted to the dark, the Betalight was so bright as to be distracting, it really lit up the room. As I stated previously, if you like the Traser glowrings, you will have a field day with these. And since Penrith has apparently addressed my concerns, I would say it is safe to order from them in the US.

the Betalight was so bright as to be distracting, it really lit up the room. QB]

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Wow. My IDF compass with the tritium markers already keeps my wife up if I leave it in the bedroom. She might just chuck this thing out the window. BTW: You might as well keep this thing hanging in the hall as a night light to get all your money's worth from it.

My .02....

I had Uncle Sam buy 10 of these for testing in 1985. The intent was to find a long life light source for tactical operations in an artic environment (limited cold weather battery life). These fit the bill nicely. Once your eyes are adjusted you can use them as a navigation light for walking, map reading, etc. Very nice little piece of kit.
I still have one and it's still glowing! Slightly dimmer and the glass is starting to get cloudy (probably from the direct contact with the element). No complaints though as I believe that these are rated for 10 years and this one is going on 18 and still usable.

I just got mine as well...
Love it!
as far as brightness goes...
I don't think it's any brighter than a glowring per Sq mm .. to me they appear to be the same brightness in that respect.
The difference is the amount of surface area vs. a glowring... the Betalight is about the size of a quarter. and I have lots of glow rings... I would think its about as bright as If you took 10 or so little glass viles out of a glow rings and put them side by side to equal the same surface area as the Betalight.
does that help??

In comparison to a regular tritium glow ring. How bright is this thing? 10x brighter? Also any chance of a picture of it illuminating something?

Thanks.

Does the raw source on the inside look like the one in the photo on the website?



Cheers!

Yes, but the picture on the web site is in the sun and you can not see any glow. It's much greener in the dark. Night vision green.

They are made and distributed (along with a whole lot of other tritium devices ... ) by Saunders-Roe Betalight Technologies (SRBT).

They have British, Canadian and USA distribution locations, and a website( www.betalight.com ).

Here is a poor copy of the datasheet for this device from the manufacturer: (66K .gif image) Betalight T19

It appears that there are two versions, green or white illumination ...



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Is this thing any brighter per unit area than a Krill EL lightstick?

Unless it is, I doubt I'd have much use for it. A Krill "extreme" is about as little light as I can imagine using.

Anybody contact the US distributor?

Originally posted by radellaf:
Is this thing any brighter per unit area than a Krill EL lightstick?

Unless it is, I doubt I'd have much use for it. A Krill "extreme" is about as little light as I can imagine using.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">The Krill is about 30-40% brighter than the tritium sq" for sq".

(The comparison was made with a taped off area of a white Ext. Krill 180° vs. a fresh green glowring).

Like a broken record, this topic keeps coming up. In the US it is not legal to own/possess these light sources. A US distributor cannot sell them legally to anyone in the US except for military supply. Safety markers can be used in industrial complexes only and their location must be kept on record with the NRC. No individual use allowed. Overseas distributors who sell to individuals in the US are not complying with NRC regulations. This includes traser glowrings. If you get one and it makes it through customs, consider yourself lucky and keep it quiet.

If it used a lens on the front, to focus the light into more of a beam, it seems it might be more useful.
Perhaps a removable one, like the cover that is with it?

Those images aren't showing here...

Wow, I can't believe this review is still around... Sorry folks, I sold the betalight in question quite a while ago and deleted the pics. It was pretty neat though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif