Strontium Aluminate more visible for thieves

I recently modified a Mini-Mag with a LS and a convertor board from Dat2zip. I thought that coating the inside with some Strontium Aluminate would help me find it in the dark. I was right...It worked very well... too well! Having a car with 254,000 miles on it, I almost never lock my doors. It was also -4 degrees that night (what thief would be that stupid?) The light was in a compartment in front of the stick shift. I guess the jerk opened it up and couldn't refuse anything that glowed like a cell-phone. That was the only thing that was stolen (being the only thing I spent so long on and cared so much about!)
I was pissed for awhile but now I am even more determined to make a better light (smaller so I can carry it in my pocket.)
Lesson learned: More visible = not always better!
If anyone spots a silver LS Mini-Mag on the streets of Dogtown (St. Louis, MO) in the hands of someone who isn't 5'10" and Blonde...GET'EM!!

Oh thanks again Dat2zip for such a great circuit!

Such a shame. I bet whoever took it didn't realise the cost of mods was >300% more than the cost of purchasing the light!

Lesson two: LOCK YOUR CAR ALWAYS RobertN!

the guy was probably thinking "wut the heel is dis thang?!"

that really ticks me off , i *hate* people like that

does anyone else *really* like that 3 strikes law?

Ya, I would like to strike him three times!!!

Such a waste of a good flashlight on a bad person.

You mean no one has come up with a Flashlight with a Built-in GPS tracking system in case someone steals your flashlight ?

Hello - Sharper Image ?

Originally posted by INRETECH:
You mean no one has come up with a Flashlight with a Built-in GPS tracking system in case someone steals your flashlight ?

Hello - Sharper Image ?

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Just follow the glow!

Paint some sort of metal bar with glow powder paint mix. Put it in an official looking glass tube, and label it 'DANGER! Radio-Active!' Leave it on the seat of your car. See if they steal that?

Wayne j.

I had a good sized bottle of Flourescent "Saturn Green" in my car for a while; it "Glowed" Very bright - I should have written "Plutonion" on it !

I actually had a few friends recommend the radioactive warnings. My Father is a Nuclear Physicist and has some very cool "Warning Radioactive" stickers. The next one I make WILL bear these warnings. Except I have learned my lesson and I will never leave my Flashlight behind.

I am also toying with the idea of mounting the batteries side by side (like two beer cans next to each other on a table) to make the light smaller. The only problem is I have no experience working with metal. I guess I could learn

Ever seen the film `Repo Man`

Theres a scene when a cop pulls a guy over in the desert and is told ,`you dont want to look in the trunk`.......

Its just so tempting to make a nice looking little case with a glowing tube of SA in the boot, trunk to Americans, few Radioactive stickers, should be good for clearance in a two mile area and 5 years in the slammer.

Adam

Remember, the government has no sense of humor on these things

Originally posted by INRETECH:
Remember, the government has no sense of humor on these things

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Especially in "today's environment" with all the unrest that's happening. Figure you "play the joke" and for some unforseen reason an area is actually evacuated, emergency personnel are called out...somehow in the process, someone gets in a traffic accident..hurt bad, worse yet killed. Guess who's going to be in * BIG TROUBLE * ? I surely wouldn't want to be responsible for someone's injury or worse by playing "silly games".

Sometimes it's not even a good idea to "talk" about it..."Big Brother's Watching"...

Reminds me of a Sci-Fi con a few years back. Chattacon, in Chattanooga, TN. Like any good con, there's lots of drinking, costumes, props, etc. I wasn't there personally, but a friend was. The way I understand the goings on is this.

Guy has some kind of a mug with a radioactive symbol on it. To complete the effect, he put a glow stick in there. He gets smashed and heads to the parking garage. There he puts the cup down on a car, gets into it and passes out. He woke up after a bit and staggered off, leaving the cup. Someone else comes out, sees a container marked radioactive and glowing sitting on a car. He calls the police who come out and check it. They call in the hazmat guys. They take a look at it and won't touch it. Eventually, the feds and NRA and who know who else got called to come investigate. They looked at it, found what had happened. Surprisingly, they WEREN'T pleased.

What shocks me is that neither the police nor the hazmat team nor anyone else actually bothered to look IN the thing and that it got that escalated.

You're right.
To be honest, I would never do such a thing. I have a troubled conscience that would keep be up at night if I ever did that. However it does make me feel better to imagine such a thing. I am annoyed that the project that I researched and worked on for weeks could be destroyed in a blink of an eye. The fact that the thief probably has no idea about this is even more frustrating.

I am also pretty sure the other posts are just that...wishful thinking meant to make me feel better not an effort to cause panic.

>>Sometimes it's not even a good idea to "talk" about it..."Big Brother's Watching"...<<

One does hope that No Such Agency the NSA, CIA, FBI, MI5 and MI6 etc. etc. have better leads and things to do, Freedom is what they are theoretically charged with protecting, but then again mebbe were not paranoid if the world is out to get us. Try a search on Echelon and Carnivore....

Only radioactive thing that can thing of that does actually glow is Cherenkov Glow which is pale blue and only occurs in presence of water,

EDIT Well there is Radium but it is a relatively low level emmiter and Promethium as well, but you wouldn`t sprinkle it on your cornflakes, Tritium dosent count because it actually excites a phosphor to glow. /EDIT

but then I`m not a physicist and could well be wrong, and a cop pulling you over may not be a physicist either...

Adam

After a quick glance around for radioactive glowing things Glow in The Darks history is older than I thought, Bologna Stones, barium sulfate, dating back to the 16th Century:

http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele056.html

It just "seems" that sometimes in this world, there are those who would rather "investigate & make public" 'things' that would, oh perhaps take the public's minds off of other actually more important issues "for some reason" not known to myself.

You know the ole' "smoke & mirrors" or "red-herring" or "diversion" theories...

Originally posted by RobertN:
!
If anyone spots a silver LS Mini-Mag on the streets of Dogtown (St. Louis, MO) in the hands of someone who isn't 5'10" and Blonde...GET'EM!!

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">No problem. I frequent Seamus McDaniels often for my regular fix of fried pepper cheese and Guiness! If I see it I'll invite him to inspect my LS ASP baton-light.
Sorry to hear bout your light.

Mike

Ooooh boy, did I ever take this thread out on a radioactive liner

Wayne J.

Some people are stupid,
That is why they are so much fun to mess with! I have a Mini-LGI and someone asked me what type of light it was (they were looking at the optics and noted the yellow green color of the Luxeon in the optics) I told them it was a nuclear powered device and can prove it. The little notch will glow green for awhile when it gets hit with radiation. (The little notch has Mr. Bulk's signature glow powder on it)
I turned the light on for 10 seconds and turned it off "See it glowing? That is the gamma ray detector" They shook their head happy to gain the knowledge of my nuclear powered flashlight.
I guess Mini-LGI stands for Mini Light Gamma Illuminator

It's not so much what you tell people, it's how you deliver it This is TOTALLY off topic, but I can't help it. My car stereo cassette deck has a reminder in the display for you to clean it. It says "CLEAN" I have on 4 different occasions now had people ask me why it says that. I always answer that it is picking up the parental advisory signal from the tape and telling me that the music is clean and fit for family listening.

Everyone, ALWAYS answers, "Oh, OK, thats neat" or some such. Then about 3 minutes of thinking it over they say something like "hey, wait a minute!"

But thats only after I start to crack up. It's the dead pan delivery that is most important.

Thanks HeavyArmor!
Yeah, I go to Seamus McDaniel's only during the summer. I guess I prefer drinking outside on their huge patio in the sweltering heat.

I am completely over the loss of my light because I am brainstorming the next one!