# Tritium Vs ?Super Luminova? (maybe standard lume...)



## MacTech (May 17, 2006)

Oh no, i'm getting addicted to *watches* now....

i went to Kittery Trading Post just to look around, turns out they had a clearance sale on the Wenger Battalion ($69.95 NIB), and since i'm a sucker for a deal, i couldn't resist....

so, now i have a watch with Super Luminova lighting compound and a Tritium illuminated watch, and a scientific mindset, so i did what any self-respecting science-minded guy would do, i set the two watches up for a comparison.....

my camera has a 10-second self-timer, so i would illuminate the Wenger for 10 seconds with my Lighthound 12 LED UV flashlight, and then compare the two watches immediately after illumination, then 1 minute later, than 5 minutes later....

first, the baseline images for each watch, taken individually....

the Wenger;





the Luminox;





the two watches side-by-side right after 10 seconds exposure to UV light;





after one minute;





after five minutes;





after 5 minutes, the Wenger's luminescent paint was barely readable, the Luminox was clearly readable....

After initial exposure to light, the Wenger is the clear winner, at the one minute mark, they are more or less equal, but after 5 minutes and beyond, that's when the Tritium markers really show their stuff....


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## paulr (May 17, 2006)

*Re: Tritium Vs Super Luminova*

Super Luminova is supposed to stay readable all night. See if you can read it tonight after you're well dark-adapted.


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## GarageBoy (May 17, 2006)

*Re: Tritium Vs Super Luminova*

I doubted my old Wenger was SLN. It glowed but dimmed off a LOT quicker than my seiko


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## stockae92 (May 18, 2006)

*Re: Tritium Vs Super Luminova*

thanks for the pic

and ditto on the comments about SL, i can read my seiko monster in the middle of the night with ease 

i doubted that Wenger uses SL ..


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## MacTech (May 18, 2006)

*Re: Tritium Vs Super Luminova*

I think you're right, the Battalion probably uses normal lume paint...

that said, i'm actually considering returning the Battalion because it's seriously pissing me off, i like to keep my watches synced up with the U.S. Atomic Clock, i have my Luminox set accurate to the *second*, and it was a quick and easy sync, pull the crown out when the second hand is at the 12:00 position, set the time one minute ahead of the Atomic Clock, and push the crown in when the time matches (12:00:00 for example)

heck, even my beat up old Timex Ironman synced easily with Time.gov....

the Battalion's second hand would continue to move randomly and intermittently after i'd pulled the crown out all the way, sometimes it wouldn't move, sometimes it would, it took me at least a half-hour to get the time properly synced with time.gov, the Luminox i synced up in a couple minutes

the luminescent paint charges up brightly (especially when using my Lighthound 12 LED UV flashlight...) but fades quickly, after 5 minutes it's dimmer than the Luminox, still visible, but dim, even with dark-adapted eyes....

the less said about the headaches of setting the bilingual day/date calender the better, that stupid thing nearly had me throwing the watch against the wall in frustration....

that said, it's still a nice watch and it was a killer deal, the day/date is set now and shouldn't give me any more problems, i'm just not totally happy with it....

reasons to keep the watch;
it was a killer price
analog watches are cool
it's a discontinued model (maybe rare?)

reasons to return it;
the day/date setting is a major pain in the arse
annoying to sync to the second on the Atomic Clock server
watch band is a hair too small for my arm (with the leather thingy behind the watch face, it only fits into the first strap hole, without the thingy, it fits only to the second hole)
the lume paint has mediocre performance
it's too big (i prefer Luminox-size analogs)

the band thing can be fixed with an aftermarket band, the real things i hate about it are the difficulty in perfectly syncing it and the migrane-inducing time/date setting annoyances, the only reason i'd keep it is the price was great....

hmm, decisions, decisions, i could get another SF or a Spyderco Kiwi for the price of the Battalion.......


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## lotsalumens (May 18, 2006)

*Re: Tritium Vs Super Luminova*

Nice comparison shots.

My TSAR watch has something called maraglo on the bezel, and it is really worthless next to the tritium hour markers. Charging with a UV light makes it really intense for a couple of minutes, but it gets dim pretty quickly. Wish the bezel had a tritium marker like my Traser watches. 


cfb


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## stockae92 (May 18, 2006)

non-hackable quartz movement?!

a killer price is not really a good reason to keep a watch

it should be cause you like it


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## MacTech (May 18, 2006)

I know, i mean i *want* to like it, but something about it just irritates me, i'd get more enjoyment out of a Spyderco Kiwi anyway....

i'm strongly leaning towards the "return it" idea...


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## stockae92 (May 18, 2006)

lol

no need to force yourself into a relationship

its just a watch


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## Lee1959 (May 18, 2006)

I have had both at the same time and Superluminova or Seikos Lumibrite are much brighter than the Luminox tritium for at least the first hour, usually more, it is after a few hours that the Luminox catches up, and then after a few more passes the paint in brightness. Another factor for luminous paint is the thickness it is painted, some watch compaines paint thicker than others which is why there can be a descrpenacy with two watches both using superluminva. 

For long term night use where your eyes are used to the dark the tritium shines best. For low light use for a number of hours like in a diving situation, thick superluminva or Lumibrite is far superior. This is my experience at least.


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## stockae92 (May 19, 2006)

i don't diving but my Seiko Black Monster agrees 

and superluminva or Lumibrite are both non-radioactive

tritium is radioactive, though the beta emission is of very low energy.


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## MacTech (May 19, 2006)

From the research i've done online, the trasers in the Luminox appear to be very safe, any beta particles not stopped by the glass of the vial itself *should* be stopped by the crystal of the watch, and the stray particle that escapes the crystal should be stopped by any clothing you have over the watch, or even your first dermal layer, Beta particles just don't have all that much energy, it's Alphas and Gammas that you need to be worried about...

Alphas are the largest particle, and are very low energy, and can be stopped by a piece of paper, Alpha is really only a problem if inhaled or ingested, where the large particles will be bombarding internal organs....

so don't go eating that chunk of Uranium, no matter how delicious it looks... 

Betas are smaler and slightly higher energy than Alphas, Betas are simply free electrons, and typically do not penetrate past the first layer of skin, again, ingesting/inhaling is not reccomended, don't go huffing Tritium, no matter how "cool" it makes you feel, kids  Just Say No 

Gamma rays are the highest energy emissions and can go clear *through* your body, damaging internal organs and tissues on the way through, they can be stopped by lots of mass (layers of concrete) or highly dense metals(lead sheets), usually both, however they do not give you the ability to climb walls and shoot webbing from your wrists, or grow to superhuman size, turn green and start smashing things, no matter what the media has led you to believe, they just make you really, really sick with accidental exposure

oh, and incidentally, i took the Battalion back, i really started to hate it, i picked up a Spyderco Kiwi and Byrd Meadowlark instead and am *much* happier with that purchase....


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