# Zirconium? And Tritium Locators...



## robert.t (Feb 8, 2015)

I currently have a Veleno Quantum D2 on my keyring, but I've decided that it's a bit impractical so I'm weighing up the AAA options instead. But I've got quite used to the tritium locators which happen to look awesome on that particular light. So now I'm thinking I'll buy one of the Veleno locators (as soon as I can afford such an indulgence).

However, the current ones available from Veleno aren't titanium, steel, aluminium, copper, or some similarly commonplace metal. They are zirconium. I have no experience with zirconium, so I decided to google its properties (weight, strength, etc.) and came across some interesting warnings:

http://www.ehs.pitt.edu/assets/docs/combustible-metals.pdf



> "Hafnium, plutonium, thorium, uranium *and zirconium* are all highly combustible metals. The hazards of this group are similar to those of magnesium, and the same safeguards should be applied except as noted..."



Similar to magnesium??? That does not sound like something I'd want on a keyring. Especially not wrapped around a vial of radioactive gas! To be fair, reading on, it sounds like it will only react to certain chemicals that I'd be unlikely to come into contact with and if I did then I'd have other problems. Still, the possibility of fine particles (which could perhaps scrape off) being spontaneously combustible in air doesn't sound good.

So, does anyone here have more of a materials science background and can say if I'm overreacting or if there are indeed genuine risks with zirconium that would warrant more careful handling than throwing it in a pocket with a bunch of keys?

For that matter, although I like the spiral design of these locators I'm not totally set on it. Does anyone else make something similar? I'd probably prefer titanium or perhaps bronze, regardless of the validity of these safety concerns, anyway.


----------



## Baldenwonder (Feb 8, 2015)

I'm not sure about zirconium and find the quantum dd an ideal edc light for my keyring. But there are titanium trit lanterns out there like the Pete Gray lantern in the bottom of the photo and some beads about. I even have one bead with 12 trits. So useful if you are in a strange place and need keys to be easily found.
But I would say look into kit markers for your torches as they are often encased in thick plastic so don't scratch your torches and much cheaper if you are putting them on many.


----------



## robert.t (Feb 11, 2015)

Baldenwonder said:


> I'm not sure about zirconium and find the quantum dd an ideal edc light for my keyring. But there are titanium trit lanterns out there like the Pete Gray lantern in the bottom of the photo and some beads about. I even have one bead with 12 trits. So useful if you are in a strange place and need keys to be easily found.



Yeah, the D2 has definitely given me the taste for trit locators. Only issues are that the 10180 doesn't hold much charge (compared to AAA), the QTC is fiddly and unreliable and it's not possible to operate one-handed. The battery life is the killer because it makes it unsuitable as a backup EDC, only good for quick bursts, really. The Pete Gray is a nice piece of art, but for a keyring I prefer something simpler: less metal, more tritium. He doesn't seem to have anything current on his site. Maybe I should be looking on the marketplace instead, but I have no idea where to start.



Baldenwonder said:


> But I would say look into kit markers for your torches as they are often encased in thick plastic so don't scratch your torches and much cheaper if you are putting them on many.



What do you mean by kit markers?


----------



## Baldenwonder (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi for kit markers, have a search for Firefly Tritium Kit Marker and they should show up. Sorry I'm not sure if I'm aloud to link. But they are tritium vials in Perspex.
For Pete Gray and other trit beads and lanterns try the Usual Suspect Network (USN) hope this helps


----------



## robert.t (Feb 11, 2015)

Baldenwonder said:


> Hi for kit markers, have a search for Firefly Tritium Kit Marker and they should show up. Sorry I'm not sure if I'm aloud to link. But they are tritium vials in Perspex.



Thanks, those look like a definite possibility, but I'd prefer something metal (just a bit more minimal). I'll try searching for more Pete Grey stuff later.

As far as I know, the "no linking" rule only applies to the "Recommend Me A...." sub-forum, due to excessive shilling and spamming. I had to look it up the other day as I've seen the occasional moderator smackdowns, but since I don't usually visit any particular sub-forum directly (just go to "new" usually), I wasn't sure what the rule actually was or why it existed. As far as I can tell it doesn't apply to any other sub-forum. It'd be nice if the rules were all in one place instead of having exceptions in random banners/stickies in each sub-forum. There's actually no mention of this rule at all in the main posting guidelines. In fact it has a whole section on how to link, even making it clear that links are encouraged.


----------



## Baldenwonder (Feb 12, 2015)

If you don't mind Chrome, I forgot I also have these:http://www.niteglowrings.com/firefly-miniglow/ I didn't know how to delete this post and add this to below.


----------



## Baldenwonder (Feb 12, 2015)

I forgot I have these on my packs


----------



## robert.t (Feb 12, 2015)

Thanks, the TEC stuff you sent by PM looks good. I'm pretty certain you can post those links here. Others might be interested as well.


----------

