# Glowsticks better than flashlights for serious emergencies?



## Bonky (Oct 10, 2008)

Don't know where to post about glowsticks/light sticks -- they're not 'electroluminescent' nor GITD. They're chemoluminescent.

Anyway, I've been seeing great deals on white glowsticks/lightsticks and white glow-bracelets. Like 1000 of them for US$50. If each of these can glow all night, wouldn't they make for better emergency lighting than a flashlight?

I'm thinking of a real, TEOTWAWKI/SHTF type of emergency. Sure, they only have a shelf life of a few years, but 1000 glow sticks will give you light every night for nearly 3 years. If the power is out FOREVER, seems like even the best flashlights are going to have problems, unless you get your hands on a huge stockpile of lithium batteries. 

Or you could divide them up if there are a lot of folks with you. Instead of having a dozen or so flashlights you could have a hundred people each with a lightstick.

They're nearly indestructible and utterly weatherproof. Sure you won't exactly be able to light a trail while hiking at night with them but, during standard emergencies, aren't most lighting requirements more along the lines of finding your way through a house or fixing a car or signaling to others? ie: short range or non-directional. No spot needed, all spill.

Interesting to think about anyway. I'd be curious to hear about anybody who had to use a lightstick for emergency purposes.


----------



## Burgess (Oct 10, 2008)

Very interesting, thought-provoking thread !

:thumbsup:


My complaints about Glow-Sticks:

You can't turn it OFF.

Sometimes, you just want to take a Look Around,
but don't want to attract *constant attention*.

Slip it into yer' pocket, or sleeve ?

Perhaps. But yer' wasting ~90 % of the run-time.


Complaint # 2:

You can't TEST a Light Stick, to see if it works.

Cavers, in particular, have often found their 
emergency supply of Light Sticks have ALL been
somehow, accidently activated (previously),
and are now useless. :hairpull:

Note: i'm *not* a caver. I've just seen this mentioned
(more than once) on Caving threads.


I *DO* like your idea of having a stash / supply of 1,000 of 'em. 


In a "stationary" situation, they could prove invaluable.


And, admittedly, they ARE waterproof !


And they'd make good Loaner Lights !



_


----------



## StarHalo (Oct 10, 2008)

I've been in a lengthy power outage with a glow-stick; what I can confirm is that they are enough light to read by (if you hold the stick close enough to the page) and they're bright enough that others can locate you. Aside from that, they have little other use - they're definitely not enough light to navigate by, even indoors.

I'd keep a few to keep the kids entertained/night-light duty during a power outage, but they would not be a primary or even secondary source of light in that situation.


----------



## PhantomPhoton (Oct 10, 2008)

They are useful, but can't compare to a modern LED light. 
Another problem I've found with them is they expire, and you never know if they're expired until you crack them. You can't turn them off after testing them. So if you have a batch of 10, it's likely you'll get some light but relying on just one or even two stashed away could leave you in the dark. (Been there, luckily I also had flashlights)
Furthermore they are more fragile in sortage than many lights. Accidentally crack it and it's gone.
Finally from an eco-friendly standpoint they waste a lot of plastic in comparison to a light running rechargeable cells.
I used to have a stash but I've stopped buying them in any significant numbers in the pat couple years.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Oct 10, 2008)

if they were to figure out how to make white glow sticks you would have something there.... but all the colors do not make for ease of us vs a flashlight. I think a flashlight with rechargable batteries is a better investment than 1000 glowsticks because a glowstick cannot throw... you can throw it out there hoping it will land near the spot you are trying to see but it is like a small weak lantern


----------



## Bradlee (Oct 10, 2008)

Lynx_Arc said:


> if they were to figure out how to make white glow sticks you would have something there....



Admittedly, I've never seen a white glow stick in real life, but they seem prolific on the 'net (e.g. Here) :shrug:. Perhaps someone else could shed some light on whether or not this is a relatively new development.


----------



## asdalton (Oct 10, 2008)

See this thread for warnings about relying on chemical lightsticks for emergencies:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/94510

See also here:

http://www.hdssystems.com/ChemicalLights.html


----------



## HoopleHead (Oct 10, 2008)

havent had to use one, but i have some in every emergency bag. i dont consider them as backup, i consider them as complementary.


----------



## Burgess (Oct 10, 2008)

To asdalton --


Thank you !

Those are the Links which i was thinking about.

:twothumbs
_


----------



## glockboy (Oct 12, 2008)

I gave out a lot of lightstick during Ike for peoples that used candles for lighting, safer too because we don't have water to put out the fire.


----------



## ugrey (Oct 12, 2008)

I have handed them out for night lights to family members, so they do not wake up in total darkness. Much better than candles. I have lived through 2 house fires. They are also okay for general light in a small room. The new, more efficient LEDs make the chem lights obsolete in my opinion. I now use 9 volt PAK or PAL lights for nightlights and I give each family member a Fenix EO1 to to put around their neck to turn it on and just leave it on. River Rock LED lanterns are great room lights. Keep a decent supply of batteries (you are a flashaholic right?) and you are set for a week.


----------



## Bonky (Oct 18, 2008)

how about if the power were out for a year?

And yes I have seen white lightsticks.. they are very white, perhaps a little bluish but not moreso than a LED.

Some short-'burning' glowsticks that go for no more than 1-2 hours (instead of 8-10 like a standard one) are extremely bright. There are some that last 5 minutes that are brighter than the sun -- you can't look at them.


----------



## ValhallaPrime (Oct 18, 2008)

I think I'd trust a few hundred lithium AA's before a thousand glowsticks. In my L2d-CE, that's about 60 hrs for each set of 2 on low. And that low is brighter than a AA minimag. Also, you've got a ~10 yr shelf life. 

My emergency grab-kit has an innova X5 white in it, as well as a couple packs of 123's. That's a lot of indestructable light, for a long time.


----------



## Bonky (Oct 18, 2008)

can you get a few hundred lithium AAs for ~$50? 

Where?


----------



## ValhallaPrime (Oct 18, 2008)

Bonky said:


> can you get a few hundred lithium AAs for ~$50?
> 
> Where?


 
True...cheapest I could find for name-brand was $1.25 each in bulk. For that much, you could go with 123's....After looking around, I expected them to be cheaper in bulk. The Alkie AA's we have at work are DuraCell Procells, and I pay about $8 a 24 pack for them through GovEd channels.


----------



## abvidledUK (Oct 18, 2008)

Best thing to do, buy a few, and just try them.


----------



## Guy's Dropper (Oct 18, 2008)

IN the case of a power long-term outage, I'm going to use batteries that can be recharged using my small solar panel.


----------



## Sub_Umbra (Oct 18, 2008)

I don't like the chemical sticks at all. Has anyone here tried *GLO-Toobs?* The white one is Waterproof / Submersible to 11,500 feet and you may *shut it off.*

They make a bunch of different models with different colors / modes. I've successfully fought off the urge to buy a few of these for a few years now.


----------



## StarHalo (Oct 19, 2008)

Sub_Umbra said:


> I don't like the chemical sticks at all. Has anyone here tried *GLO-Toobs?*



These are also great locators but not bright enough for much else. 

Keep in mind that a Fenix L2D with a diffuser will give you _over three days_ of light, or any of the III-series JetBeams will provide _over six days_, either with plenty of light to navigate by..


----------



## carrot (Oct 19, 2008)

IMHO glowsticks are good to keep around but reliable flashlights are a better backup. You can always test if a flashlight works. Not so much with glowsticks.


----------



## Sub_Umbra (Oct 20, 2008)

StarHalo said:


> These are also great locators but not bright enough for much else.
> 
> Keep in mind that a Fenix L2D with a diffuser will give you _over three days_ of light, or any of the III-series JetBeams will provide _over six days_, either with plenty of light to navigate by..


The OP used the phrase "serious emergencies" in the Subject. I doubt that *any* model Fenix can come close to the reliability of chemicial sticks *OR* GLO-Toobs. IMO that's significant.

*Dan's Data review of GLO-Toob.*

I'd go with GLO-Toobs *and* flashlights


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Oct 20, 2008)

It power stayed out longer than a week I would consider packing and moving where the power stays up cuz I like having the internet to read threads like this on. As for survival lights I would rather rely on dim 5mm LED lights for long term lighting than candles or glow sticks. I have many LED lanterns that will run for days of AAs or D cells that I can recharge from a car charger. Almost everyone around here has cars and gasoline to run the engines which I used to charge a dozen AAs when we lost power for 4 days in an ice storm last year. I had a bunch of alkaline AAs but instead used rechargables and charged them driving around from place to place.


----------



## paulr (Oct 20, 2008)

Cyalumes are almost indestructable AFTER being activated, so it's great fun taking them swimming, throwing them around at night, etc. But I'm in the camp that says they're not so good for emergency lighting, because the glass vials can break inside the wrapper, and the shelf life isn't so great.

Alkaline AA's are ok for long term storage as long as they are kept at cool temperatures, i.e. you can get a box of 48 for $10 or so, stash them in the fridge and they'll be fine for many years.


----------



## revolvergeek (Oct 21, 2008)

I have had extremely good luck with the cyalume light stick. We used dozens (if not hundreds) during Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. I gave them to coworkers, friends, and family. The green and yellow are plenty bright for navigating outdoors (keep you from tripping / walking into things) and work superbly for lighting up indoors rooms at night. I have not used the new white ones much, but people that I gave some to really liked them for reading. The orange and blue are much less useful and the red IMHO are basically worthless unless you just want to mark something (almost no useful radiant light). I keep my glowstick stashed in US ammo cans or in big nalgene bottles in the vehicles and we did not have a single one fail to light. If you carry them around in a bag and the foil package gets split or torn, then you can have problems with them. 

Around here after a hurricane we are talking about a situation when the world is really dark; no electrical power for miles around and the sky full of clouds and rain so there is no moon. After Gustave the ENTIRE city went dark for a while. In that kind of dark they work wonderfully. I found them particularly useful for elderly relatives and children as nightlights, so they wouldn't try to burn candles or fumble with a flashlight for bathroom trips in the dark. We also used them as theft deterrents when leaving houses or apartments empty overnight; pop a couple near windows with the blinds / curtains almost closed (esp the yellow) and it looks like somebody is inside with a candle or lantern burning. 

They do not replace flashlights, but they are an excellent redundant layer.

<Edit to add> I found the amber Glo-Tube to be very useful also. I wore mine around my neck as a tasklight on several occasions.


----------



## Bonky (Oct 24, 2008)

cool, thx for the first-hand experiences. I think they could be very handy, especially if you need to outfit lots of people or those who have little interest in/knowledge of flashlights and batteries (such as children or the elderly, etc.)


----------



## loneranger (Nov 4, 2008)

In our CERT training sessions, there are times for using glowsticks. For example, if there is a hazardous area (e.g. unlighted stairwell in a power failure), you leave a glowsticks there just in case anyone is foolish enough to use it. Another situation is if someone is trapped under some debris, and you can't get them out immediately. You leave a glowsticks there to provide a sense of reassurance, because you don't want to leave the person completely in the dark.


----------

