Practicality of Glow Sticks for Civilians

[lamarbrog]

Purpose of this thread: Discuss the practicality of a civilian carrying glow sticks (if you must, "ChemLights") on a chest rig.

Background: I've spent a lot of time backpacking, and I do use glow sticks extensively for this activity. One of my favorite applications is for marking my camp site at night. I've done a few night-hikes where I've gone (with a companion) a couple miles from camp with nothing except some water and an emergency blanket. If we had not left a glow stick on a low-hanging branch at our camp, there would have been no way we would have found our way back during darkness.
In longer hikes that get pretty far from civilization and frequented trails- I'll often keep three in reserve for signaling in case of emergencies. (As I'm sure many here know, a triangle of fires, etc. is a distress signal.) I've also found they're great for looking around inside my backpack where a bright white LED at that close range would ruin my night vision.



What I am considering, though, is if they are really that useful on a chest rig? The military applications which we all know of don't seem to apply to my situation that well- In a scenario where things have gone so medieval that I've gotten out a chest rig, I kind of doubt I'll be getting air support.

In fact, chances are I'd want to be as low profile as possible- and lighting myself up like Christmas tree at night probably isn't the best way of doing that.

So, do you carry glow sticks on your chest rig? If so, why? I have plenty around that are in my backpacking gear- but so far am not seeing the benefits of putting them on my chest rig, but maybe I am missing something since they seem to be quite prolific.

[PA PATRIOT]

I keep six 3"inch glow sticks and swap them out with fresh every year. I limit their use as a last resort lighting source to assess a wound or repair a firearm. If cupped in the hand properly almost all the light is confined to a very small and limited area.

[yellowfin]

Trail marking is good enough reason for me. Scenarios as common as searching for downed deer after dark and night fishing come to mind in the non-SHTF life, so I would imagine the more unfriendly situations would have analogous application. Also, if you're not wanting to draw attention to yourself, a light source can be a great misdirection.

[BCmJUnKie]

I dont carry them on a chest rig.

I do however stock up on them. They are kept in a spare ammo can with a fire starter, batteries and a few other "survival" tools

They proved usefull when the backup generators for the town failed at 9pm

[uwe1]

Are some brands preferred over others? Obviously buying in bulk would net the best prices, but what are good brands versus going to the local Walmart?

[BCmJUnKie]

Cyalume safety stick is what I prefer.

Its a 12 hour light.

I also have the cheaper ones. They work fine if you dont want to waste the good ones.

Check out Ebay. I just ordered a bunch. A box of 10 goes from 15 -20 $

[PA PATRIOT]

Light sticks "DO NOT" have a long storage life and need to be replaced yearly no matter what the "Use By" date is.

[viperashes]

Some of the chemlights that have the foil wrappers are good to snap and keep in the wrapper, especially the brightly colored ones such as yellow, white, or green. The metallic inner surface of the wrapper focuses light well so that you have a pretty decent close range flashlight, even with the darker colors like purple, blue, or red. Also, by keeping it in the wrapper, you don't show too much light, especially if you are trying to maintain a concealed position. When you are done using the light, you can fold the flap of the wrapper back over the end to conceal all light coming from the chem.

Cutting open chemlights is also a viable use. Making a drop trail is fairly simple by dripping a trail from where your base camp is to wherever it is you are pushing out to. Considerations to be remembered though is that the general rule is that a 12 hour light stick will only last for about 3 hours tops if cut open, and cut that down to 1.5-2 in a wet/damp environment, so this is a short term marking system, but definitely extends the range of a chemlight trail. Another consideration to make is that this won't work well on loose ground like sand, because it's easily upturned.

Something to concider in place of single-use chemlights are lazerbrites. They have a translucent tube (there is also a black opaque tube available) which couples two LED head units together which can be faced inward to act similarly to a chemlight or faced outward to be used as an unfocused flashlight beam. They run on watch batteries, and come with a spare set of batteries, one for each head, including the ones that come pre-installed. There are different colors, and also infra-red models if you have NVD capability, which I'm assuming you don't, but it is an option. They can be purchased from quite a few retailers, but www.lazerbrite.com is their website. They are a little bit bulkier than standard chemlights but no more cumbersome to carry. I usually carry them in a dump pouch for military application, but they have small holes that could be threaded with some paracord or a shoelace to tie them to a backpack or chest rig.

Another use, if traveling in groups, that goes along with the cutting chemlights open is taking a finger and placing just a small dab of the chemical (which is non-toxic, but smells odd) on the back of a shirt, hat, or backpack to give a very small light signature that can only be seen from very close, so that a small group can have a visual indicator of where the person in front of them is. Again, this is going with your theme of trying to keep a low profile.

I can probably think of some others but I think it's a good start for now. The possibilities of uses for your equipment are only limited by your imagination.

[Armati]

Chemlights on your kit are used primarily for marking and clearing rooms. The secondary use is to signal aircraft and marking the LZ.

For civilian use, I have used them mostly to give the kids some sort of light when camping or when the power goes out. They won't start a fire, the don't need batteries and I don't care if they get lost. They are also great for pool parties.

[tpd223]

Light sticks "DO NOT" have a long storage life and need to be replaced yearly no matter what the "Use By" date is.

From my stash on older Cyalumes I can say my experience is exactly the opposite. The extra sticks we took home from drills after field problems (we used a metric shit-ton of Cyalumes when I was a Cav Scout) tended to last way past the expiration date on the wrapper if they were stored at room temperature.

[Moose-Knuckle]

They are another tool in the tool box. They are inexpensive, won't ignite a fire, water proof, light weight, et al.

Laterns, flashlights, bulbs, batteries, mantles, fuel, and chemlights are all good to have on hand in the event the lights go out.

[geordy7051]

As a private pilot I carry a couple in a survival kit. If shit goes wrong, I want to be able to signal rescue folks. I always figure a chem light with enough 550 cord to wrap it up completely is a simple, easy thing to carry that doesn't take up much room.

[Belloc]

Edit.

[Caeser25]

Cyalume safety stick is what I prefer.

Its a 12 hour light.

I also have the cheaper ones. They work fine if you dont want to waste the good ones.

Check out Ebay. I just ordered a bunch. A box of 10 goes from 15 -20 $

I tried a few cyalume I bought and the ones I got turned out to be 24-36. The real dollar store has some, 6" in packs of 2 for a buck. I keep some in my trunk for having to change a tire etc.

[Iraqgunz]

We went to the mountains just before I took off and I pulled an old green Cyalume from the camping stuff and popped it once we got settled.

It was 3 years past the expiration and worked perfectly fine.


From my stash on older Cyalumes I can say my experience is exactly the opposite. The extra sticks we took home from drills after field problems (we used a metric shit-ton of Cyalumes when I was a Cav Scout) tended to last way past the expiration date on the wrapper if they were stored at room temperature.

[Jack-O]

I keep a red one and a blue one on my person. IME They are CRITICAL to successful negotiation of unexpected all night raves in abandoned warehouses.

the cheap ones seem to be as trippy as the expensive ones

[RioGrandeGreen]

During a "search and rescue". We dropped a bunch of chem lights from a manhole opening down to a storm drain that was about fifty feet down. We happened to surprise the "lost ones" and they fled like rats. It lit up the area where I had to climb down using some metal rungs. It illuminated the bottom enough so that I could safely climb down without being surprised by an aggressive rescuee! My headlamp wasn't the brightest and my hands were on the rungs so I couldn't use my handheld Surefire. We eventually "rescued" all nine lost souls.

So, I guess chem lights are useful for many situations. Handy to keep around. You never know what you will use them for.

[drrufo]

I was in the CERT program in Long Beach Ca for several years. Glowlights were in every go bag in our house. We used both the 6" and the smaller 1". The smaller ones could be used to show a room or structure had been searched while the bigger ones coud be taped to light poles to indicate various tables after dark without wasting batteries.
We used them in training sessions with FD, the small ones were perfect for low light rescues in their burn house.
I am no longer in a program but I still have two in my backpack at work, two in the pantry in the kitchen and two by the entry door. Just in case! Old training habit I guess.

[seb5]

On my vest at work I keep 8 short ones on a zip tie and partially cut the hole open on them so I can grab them as needed. Greens means secondary has been completed, red, only initial search. Mostly they get used as needed for lighting. I keep a 6" bright one in my blow out pouch for obvious reasons. I've also been using a Martz Tactical admin pouch on my vest but only use the slots on the .mil side for FTX's.

While on deployment I kept several in the MOLLE for use as needed and usually stuck one IR stick where I could get to it in case my IR fireflies battery went out. I would then break it and put it in my helmet band. Friendly fire isn't!

I have a bunch in my closet that are 4 years old and have not had one not work as advertised. If they are in your cars trunk all summer they tend to go out pretty quick.