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  • 18 Posts
  • 280 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: July 21st, 2023

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  • Gee thanks for calling me an AI.

    But nope it’s just things that I noticed (checks calendar) a long while back when I was looking at getting a bunch for my emergency kit.

    I decided against buying them as they are an order of magnitude more fragile than an LED light, no guarantee that they will work when you need them and a ~4 years of shelf life compared to ~10 years for lithium batteries.

    Modern LED lights can offer days and even months of runtime on a battery set, multiple light output levels and when paired with a lantern cap accessory or a cone of printer paper provides the same functionality as a glow stick while being far more versatile.

    Plus combining several sets of rechargeable batteries, solar panels and charger you have consistent lighting for at home and having the option of keeping lithium batteries in your evac kit.


  • Unfortunately you are going to be massively disappointed.

    There is going to be a massive variation of runtime, light output and reliability.

    The things that will cause problems:

    • Quality of manufacture - The runtime, light output and reliability will vary wildly depending on the manufacture and country.
    • Size and shape of the stick - There is about 5 common shapes & sizes available that will affect the light output and duration
    • Age (from date of manufacture) - Glow sticks degrade over time causing shorter run times/light output
    • Packaging - Light and air intrusion can degrade the chemicals causing shorter run times/light output
    • Temperature - Glow sticks stored in higher temps will degrade faster and will accelerate the chemical reaction causing shorter run times, colder temps will impede the reaction greatly reducing the light output.
    • Storage - How they are stored is going to affect how reliable they are (rough handling can crack the glass vial &/or cause the stick to leak)
    • Colour - Each of the different colour variations will have different light outputs.
    • Stated runtime - Sticks commonly come in 4/6/12 hour versions (other duration available) shorter run times will be brighter but the longer runtime sticks will be less bright.

    So to do tests you would be needing to test thousands of glow sticks at minimum to get anything close to reliable numbers.










  • Lamy Safari Rollerball sucks. I thought I was getting a pen for life, but the ink flows inconsistently.

    Some pen types work best on different papers, some need a rougher surface to get the ink ink dispersion method working where as others need a smoother surface (nicer paper) and some that don’t care what paper type they are used on.

    I have a Sharpie S-gel pen in 0.38 that is scratchy and skips on nice paper but when used on standard printer paper it writes happily.

    So give it a try on standard printer paper to see if there is a difference.

    I rediscovered mechanical pencils. I tried one that had buttery-smooth lead. I fell in love. I won’t buy any yet, because I have pencils at home, but I know what I will eventually buy (a metallic mechanical pencil with Uni lead).

    I just got a Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil paired with some Uni HB Smudge-Proof Lead that I am enjoying (though I might try the Pental Ain HB leads next). The nib rotates to keep the lead wear even.

    Ball points are not my thing. I haven’t found one I like.

    I don’t like most ball points myself but I have found Lamy pens using the M16 cartridge (I prefer fine) to write very well on most paper types I have tried. The Lamy logo lineup is an affordable pen to use the cartridge.

    Fountain pens are amazing for writing, but they’re not resilient.

    Depending on how rough you are there are several options for your needs

    TWSBI GO (Uses bottled ink but has a leak/dry out resistant cap) Platinum Preppy (has a leak/dry out resistant cap but uses proprietary cartridges) Kaweco Classic Sport (popular for everyday carry and uses a standard short cartridge that many mfg make)

    You would be better off using a cartridge based pen as they are less prone to leakage from rough handling.