darkness
November 30th, 2006 | 
Author: 
Of my primitive ancestry
Which stood on rocky shores and kept the beaches shipwreck free
Though I respect that a lot
I’d be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts
-they might be giants
One thing I can control is my paddling gear. And I can tell you one thing. . I’m never going to buy another ARC light again. I think I’ve now been paddling almost 5 years and went through more of these silly things than I care to think about. Frankly, I’d be just as likely, wait, no, MORE likely to put my life in the hands of a disposable Bic lighter. Even that would probobly last longer. You know how that is. . . you can find an old Bic lighter that’s been laying on the side of a road for 3 years and 4 winters and you just blow the top out and, “poof” it lights! Bic after all is the Official lighter of Nigel The Dragon! On the other hand, these ARC lights. . . . yikes!
Yeah, it could just be my dumb luck. While writing this I’m thinking 2767 people are going to tell me they’ve never had an issue with them. Granted. Maybe I live in some sort of ARC light energy sucking vortex. And certainly I may be rough on my gear. But wait, rough on my gear. . . Abso-freaking-lutely!! If some bit of emergency gear is supposed to work, I want it to work when it’s been particularly abused. I suppose that’s too much to ask. I’m sorry. I’m ranting. Point is, I’ve had very few problems with kayak gear over the years and I’m a “benefit of the doubt” sort of person. But, jeepers creepers anyway! Would someone just light me up!
Posted in 
Dude, chill. . .I told you the last time you complained to me about these lights I still have the light I bought back in 1997, and it still works. Sure I replace the batteries every year–though they have always still lit the light, and I’ve even put some silicone grease on the O-ring a couple of times in the nearly 10 years (yikes!). It’s a Princ-Tec, and I’ve owned, and still do own several of their lights (hand-held, headlamps, strobe, little key flob led–2 cell, 4 cell) and have never had a complaint about any of them. It’s time you switch!
Wait, maybe Santa will bring you one if you’ve been a good boy!
Switch to P-Tec and you’ll never go back. I’ve broken their headlamps, but never my strobe. It’s attached all the time to my vest, but I’m on my second one… The first one was stolen from me and I’m sure it’s still going strong for the thief.
Derrick: I agree with you about these lights. Two of these have leaked on me (they were kept in good shape, o-ring greased). Princeton Tec are indeed better (yetI have a friend whose leaked), but they are very expensive. Right now I’m using a Petzl Saxo Aqua. It is a bit heavy, but it doubles as a handheld flashlight, and when night kayaking I just tie it onto my decklines. No leaks in three years of night paddling at least 10 times a year.
http://en.petzl.com/petzl/LampesProduits?Critere=59&Produit=252
Josh
Maybe I’m missing something but what the heck are the point of those strobe lights? It’s illegal to turn on a strobe unless it’s an emergency so you lug this stupid lightbulb on your PFD for years in case you get in serious trouble on the water and expect a little blinking light to save you? Sorry, I’ll take my skills, friends, paddling clothes/pfd, VHF radio (or EPRB if you wish), cell phone, flares, water dye, hell almost anything over a little blinking light in the middle of open water. Can anyone clue me in on what I’m obviously not grasping?
Point taken Alex. I’m certainly not pinning any hopes on a blinking light either, but it is one more chance of being seen.
Jb, That’s the point, you have a Princ-Tec, not an ARC. That probably makes all the difference. One thing is sure, you should always check your gear before you go out. In the case of an ARC, take a spare. . .dozen. . .
SAR pilots wear night vision “eyes” and the strobe really lights up for them. Navy Seals and other special ops use them to light targets too for night time operations. They do work!
But, Alex’s point is well worth it’s weight in gear–there’s no substitute for skill, proper equipment, and GOOD JUDGMENT! And, I’d include a strobe.
Navy Seals and other special ops??? now I’m afraid to wear one myself! LOL!!
Derrick, I have a drawer for gear that displays a certain degree of functionality. I call it the Optio drawer.
The question then is, how visible is a kayaking strobe on a swimmer in moderate chop assuming the local coast guard guys aren’t wearing night vision goggles?
The USK video and attending a couple flare shoots really opened my eyes to the actual usefulness of flares (aside from legality) but I’ve never seen a test done on strobes. Does anyone have a video that shows one in action?
To Alex’s questions–awhile back I did see a graphic relating to the strobes, I’ll see if I can find it and get posted to the web (kayakwisconsin.net). They are very effective at night, and from my understanding, and from what I’ve heard from SAR pilots, they all wear the night vision eyes when doing night SAR missions at night–one of the guys over the cubical wall is an army helo pilot and instructor. One advantage of the strobe, over a flare, is that it pinpoints your location. Very rarely will an aerial flare do that, unless the SAR crew memeber happens to be looking at the shooter when they pull the trigger. A hand-held flare will pinpoint your position though.
Good discussion.
Derrick, I was looking for “kayak strobe” on yahoo in search of pictures showing if a strobe really is indeed visible 3 miles away in real conditions and I stumbled upon your Christmas list post from 2004. You wrote:
“Emergency Strobe Light – Again, what a useful inexpensive gift. Cost from $10 to $35 bucks. These little lights attach to the kayakers PFD (life jacket) and can be seen from up to 3 miles. There are a few different brands. Personally we have had some issues with ACR brand lights, but that could just be us. Hard to tell.”
Lol, 2 years later you’re still griping about that same brand. You must be a very forgiving person to deal with the same bad product over and over and over… oh wait, I remember your Palm drysuit adventure… you’re a saint.
Yeah, and I still have a Palm!!
Ah, but the ARC. . after that post we returned 2, bought 1 Princ-Tech. Those then failed in a year. Took both back. 2 more ARCs, and now they are both dead.
Yeah, I’ve been told I can be a bit of a rug sometimes!! LOL! But I’ve certainly given enough cash to the C-strobe guys. They need to find a new sucker. . .