work light. . . please. . .
November 26th, 2007 | 
Author: 
Shine on, shine
on, shine on me
Whenever something’s missing
You’re exactly what I need
- Rascal Flatts
So if you’ve been following along here, you’ll know that I’ve had very bad luck with signal lights going back to when I first started paddling. In fact the first strobe I bought was at Canoecopia a few years back. I spent time talking to the rep from ARC asking all the questions a newbie asks to be sure they are getting just the right thing. Before you knew it, I was out the door with my new C-strobe in hand. Well, that and a bunch of other stuff.
In just a couple of months a little bit of plastic broke off and suddenly the light would not stay on. I replaced it. Again in a very short time that one went. In fact we went through a total of 4 C-Strobes and the 5th is broken as well, but you can make it go on with a bit of fiddling. My next light was a Princeton-Tec Aqua Strobe. Just my luck, it held out for about 2 months before it failed as well.
Of course for lots of people these lights last forever. It “could be” said that I am just harder on equipment than most people. Could be?? Nah, it is said. Regularly! Just a day before I grabbed my flight to Puerto Rico I still didn’t have a strobe. I ran again down to Rutabaga in Madison for one last look. I was resigned to buying another C-strobe and taking my chances. I knew it would’nt last. I mean if the silly thing would not stay working in fresh water conditions where I could blow off the sand after each paddle what chance did it have on this trip? I just knew it would croak the first week.
When I got there, Darren Bush pointed out one more option. The Hydro-Star Mulit-Strobe from Seattle Sports. At first glance it was a bit big and bulky for my taste. It’s just over 6 inches tall and weights about 8.5 Ounces. On the upside the Hydro-Star uses LED lights and includes a flashlight with three brightness settings, a strobe, and a red/green marker light. The LED lamps are very bright and use very little battery power. The additional function of a flashlight comes in handy as well. Now I had no use for the little suction cup mount that comes with it, but you can attach it to your vest as well. Given my luck with the other lamps, I bought this one. I was glad I did.
This morning i went out to the shed and brought the little light in. Even frozen it lit right up with a twist. It had been through a month of salt water and sand and had really never been rinsed off. It had been dropped and banged around more times than I could count and even soaked over night a couple times in saltwater quite by accident. All that time I also used the Hydro-Star every night as my main flashlight. I also hung it in the tent in the evenings to read by, change contact lenses, or to sort through dry bags. I had spare batteries, so I was not too concerned about using them up. It’s cool to see the original batteries put up with that and are still working today some 2 months later.
I love simplicity. When stuff just works it makes life much more enjoyable. The Hydro-Star worked and eliminated the need for an additional flash light. Yeah, it’s a little bulky but that’s a small price to pay. What good is a smaller light if it doesn’t . ah, . . light?!
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Be careful, I have that same light, and while it always lights, the clip broke off when I unpackaged it, and I had to add a tether.
So don’t rely on the clip and you’ll be fine.
Nice blog!
Tim
Now you know what it’s like to own a Mac! LOL!
I have a little ACR C-Light, not a strobe, but a 360* white light. It has lived through salt, sand and sun on my PFD for four years or so, only just changed the original batteries last August, it always comes on and is bright enough to use as a small flashlight on a trail.
Good to know about the HydroStar though.
Going to find some wood to knock on now…
Hi Derrick,
)
Perhaps I’m just a pessimist, but I find the thought of combining a torch with my strobe somewhat scary – because when you REALLY need the strobe, might not the batteries be on their way out from too much reading in the tent at night….?! I keep the two functions in seperate pieces of equipment! Happy paddling!
Rowland
For your next one, consider the ACR Firefly3 Rescue Strobe. It is a bombproof light with a much brighter strobe than anything else I have seen. Because it is SOLAS, the electronics and design is held to a much higher standard. Thus the increased price.
http://www.jmsonline.net/ACR-FIREFLY-3-ORANGE-U-STROBE-.htm
I’ve gone through more PFDs than I have strobes–same Princton-Tec for 6+ years.
I agree with Rowland on the need for 2 separate lights. The strobe should always be in place on the PFD, or when you need it, it won’t be there (or the batteries will be weakened). Additionally, US Coast Guard regs require a (steady) white light available to illuminate you in order to avoid collision. If said strobe and white light are one in the same, there’s the potential for a problem when the need for both arises.
My strobe is always on my PFD, my waterproof flashlight is always in my day hatch except when there is the potential that I will be on the water between dusk and dawn when it is clipped to a deck-line within reach of the cockpit.
My $0.02.
I carry an old ACR strobe but I also now carry a Greatland rescue laser and I love the thing. It seems to me to be the best thing to have if you need to be spotted.
Rich K.
I have the last that you bought, the Hydro-Star… it works OK non salt water, but during a long salt water trip it stopped working, just when I need it. It worked one year. It was my third strobe, so next time I’ll buy three cheap ” Cohglans” at 13 $. So each time on the water I’ll check that, and replace when needed. It freaked me out to not having working one, when you feel responsable of a less skilled parther on an expedition.
Good luck with your new strobe!
Hey Coach(s) LOL! You guys are right. On reflection of course it’s a good plan to keep a flashlight & beacon separate as you can never be sure where the batteries are at. Using it as a flashlight could drain it. Of course with LEDs that “Shouldn’t” happen. they should last forever practically. Of course. . we all know how that goes.
I like the idea of carrying a few spares of the $13 variety. In the end I always wonder how visible they really are, but any light is better than nothing. It’s like the old line, “at night a candle’s brighter than the sun”.
Derrick
I came accross these little lights/stobes, the Guardian.
http://www.shorelinemarket.com/a52-004.html
Difficult to change function on water as it requires reversing the batt. polarity, but for the cost you could have one set to strobe and the other as a light. Very robust, as their advertising porports: “Rugged-designed to withstand being driven over by an average car” .
Those that are most likely to see the strobe, and know what they are seeing, are the SAR (search and rescue) pilots. And, then at night when they are generally wearing night vision optics. The strobe is very effective at drawing their attention (sometimes used in combat to mark a target for air strike–don’t ask me how I know this
)
I also carry a “spare” in my bail-out kit.
One final note, I put fresh batteries in both strobes every year on Mother’s Day, same day I replace the expired/soon to expire meds in my first aid kits. The “retired” batteries go into my flashlight (torch) devices.