I happened across this stuff in an Army surplus store. It runs about 4 bucks for two strips. I decided to add a strip to every item I could in my survival kit in the event that the item would be dropped at night. Today at work while in the back compound I was fooling around with my blast match trying to light stuff just for the hell of it and for a bit of practice (yep, I skip off work every chance that I get). Of course a friend asks to see if he can try and I hand it over. First mistake, no sooner is my beloved blast match in his hands than it is somewhere on the ground in the tall grass/half foot of snow/leaves. I love the blast match and my jet scream whistle etc and think they are great survival items but I have never understood why the hell they come in BLACK of all colors. It landed on the ground where there was a lot of bushes etc mixed with the snow and despite all my cursing and looking I could not find it. Just as it was getting dark I went back in the hopes the glow strip would now be visible and sure enough, I found it under some bushes not far from where we had been looking earlier. I would have had a real hell of a time locating it if not for the faint green glow coming off the tape. This is not a new idea by any stretch and I am sure many of you do the same but I was so dammed happy and impressed by this that I had to share it with you fine folks. If not for the glowing tape I may not have found it at all. Not good if this had been a real survival situation…………..

[img][IMG]http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh19/zazabu531/glowkit.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh19/zazabu531/glowkit002.jpg[/img][/img]

Glow tape is good stuff. $4 a foot is a bit pricey though. You might want to check out the long life glow tape here. Best stuff I've used so far.

http://www.identi-tape.com/phosphor.htm

It was expensive but this cat eye stuff is actually metallic on the back and quite thick, plus it has a peel off adhesive like a bandaid which is really sticky.
Thanks for the link. Looks like some cool stuff here as well. I may have to invest in one of those big rolls. Just what I need, an excuse to buy more stuff.(he,he,he!!)

Good idea with the tape Taurus. I've had occasions at night camp where a little piece of your luminous tape would have saved much heartache.
I have a question....what is the sharp looking thing at the bottom part of your second picture?

smitty

Another interesting glow-in-the-dark product are Glow-in-the Dark "O" Rings available in sizes 2.5mm to 25mm from:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=164597&highlight=rings

You might also look for a 1/2" wide version of the glow-in-the-dark tape in your local hardware store. I found mine in the 'safety and childproofing' section. It was fairly inexpensive so I figured if it worked at all it would be worth it. I wrapped a single wrap around a couple of flashlights.

I was surprised to find that this cheap stuff was quite good. Exposed to a moderate amount of light they glowed quite strongly for a few hours and more dimly for most of a night.

The real benefit is that even slightly 'charged' by just incidental ambient light the single band of tape is more than good enough as a marker to find the flashlight dropped in pitch black while off.

I could see marking a few bits of vital gear that might be needed quickly, or dropped, in the dark.

Hi Taurus,

Reflective tape is very handy stuff, I use it on many of my easily lost items. I am lucky in that my sister used to be a chemical engineer with 3M and gave me a huge roll of the stuff for Christmas one year. It is orange so we put it on the kids Halloween costumes also.

A neat reflective item that I use each fall are glow-in-the dark tacks marketed for bowhunters (the white taped ones are the best). With just a few tacks you can mark a trail deep into the bush that is nearly invisible during the daytime but when hit with a small flashlight beam looks like a landing strip at night. A pack of 50 tacks costs about $4 at BassPro or WalMart and will mark about a kilometer of trail as long as the bush is not too think. Try it, you will be amazed.

Mike

I use a tape that both glows in the dark and is reflective. An example is in this link:

http://www.glowpaint.com.au/glow-reflective-tape.php

This is not the company that I bought from, as I cannot remember their name at the moment. But this does provide the best of both worlds.

I have never understood why items designed for emergency and/or survival uses are not made from glow in the dark plastic to begin with.

Smitty, it kinda looks like a TOPS Harpoon or a variant of it.... maybe????

Is this stuff just super reflective, or does it have to be charged?

I've got one reservation about luminescent markings that have to be exposed to light to work- the inside of my pack is probably pretty dark. I don't fit in it, so I can't be sure, but unless there is a gremlin with a flashlight I keep missing anything that needs light to glow isn't going to be glowing when I need it.