Yep, totally different beast from what I thought you were talking about. I have no idea about these tritium based items. It doesn't sound like it should be a problem, though.

Sounds like you're describing these tritium fobs. I have a couple, and they live up to the claims. A little pricey at $20 apiece, but unlike similar items that are GITD-based (glow-in-the-dark), these don't need to be "charged" with a light source, and they have a useful life of ~10 years. Have one of mine on my keyring and it's survived a pretty rough and tumble existence.

Coincidentally, I discovered these GITD-based key fobs a few days ago, and just ordered ten of them (some for me, some for my brothers). As you read the thread, you'll see that they do have to be "charged" by a light source, but the "glow" lasts for several hours — and they're considerably less expensive at $3/apiece for any of the three sizes. The feedback from those who've bought them is uniformly good, both as to build quality and performance.

//No affiliation with either of the two aforementioned sellers; just satisfied/hope to be satisfied with their wares//

I have a nite tritium glowring attached to every flashlight I own. Got them years ago from a source no longer selling to the U.S. They're great. I can find my flashlight in the dark.. and with it find anything else. I do have one on my keychain, too.

So, I love them. But you can't get them in the U.S. or shipped to the U.S., legally, period. The last I heard some UK novelty shops still had them. They do not trigger attention coming back to U.S. thru TSA, but may trigger attention in the mail. You take your chances.

A friend inquired about obtaining a legal import license, and there seems to be no way the regulation is going to be lifted: it just has too much tritium for a "novelty item".

It looks like these folks will sell to the U.S.: Outdoorgb.com. I suppose inquiring directly would be necessary to be sure.

Hi, This is my first post here at ETS....

I'm the person that xbanker was talking about, who sells the glow in the dark (GITD)key fobs. Let me first say that tritium is great stuff and worth getting!!!
I have some info you might be interested in ...Tritium vials are illegal to have shipped into the US. There is a law saying that tritium items must have a legitimate purpose for them to be allowed in the US. The feds don't believe that putting a tritium vial in a key chain is a legitimate purpose. Putting them on a watch face or hands IS acceptable, and can be brought into the US. I remember reading an article a while back saying something like if you took 1000 or so of the vials and extracted the tritium, you could make a bomb or something like that. I think that's one of the reasons the feds don't allow importation.

That being said....tritium items are readily available through eBay from countries outside the US. I myself have ordered Nite Glowrings and DIY Glowrings from Merkava over at Candlepower Forum Marketplace. Both of the vendors I have purchased from are outside the US, and I have had no problems with receiving any of the packages containing tritium items. I really like tritium items!!!!

Tritium has a half life of 12.3 years. That means that in 12.3 years, the radiation given off should be about half of what is was when produced. Tritium vials are borosilicate glass tubes coated with phosphors, injected with tritium gas and laser sealed. The gas causes the phosphors to glow. The low-energy beta radiation from tritium cannot penetrate human skin, so tritium is only dangerous if inhaled or ingested. Its low energy also creates difficulty detecting tritium labeled compounds except by using liquid scintillation counting.

Now for my opinions
I'd stay away from the Nite Glowrings themselves. They are the most attractive package out there, but also the worst engineered. The tritium vial is just floating loose within the colored plastic key fob container. I had two of them. After only 2 days of ownership, the first one took a fall to the floor while attached to my keychain. The vial of tritium shattered and even though I immediately crazy glued the plug at the bottom of the plastic holder to try to seal in the tritium, within 2 days the light was dead. The vial is free to slop around inside the plastic, and after the outer keyfob stops moving during a fall, inertia is free to act upon the inner vial, and it is only a fraction of a second away from slamming into one of the walls of the keyfob and shattering. My second one met the same fate a few months later.
My opinion, STAY AWAY from the Nite branded product.

Merkava on CPF (who I don't know and derive no income from)sells both the Nite product and his own version of what he calls DIY Tritium glow fobs or something like that. He makes 2 version. The earlier version is more robust than his newer version. The earlier version is made of a relatively soft PTFE outer tubing with the vial encased in a translucent silicone, effectively making it one solid assembly. I have this version, and it has taken quite a lot of abuse over the last year and is still working fine. It might sound from my description that it is flexible, but with the solidified silicon, it is rather stiff and strong.
His newer version uses a harder, clearer tubing, but he uses no silicone. The tubing looks to be crimped on the ends, securing the vial within. This newer version according to Merkava glows a little better due to the clear tubing and no silicone, but it is not as robust as his original version.
My opinion....buy the earlier version, which I believe he still makes (although I don't know if he is going to discontinue it due to his newer version.

I had to put a plug in for my own fobs as well...sorry!
My fobs when fully charged ( a few seconds with any artificial light source, or a maybe 10 seconds in the sun) will glow much, much brighter than tritium filled fobs. They will stay brighter than tritium for around four or five hours at which point the tritium will appear to be brighter as GITD fobs are constantly losing brightness from the minute you pull them away from their source of charging. The decay in brightness is extreeeeemely slow though. My fobs can easily be seen in a dark room at least 8 hours after the lights have been put out. I'm using the brightest glow pigments available anywhere. The pigments I use are rated as being 10x brighter than anything you can get commercially. This is some very bright stuff!!! My fobs are totally handmade by me and I am very critical of what I ship and what I discard. My fobs go for $3.00 each, and I only charge a total of $1.00 for shipping whether you buy 1 fob or 10 fobs. You can check my product out at: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=173682
or
http://www.glowforum.com/showthread.php?p=1221#post1221

Andy -

I'm feeling good that maybe I've brought a convert into the fold Welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing your wisdom.

Digging up an old thread - I have 3-4 running around - things like an ARC-AA is hanging on one, hanging in the upstairs bathroom closet, and a few other pieces of emergency gear I might want to find in the dark - plus one of my 3 cats has one on he collar - so I can find her in the dark - as soon as I get some more, the other 2 will have it. #4 cat (RIP Tux) had one too, but his collar was lost at one of his hospital stays