anyone got any specific recommendations for such a thing?

I've seen a couple that are aimed at the diving crowd that looked nice.

I'd like something that would work as a signaling device for possible rescue use, ie, trapped in the woods and trying to attract attention at night.

John E

Doug has his own review of battery-powered signaling devices at http://www.equipped.org/signal.htm#BatteryPoweredAttraction, which details the emergency strobes (e.g. ACR Electronics FireFly series) and the Greatland Rescue Laser Flares. Add in your flashlights, chemical-luminescent lightsticks, and pyrotechnic flares, and that about covers your nighttime visual signaling options.

If anyone knows of something I missed, pipe up.

I saw this in Outdoor Life.

http://pfdistributioncenter.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=2

That's the PowerFlare. I first saw them at SHOT Show 2007 and later bought a set. Compact, easy to store, and very rugged. Long battery life through CR123s and multiple flash patterns. Only down side is they ain't cheap and sometimes out of stock.

More of a highway warning device that survival signal, but I like 'em.

Craig.

Members of our group have been buying FlareAlert widgets:

http://www.flarealert.com/index.html

These seem to be a bit less rugged than Powerflares, but about 1/4 the price. The original unit was about $14, but seems to have been replaced in the product line by newer brighter products, which are a bit pricier. Columbus Supply has both the older and newer units.

http://www.columbussupply.com/products/?productid=56

We use them for things like marking entry routes into Plano Balloon Festival refuelling, Plano Xmas Parade band staging, marking command posts, etc.

I've been testing a lot of different non-pyrotechnic signals for work lately.

A few observations:

Greatland LaserFlare: Awesome device, but very directional. The green version is best for both day and night signalling. Not cheap though at $250 retail. They have a smaller red version for under $100. It would be best to have a strobe or other more omni-directional light to use in conjunction. But when you see it, there is no mistaking it.

Surefire G2-LED Flashlight (or similar): A very visible light from over 20 mile distance. Momentary switch allows Morse signalling. The reflector is very important for maximum visibility. Has good visibility up to 35° from centerline (70° spread).

We found that many tactical strobes made poor rescue beacons. Strobes need some sort of reflector and/or diffuser to make a large illuminated spot. Some of the tactical strobes were very bright but made such small targets, they weren't as noticable as some weaker lights which produced a larger target.

Strobes: Most strobes max out at around 5 miles or so.

FirstLight Tomahawk LE (120 lumens) has an exceptional strobe beacon, but it's complicated and the switch has a small drain on the battery so you don't get the storage life of some beacons. We got about a 10 mile range from it. About a 75° to 80° beam spread.

PowerFlare strobe is not as powerful as some but it's very versatile with 9 strobe settings including a flashlight mode.

Adventure Light VIP-Survivor is a versatile light with steady-on, SOS, and steady flash mode. It's small, bright, with a 180° beam spread. Very visible and noticeable. The great part, 300 hours of strobe one CR123A lithium battery or 100 hours of steady light. can be easily clipped to your gear. About a 5-6 mile visibility. Weighs 4 oz.

Xenon Strobes in general: Most are very bright going out to 3-5 miles visibility. Not as durable as LED models, or efficient on battery use, but they are more common and often less expensive. Princeton Tec and TekLite make several versions of these as well as ACR.

I'm ordering an Energizer Hard Case Tactical 2AA LED flashlight next to check it out. It has some interesting features like both visible and IR strobes.

Prioritizing I would have:
1. Surefire G2 LED or equal, MSRP $65
2. Adventure light VIP Survivor, around $80
3. Greatland Green Laser Flare. MSRP $250

We observed the signals which were on a boat, from an aircraft at 3000 feet, and from another surface craft.

Surefire ought to made a optional strobe end cap they could sell for their flashlights. It would make a nice light even more versatile.

Cheers,

Tom

Tom, have you looked at the GloToob products? I EDC one and like the fact that it has different settings ('tho changing them on the original version was tricky) plus the fact that it's water resistant and floats. Not expensive either.

Andy

We haven't tried any of those because it didn't seem to have that high of an output.

I'm looking for devices to replace pyrotechnics so I want to go as bright as practical.

One effective arrangement was combining a LaserFlare with a high intensity strobe together using some weapon's mount parts and a pistol grip. This allowed easier aiming of the laser flare to get someone's attention at extreme range (30+ miles), then the strobe to be visible at intermediate range (10 miles), and the life raft beacon at close range (5+ miles). I also attached a sighting compass with luminous dial to the rig to help keep track of what part of the horizon was scanned.

In use, a person would scan the horizon, aiming the laser and moving it in 5 degree increments in a tall ellipse to give a target multiple flashes. In theory, the rescuer would then adjust course to head toward the green flash. Even if you didn't flash the target again, they would eventually see the strobe which has a 180° beam spread. Even if you were aiming the laser 90° off of the target, they could still acquire the strobe. The strobe on the raft itself would provide 360° coverage. This way we'd have a tiered coverage of signals. You can always have another person signalling with the flashlight too.

I want to keep to a common battery, and the CR123A is a useful choice in that the price of them have come down, and they have a 10-year shelf-life. So in essence the batteries are only stored in the life raft for five years, and can be reused for weapon's lights and flashlights after they come out of the rafts because they'll still have 3-4 years shelf-life remaining. They can be sold/issued to units in the field for a small fraction of the cost of new batteries. We just have to cover handling and admin costs.

Regards,

Tom