I am looking for a source for a small, compact strobe light that would be suitable for signaling to air craft and searchers.

This is something that I'd like to carry as hunter and SAR team members.

Thanks in advance,

Blake
www.outdoorquest.biz

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=3630

I picked the orange one that clips on a vest years back when I had my boat. When I sold the boat I put it in the SUV, it still works great and probably 15 years old. Downside is it's D battery size. Mine came from a local marine store.

I have one of those with a clear lens. It's a classic design.

Another option is to pack a PowerFlare.

Would a laser product be an option? Obviously, not pointing it at aircraft or searchers, but to signal your own position.

Extensive review of lasers for rescue signaling here:
http://www.equipped.org/rescuelaser.htm According to Doug Ritter they are quite good for the intended purpose.

A strobe is a totally different beast, though. It flashes in all possible directions.


A standard powerful LED light with strobe function should be quite OK for signaling as well if you can aim it. If you add a diffuser tip it could also do quite well as a make-shift all-directions strobe device. You can use any plastic that diffuses the light. Some water containers might work very well. A white plastic bag should work. A white film canister should be great. Or put it inside your tent and pretend it's disco time...

Some flashlight vendors even sell a pre-made diffuser tip... Supposed to be very effective. I am sure the shape will earn some comments... https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?products_id=339

Academy has several options

I do not work there or have any affiliation with them.

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=3630

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=8638

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/-seso1.html

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___81285

http://www.amazon.com/Coghlans-0220-Emergency-Strobe-Light/dp/B001QC53X0

http://www.princetontec.com/?q=node/88

The Princeton Tec probably has the highest pedigree of these lights.

Believe it or not I still have an ACR Firefly 4G. I had two but one's bulb finally gave out.

It might have actually been on this site years ago that I found a link to a guy who made a cap that converted the battery from the funky chapstick style lithium to CR123s.

I still carry mine on my overnights. But mostly its a novelty with the kids. The only thing I don't have the cool lace up LBE pouch for it. I have it stuffed in a stretched out LBE compass pouch.

I used an ACR Firefly many times to indicate my location to helicopters doing SAR in southern Arizona "a while ago." It worked like a charm every time, rugged, and waterproof. There are probably more advanced, lighter, etc. models out there now, but don't get anything that is any less dim or less rugged. Our standard signalling devices were mirrors by day, ACRs by night.

Later when sea kayaking in the Channel Islands, I bought ACRs for my life vest. The batteries are still good. ACRs are truly good bits of gear. Ahh...memories.......

Whatever number to also recommend the ACR. Carried one forever and then some, laced to my web gear. Called in real life and training Medevacs with it, marked LZs for extractions, and marked DZs with it.

Reliable, takes a beating. Altho I had the one with the long tubular battery.

I use Guardian LED lights made by Adventure Lights. I own the red and the white, they are pretty nice. You turn the batteries around in the casing and it goes from steady ON to blinking.


http://www.adventurelights.com/industrial/products.asp?sid=4&cid=33&ccid=75&S=0&O=5

The red one was intended to be used as a beacon, attached to my SAR pack.

Spot on, that is just what I needed.

Thank you for all the great comments and replys.

Blake
www.outdoorquest.biz

That's the one I have. The long tubular battery was a 1960's lithium, it looked like white toothpaste in a open top tube. I found a brass cap online that allows me to use modern CR123 batteries.

Love that freaking strobe. Nothing compares today to brightness. Which is weird, the strobes easily 30 years old.

Both Fenix and Zebralight (google them) make LED flashlights and headlights with strobe modes. The Fenix also flashes SOS.

I have both. They are great flashlights and in a pinch, they may work even better for you than a heavy, expensive, dedicated strobe that will likely never be needed.

Strobes are standard fare for at sea rescues and military ops, but I would be interested in how often they have been the key to a civilian land rescue.

What about a blinky bike light? ( I'm thinking tail lights, 5 led kind)
Small and very inexpensive.

I have a couple of those 5 LED bike lights that have a rotation of signaling options. They are red or orange and ineffective past a couple hundred yards. The front facing bike lights are too bulky and expensive for back country carry.

Strobes need to reach large distances with a distracting pattern. The basic strobe on a headlamp would be a better than a a bike LED. In my EDC is Doug Ritter Special Edition MkII Photon Freedom Micro™which has a strobe feature good enough for night use and light enough for trail running.

I use a small single red LED rear bike lights or other similar light (including the 5 LED version) on the back of my running pack.

We did very few sea rescues in and around Tucson, Arizona, and we used strobes routinely in land rescues involving helicopters. I have participated in at least thirty.

I really appreciate bright, durable strobes. I have several flashlights and headlamps with strobe functions and they are not comparable to a quality, dedicated strobe like the ACR, which is really all that heavy, considering its' utility. Given the OP's original post, I would indeed recommend a "heavy, expensive dedicated strobe" - that saves lives.

I am not current with the current strobe market, so I imagine there is a strobe out there which is just as useful and durable as the ACR, but lighter and cheaper. That seems to be the general trend in electronics these days.

Doug Ritter wrote an article on strobes a while ago on this site:
http://www.equipped.org/signal.htm#BatteryPoweredAttraction

A good strobe is visible 3-5 miles in all directions under optimal conditions.

You can see which ones are USCG approved by going here:
http://cgmix.uscg.mil/Equipment/EquipmentSearch.aspx
and using the pulldowm menu to select:
Lifejacket Light (SOLAS) - 161.112

The ACR 4F/4G seems to have been the second type (of 67 total) to ever get approval, assuming the approval numbers were issued serially.

The US Coast Guard site discusses the tests [1] a unit has to pass to get USCG/SOLAS* approval.


[1] http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg5214/docs/Lifejacket_Light_Guidelines.pdf

[2] SOLAS == International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Convention_for_the_Safety_of_Life_at_Sea

[3] Evaluation of Night Vision Goggles (NVG) for Maritime Search and Rescue: HH-65A Sweep Width Verification and Laser Illuminator Evaluation
http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA376017

My point is how many of those rescues where solely due to the injured/stranded/lost party using THEIR strobe as the sole means to attract rescuers, NOT how often does the SAR team use a strobe to mark the LZ for a medievac.

Totally different situations.

It's sort of a hijack on the tread to answer, but its a valid question. Strobes are more of a niche nowadays, IMHO. With the advent of more powerful flashlights,EPIRBS, PLBs, SPOT, cell phones even, the necessity of strobes from rescuee to SAR seems more and more rare on land. It most probably is greater in water rescue where there is an emphasis on visual distinction among the ocean along with flares.

Don't mistake me, I do carry my 30 year old ACR Firefly 4G when I feel the need is there but its not a EDC item. I have looked at eventual replacements from time to time and I have found all wholly lacking in comparison except other ACR products as a far second.

Rescue laser flares may fit your spot for land/air signaling. ETS did a review of these in 2006 that has a lot of good info on it though did not compare it to strobes in a apples/apples test. I could only surmise technology has improved size, weight, performance and battery life of these items.

hikermor is right, rugged, sturdy strobes are the gold standard. Cheaper, smaller strobe models are nice for very short areas of a few hundred yards to perhaps miles from an open position, but a true strobe is light years beyond.

I use a Fenix pd3. Strobe, S.O.S. beacon modes.... as well as many levels of standard flashlight . Low mode walk to and from treestand , lasts forever. Tracking ? bump it up and the woods becomes daylight .

Lost? S.O.S or beacon mode .

Does anybody knows what kind of bulbs that are in the good ole' tried-n-true strobes that have been around for quite some time? What kind of watt ratings are we talking about?

I am thinking those bulbs could be pretty powerful and still conserve batteries because the flash is so short. Don't think in terms of old-fashion incandescent flashlights - LED's surpassed them in most brightness versus battery longevity configurations years ago. But with such a brief but strong flash you could have a very powerful light bulb and still a decent battery life, and with a light output way beyond those nice LED light strobes. Or am I mistaken?


Of course, just recently some super-bright super LED have been manufactured with maximum output roughly equivalent to a set of car high beams. Because of heat issues (LEDs don't like to be warm) there are engineering challenges running those at full steam in a flashlight. Running them in a strobe light should be much easier.

Those are Xenon strobes which require a capacitor to charge up between flashes to get the really bright output. The brighter the strobe, the longer interval between flashes which can work against you, especially on the water.

In testing some really high power xenon strobes, we found the flash rate to be slow enough that at distance it looked like any other deck light on a bobbing boat. That was pretty much the case with the typical 50-70 flash per minute strobe rate. This is especially acute when using night vision goggles because every bobbing boat, buoy, etc. looks like a strobe flashing.

That is one reason the Navy is looking at a strobe rate at about 120 flashes per minute because it's more distinctive in a marine environment. We have had some success with the conspicuity of high power LEDs opposed to the classic xenon strobes. The power management of the LEDs is much better too.

Unfortunately, the best performer is not on the market... yet. But I imagine eventually it will be.

A really good off-the-shelf LED strobe is the VIP Survivor by Adventure Light. It's very conspicuous, has a steady on, steady strobe, and SOS strobe settings.

It's not cheap though. They go for about $180 retail.

Tom

i asked a local sheriff's aviation / sar unit official about this during a presentation two nights ago.
they have and use night vision eye wear. he said they've had lost hikers turn on their cell phones and point it in the direction of the helicopter. he said pilots have seen that illumination from "miles away".

i guess the point seems to be that seemingly little light can attract attention - but just think what a flashlight or dedicated strobe could do for you.

I would agree there are some differences, but not all that much. The strobe unfailingly stands out and provides a good target. And we were not marking LZs, usually we were identifying our location for a hoist operation.

I have never seen a party needing rescue to have anything like adequate signaling gear, often not even flashlights. What did work was ignition of a campfire. If we were alerted to overdue groups and were heading into the general search area, a campfire, alerting us either through seeing the flames or smelling the smoke, made contact very simple and easy. Of course, there are times and situations where you do not ever want to start even a small campfire. More than a few destructive, large scale conflagrations have begun that way.

You can get one here: VIP Survivor at Night-Gear for $120, shipping included. The review of these at Seasteading.org under "Strobe" provides a coupon code they say is good for 10% off.

That still seems like a lot, when US Coast Guard approved Xenon Strobe with 3 mile range can be had for $15. While the VIP's versatility (it also serves as a regular light) would make me consider it for backpacking, and the 100 meter depth rating for diving, there are other choices with that versatility, like the $25 ACR Firefly Plus (albeit that unit has less range and no USCG/SOLAS approval).

I notice that Alan Romania chose the VIP Survivor for his personal small survival kit.

The 2008 VIP Survivor PDF brochure says:

• SOLAS approved May 2008
• 2"x3"x1.35"
• 4 oz
• output is Off/Steady On/SOS/flashing (bevel twist controlled)
• -40 deg F to 150 deg F operating range
• waterproof to 100 meters
• lithium EL 123A 3V battery, (for which a 10 yr shelf life is claimed.)

The 2008 brochure says 2.5 mile visibility, 12+ hour life, but it seems to have been upgraded since to 3+ mile range and 20+ hour battery life, per the spec sheet on the current web site. I wondered if the apparent increase in brightness and battery life was due to an LED upgrade. After searching around, I found that the Seasteading Strobe review indicates that was the case.

My first thought was that I'd add some spare batteries, and I see they recommend that too.

I looked at the VIP LED strobe line on the Adventure Lights Web Site. The model differences seem to be whether you want the lifejacket/raft size, black or yellow, and, for the lifejacket size, whether you want the control to be (manual/pull pin/water activated) for list ($130/$180/$210). The web site has a side bar with more information (applications/specifications/instructions/brochure/warranty)

Adventure Lights also has some pretty exotic variants of this unit for military use, including versions with multisource IR/Green/White light, programming for changing light signatures, intensities and IFF identification, a "Mockingbird (TM)" feature that will memorize another IR source, and a target warning feature that reacts detects a targeting laser, illuminator or high output IR light source.

When I checked the Adventure Light website, it stated a 5+ mile visibility.

In our tests, we were able to see the VIP survivor at a little over 6 miles from an aircraft. It's a pretty rugged product and will stand up to abuse better than a Xenon bulb (FireFly) type. But getting the FireFly with lesser range is better than not getting any strobe at all. The VIP Survivor's longer range will have better effect for marine where use on land will mitigate some of its range due to obstructions from terrain and foliage.

Tom

Quite right - the current main description says "it can be seen for over five miles" and the current spec page I linked to in my post says "Over 3 miles (5 km) over land and over 6 miles air". Since the spec page seemed more detailed, I cited the low end number and provided the hyperlink.



That's good to know - you definitely have me thinking about upgrading from my current strobe. Was that with unaided vision? What altitude? How did that compare to your results with the other units?

It seems that USCG/SOLAS approved life jacket strobes are expected to be visible for at least ~2 nautical miles from the air: Table G-17 of the National SAR Supplement [1] and Table H-24 of the USCG addendum [2] both call out a 4.4 NM estimated visual sweep width when searching by helicopter for a 50,000 peak candlepower life jacket white strobe if time on task is < 1 hr, and 3.9 NM if time on task is > 1 hour. If I have it right, the visual sweep width is the track-track spacing of your search grid, which would imply the USCG expects to see such a strobe at a range of at least half the sweep width, or 3.9 miles/2 = ~2 miles.

The USCG tables also address much dimmer strobes - listing a 0.5 NM estimated sweep width for a 2,000 candlepower peak strobe at night - a pretty damning assessment, considering that they cite a 1.0 NM estimated sweep width for a "Cyalume personnel marker light" (glowstick). ( The cited references and lots more are available at this link: USCG SAR Manuals and Documents Page ).

[1] United States National Search and Rescue Supplement
to the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual, May 2000. Available on the USCG web site at:
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg534/manuals/Natl_SAR_Supp.pdf

[2] COMDTINST M16130.2E: U. S. COAST GUARD ADDENDUM TO THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE SUPPLEMENT (NSS) To The International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual (IAMSAR) Sept. 2009. Available on the USCG web site at:
http://www.uscg.mil/directives/cim/16000-16999/CIM_16130_2E.pdf

I think you have the right idea. While the power of a xenon strobe is an advantage the fragile flash tube, battery life, and overall unit bulk and weight make such a unit a burden.

At night in a wilderness area a small blinking light can be seen for miles. Something small and light like a Pelican 2130 Mini Flasher LED Submersible Clip-On might be more practical:
http://www.opticsplanet.net/pelican-mini-flasher-2130-led-flashlight.html

Tiny and less than a third of an ounce each, including batteries, you can carry two. Run time is reported at 130 hours, better than five days. Hoist one high into a tree, or on an exposed ridge line, with a note telling people which way you're heading and use the second at night to advertise your position. The one you leave behind is cheap enough, under $10, to be expendable in an emergency.

A pretty good little light that is compact enough to have with you is better than a really good one left at home.

At this point I will display once again my dinosaur like devotion to the good old zenon strobe. Mine go back to when computers ran on punch cards. I found them neither fragile, or heavy, and the battery in my oldest is still working, and it is at least ten years old (hasn't been deployed much lately, though). My newer ones rode in my PFD for years in a salt water environment and were problem free.

I like them because they did their job, every time, and they were always handy.

I use bike blinkies a lot (I am a regular bike commuter), but I don't think they are comparable to a powerful strobe, nor do I think they would attract attention as much as a strobe, or, for that matter, a good campfire. I regularly run at least two blinkies so that motorists won't ride up my back.

As always, you pick your gear and equipment judiciously for the task at hand, balancing weight and bulk against the possibility of use (big FAK vs. two bandaids; shoelaces vs 60M climbing rope). There are plenty of options out there.

It's surprising how much difference there can be in perceived brightness with LED flashers, like the ones used for bicycles. I have a number, and the name-brand ones, like my Cateye, are definitely more "dazzling" to the eye than the no-name cheap ones I have. I don't think it's a matter of the amount of current sent to the LED's. I just think the more expensive unit uses better quality LED's IMHO.

I think you're right that newer LED flashers, and particularly brand-name units, tend to be much brighter.

Back in the early 70 LEDs were expensive and considered pretty high-tech. The stereo system I had back then had little neon bulbs instead of LEDs.

LEDs were rare and the modern high-output LEDs were simply not available at any price. Which is why so many LED lights advertise as one and two watt. In the 80s a one watt LED was a dream. When they became commercially available in the late 90s it was a technological breakthrough and big selling point.

Of course wattage doesn't tell you much about actual light output but in the language of advertising "one watt" sounds impressive and "two watts" is, of course, better still.

As better LEDs are developed the older LED models drop in price and get incorporated into no-name devices. Brand-name producers use better LEDs. Of course I think we are coming up against other limits. How much light do you need? In urban areas with man-made light all around, and at sea where star and moonlight reflecting off waves confuses the issue, you might very well want and need a more powerful strobe. Fog and haze can also confound weaker lights.

Everything is a trade-off. Xenon strobes can be a half pound or more and they use considerable amounts of power so run times are often twenty-four hours or less.

In marine use, where weight is far less an issue, where localizing your location on vast areas of ocean is the biggest obstacle, plus the likelihood of fog and mist, I think a more powerful strobe is in order. The shorter run time may not be such a burden if you're in cold water. Even with an exposure suit if you don't get picked up in a short time you're dead.

For hiking and backpacking use, where every single gram has to be humped for miles and distances are smaller, a lighter unit or two that can ride for months unused in the bottom of a small survival kit, a unit with an extended run time seems more like the tool for the job. On land there is a good chance you can hunker down for a few days so long run time has more utility.

a recent rescue account mentions the cell phone as attracting the attention of a helipcopter here and the first person account also mentions "waving" the cell here.

you may not get reception but the light acts as a homing beacon for the night vision equipped.

Reading the account below of the Alaska Ranger crew at pre-dawn on 3/23/2008, it seems that strobes were key.

The crew got off a distress message with their lat/lon before sinking, and when the USCG helo got there:

" ...there it was—a light. Then two, three ... five. The crew saw what looked like a poorly lit runway, a string of strobes flashing on and off over almost a mile-long stretch of ocean."

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/crashes/4267469

The US Coast Guard seems to like the ACR "Firefly 2" strobe.

In this USCG training video for the skill task:
"BCM-02-08-ANY Identify Boat Crew Survival Vest Equipment"
the strobe the instructor shows at 0:40-0:43 is an ACR Firefly 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq7bOZxNJR4



The USCG is also displaying several of the ACR Firefly 2 at 00:09-00:11 of
this survival suit demo (and the interviewer discusses this in 2:00-2:32 of this segment)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQxyr2fIu0c