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.