I need a Map Reader and found this info:

Type 1

Army Technology Map Reader

Deutsch info site



Shop 1
Shop 2

Type 2

MEPROLIGHTS's Map Reader



Type 3

AmeriGlo's/H3 Illuminated Map Reader



Shop 1

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Thats all I know now.

Type 1 (Army Technology) seems best at this time.

Any one tryed one?

Any more info some where?

Regards

Thomas
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#1 looks great to me.
but i couldnt find a price for in in u.s. $

Hello,

I doubt you can buy in the US as a civilian. All radioactive (tritium) materials are strictly controlled. Btw anything that's "radiating" and legal can be reached at the unitednuclear.com. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Zerge

he is european, just like me so he can buy them, they cost a lot though, over € 100.

And like me... I just missed NY RAT in a flash. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Then of course you can buy those, but regulations vary from country to country within the EU. The best is to reach somehow the manufacturer, and ask.

IMHO in these days of the affordable miniature lithium + LED combinations the bulkier tritium light sources are outdated.

Thanks all!

I will try AmeriGlo's Illuminated Map Reader because of it's whit light.

While some manufactured goods containing tritium are not sold outside of military/law enforcement, it's because the manufacturers, or their agents, have made the decision not to sell them to the general public.

Seeing as how one can purchase a watch or compass with tritium components over the web, it's not something that can be considered "strictly controlled."

The only bad thing about having tritium components in your kit is regardless of how much you pay, they still have a half life of only a dozen or so years. (Or, if you break the glass/plastic container & allow yourself direct contact to the tritium itself.)

I have Tritium sights on a gun manufactured, purchased and registered legally in the U.S. Granted the amount of Tritium used in them is minute. I wonder where the cut off is. How much Tritium is too much to be legal?

Uses of tritium in the US are regulated by the NRC. It's only partly a question of "how much tritium can you have in a civilian device". The actual applications are regulated. Tritium is permitted in watch markers and gun sights, but not permitted in "novelty" devices like glow rings. It's permitted in exit markers provided that the markers are permanently mounted at their location and that the location is registered with the NRC. I don't know if these map reading things would have any chance of getting approved, and it would probably take a mountain of paperwork to find out.

As an alternative, I suggest a Tektite Trek Lithium flashlight. That's an LED dive light (1AA sized) powered by a 3.6 volt computer battery with 10+ years of shelf life (tritium has about 12 years half life) and over 200 hours of runtime. It's completely waterproof and pretty much indestructable, and should put out much more light than the tritium thing.

A cheaper alternative is take a white-LED Photon II or similar coin cell light, and replace the two CR2016 cells with a single CR2032. That will make the light a lot dimmer, but it will still be adequate for map reading, and it will run for several days straight.

Very interesting. Thanks for the info on the legality.

Hi,

Although Paulr has made some clarification, I have to say some other things.

The sale/import/export of radioctive products is strictly controlled in the US (not sure of Canada). Even it is embedded in an instrument (watch, compass, etc.) it still needs to be legislated at the first time of import/manufacture. Try to order a small glowring over the net, an official retail won't work. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I doubt any beta lights, glow rings, tritium map readers would go through regular customs. In most cases the well informed manufacturer, or the carrier will deny to ship the product to the USA. And the local manufacturers are not allowed to sell any of those to non-industrial/non-military customers.

Of course you can buy those through ebay, or ask a friend to bring home from Europe, but you should take care to avoid at all cost any commercial-looking quantities (e.g. 20 tritium map readers). In today's terror-concious air travel/transport I don't wish anyone to explain radioctive sources in his/her package.

As I've previously stated, the large tritium light sources are outdated in most survival cases. I still recommend some led+lithium.

Depends on what you mean by legal. The exempt quantity for tritium is 1 millicurie. So you can have that much without a license or having to follow any of the regulattions.

The mapreader would be legal provided the manufacturer acquired a license to manufacture these products. I don't see why they wouldn't be approved. The amount of tritium used isn't harmful to anyone even if they broke it apart and ate it. It is simply a paperwork problem, and of course it takes time and money, which many companies don't want to deal with. If you are bored and want some light reading (guaranteed to put you to sleep), you can read all about NRC licensing in 10 CFR Part 30.

Enjoy!

Greg