Powerflare - anyone used these?

Has anyone used these?

http://www.powerflare.com

Also, if they performed acceptibly, has anyone compared brightness of the various LED colors?

Good product. Tough as nails. Never compared the colors. Just the red LEDs.

I just HAD to check in on ETS after I got the family settled and tucked in bed after New Year's Eve! Then I just HAD to click on the video showing how the power-thingy survived an explosion. All of you all are probably smart enough to check your volume levels -FIRST. I didn't. The video window opened _behind_ my ETS screen so I was leaning very close to the screen trying to see what was taking so long to download when - AT TOP VOLUME - the video is screaming "FIRE IN THE HOLE! FIRE IN THE HOLE!" before I can even open my volume control! Needless to say, it was a superb test of my family's individual and collective reflexes...They all woke up and came running ROTFL... <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

All I can say is I'm glad we don't live in an apartment or such... LOL!
Happy New Year!
...Cjoi
(nice test of my reflexes, too! LOL)

Yes I have used these, Mostly for setting up LZ's for Night Time Rescues. Helicopter Pilot says he could see these for miles with his night vision.

I looked at these, but could not justify the price. AOSafety has come out with a similar but cheaper (in more ways than one) product, costs around $13 ea.

I picked up one, and think I will wind up with a set of 4 in the truck. It only has steady and blink modes, but it does have strong magnets on it so you can stick it on the side of your vehicle. It has LEDs out the side and top, so it'll work either way.

http://www2.northerntool.com/product-1/200326738.htm

Oh, that's closer to what I'd want.

I've ended up having to put out alert signals four times, two of those were for alternators that died at thirty, fourty below and I hadn't realized that I was running on battery until the car died. There are times that when the car starts, you don't ask, you don't fetch your signals, you just go- I did that once; the second time, I went walked to the nearest phone, then went back to wait for the wrecker. I can manage leaving behind three or so of these things for a few hours or days (until me or a backup can get them), but not at $50+ bucks a pop.

In general, would you recommend the red over the white or green LEDs? I'm speaking just about visibility.

And there is also the SDG Turboflare 360.

-john

I don't know about these specific products, but typically green LEDs are the most visible, but red tends to be associated with 'an emergency'.

There is also some differences when viewed with NVG, but I can't remember which is which.

-john

For emergency warning use, red is more recognizable as being an emergency signal. They are plenty bright. if ultimate visibility is your goal, green light is generally going to be the most effective as your eyes are more sensitive to the green.

It just depends on what you are looking for. There are lots of breakdown signaling devices out there for less money. and if all you needs is a strobe for an LZ or something, cheaper options for that as well. But one problem is that these things tend to be abused when used as road side warning devices, and being run over is not unusual. I think the extra cost is worth it, but YMMV. Sometime you do get what you pay for...

I agree with Doug. These things are tough as nails and designed to take the punishment dished out by the roadside including being run over. The more common version also uses 3v lithium batteries which are more likely to work after sitting in the trunk a couple of years than the competition.

As far as leaving something that expensive on the side of the road, that's what its for. If it prevents a semi from taking out my second biggest investment, then it was certainly worth it. I believe the more common breakdown situation for most folks will be to call AAA from the cell phone and wait rather than walking for assistance; thus, the potential for theft is minimal at best.

On a related topic, if you are on an interstate highway and unable to get more than say 10 feet off the white line, consider getting out of the vehicle and out of harm's way. Your chances of getting hit from behind by an errant driver may be much greater than the limited safety the car provides from the roving criminal element.

Craig.

Oh yes! No argument there. Y'know, it's cheap enought, I think I'll go run over mine just to see.