windwarrior Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 I remember back around the mid 2000's I was flying my Rev. with a guy in Seattle and he had some really cool small lights that held those flat coin batteries and he had a set of 5 I believe. They would mount via a small elastic rubber band cord on all four points and the fifth one sat top dead center. I had the website bookmarked on my desktop but since then my desktop decided to loose everything on it including 5yrs worth of photos. I've seen some really cheap ones on amazon that are pretty much disposable and I'm pretty sure have a 6mth shelf life. They kinda look like a button. The one's I'm talking about above look more like the old dome lights for older cars. Ring a bell? Quote
riffclown Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 Try these.. https://smile.amazon.com/Nite-Ize-SpotLit-Carabiner-Resistant/dp/B001E8BA9M Quote
windwarrior Posted July 30, 2017 Author Report Posted July 30, 2017 My only concern with those would be not being able to fully secure them from shifting back and forth on the kite when spinning it. Unless I'm missing something. The ones I'm talking about had elastic on both ends so it was completely secure. Quote
riffclown Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 They clip arounfd the spars pretty well and a small rubber band will keep them from sliding up and down the spar.. There are also these. https://smile.amazon.com/Etekcity-Finger-Lights-Supplies-Assorted/dp/B00D62VF1W Despite their noted 6 month shelf life, I have boxes a few years old still going strong.. and they are basically disposable at that price.. Quote
windwarrior Posted July 30, 2017 Author Report Posted July 30, 2017 Hmmm...... Is that your rev in the video? Quote
riffclown Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 The Red White and blue with the moonlights is my Homemade Fullsail #2 The Rev at about 30seconds in is @ACrop using the finger lights I linked to on Amazon Quote
riffclown Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_gnr_aps?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Anite+ize+Moonlit&keywords=nite+ize+Moonlit&ie=UTF8&qid=1501380899 Same items basically as the first link.. My kite had 6 of them clipped on it. Quote
riffclown Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 Honestly unless you are yanking things around pretty hard (and some of us do) any of those options will work pretty well. and in all honesty, the video doesn't really do them justice. Quote
windwarrior Posted July 30, 2017 Author Report Posted July 30, 2017 I'd rather lean towards the finger lights just for piece of mind but how the heck would they connect to the kite??? Quote
riffclown Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 They have a built in rubber band.. just put it on the spar the same way you'd put it on your finger.. They backlight a lighter colored sail VERY nicely.. I've used them MANY MANY times. You do lose some some times, they occasionally will pop off.. no big deal..As long as they stay lit they are easy to find.. I usually give the ones I use in a session to any kids that are spectators.. LED Lights have almost no heat and do not get warm to the touch at all.. Quote
Grandpa Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 I have the Velcro finger lights I got from JB years ago in seaside. Still working and the replacement batteries are cheap. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app 1 Quote
riffclown Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 The newer fingerlights aren't made to make the batteries replaceable.. You just toss them. they seem to be cheaper than the batteries would be anyway.. I extract the LED from ones that die.. I use the salvaged LEDs for other projects.. The Nite Ize Moonlits use CR2032 batteries though. and are able to be changed out. Quote
windwarrior Posted July 30, 2017 Author Report Posted July 30, 2017 I found the lights I was talking about. It looks like windpowersports had them but the link is no good so not sure if they can still get them. I just wonder if the finger lights are brighter. I'm certain the battery life on these is much longer but how long can one fly at night? LOL. I know THAT answer. Quote
John Barresi Posted July 30, 2017 Report Posted July 30, 2017 On iQuad we just used square (180 degree visibility) blue LED bulbs slid directly onto small watch batteries, which we than adhered to the sail and bent the bulb wires so it generally pointed at us, 5 lights per kite. 1 Quote
Tmadz Posted July 31, 2017 Report Posted July 31, 2017 You can see in my profile photo that I've done this with button battery lights attached to my Eliot Shook sissy sticks. I was able to rubber band the lights to the sissy stick and projects onto the sail. You can also attach them to the upright spars. I bought button lights with a small switch at $.50/ea and got an assortment. I also bought the RBG ones that switch colors. I live by a small airport so I have to be careful of UFO sightings. Quote
windwarrior Posted August 3, 2017 Author Report Posted August 3, 2017 On 7/31/2017 at 8:18 AM, Tmadz said: You can see in my profile photo that I've done this with button battery lights attached to my Eliot Shook sissy sticks. I was able to rubber band the lights to the sissy stick and projects onto the sail. You can also attach them to the upright spars. I bought button lights with a small switch at $.50/ea and got an assortment. I also bought the RBG ones that switch colors. I live by a small airport so I have to be careful of UFO sightings. Any links to this stuff or better yet, a close up of the set up on the kite itself? Quote
windwarrior Posted August 3, 2017 Author Report Posted August 3, 2017 On 7/29/2017 at 9:30 PM, windwarrior said: I found the lights I was talking about. It looks like windpowersports had them but the link is no good so not sure if they can still get them. I just wonder if the finger lights are brighter. I'm certain the battery life on these is much longer but how long can one fly at night? LOL. I know THAT answer. Anybody know where to get these? Quote
Paul LaMasters Posted August 3, 2017 Report Posted August 3, 2017 I have good success with this firm... https://www.100candles.com/submersible_led_lights.htm I have the ones with a remote controller, LEds are rubber banded to the top of the magic sticks and backlight the kite Quote
windwarrior Posted August 3, 2017 Author Report Posted August 3, 2017 On 7/29/2017 at 7:33 PM, riffclown said: Try these.. https://smile.amazon.com/Nite-Ize-SpotLit-Carabiner-Resistant/dp/B001E8BA9M So far, you're the only one that has given me a good visual with the video. Heck, I would've been ok with pictures of it at night so I can see how lit up the kite gets with whatever lights you're using. Thanks for that! Maybe more will share similar. Quote
windwarrior Posted August 3, 2017 Author Report Posted August 3, 2017 10 hours ago, Paul LaMasters said: I have good success with this firm... https://www.100candles.com/submersible_led_lights.htm I have the ones with a remote controller, LEds are rubber banded to the top of the magic sticks and backlight the kite You have pics of them set up on the kite by chance? Quote
riffclown Posted August 3, 2017 Report Posted August 3, 2017 In all honesty, the video doesn't do the lights justice. I have video also of @esinger with a blue and a green on the tips of his dual kite. doesn't show up well in the video but was mesmerizing to watch in the dark as he put it through the paces.. @ACrop was using some of the fingerlights and clipped onto the vertical spars, they let up her kite pretty well. @Khal has color changing lights that look very cool as well BUT the colors just don't seem to show up on the recordings.. For the price, the fingerlights are nearly impossible to top. They are disposable and for tinkerers like me, you can rescue the LEDs from the dead one to do other very cool stuff. BTW, When flying larger foils you can do some other pretty cool things with Automotive LED strips. These are a different type of light before I discovered the fingerlights but wanted to share.. Quote
windwarrior Posted August 3, 2017 Author Report Posted August 3, 2017 On 7/29/2017 at 8:38 PM, Grandpa said: I have the Velcro finger lights I got from JB years ago in seaside. Still working and the replacement batteries are cheap. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app Velcro finger lights? Have a link to those? Quote
windwarrior Posted August 3, 2017 Author Report Posted August 3, 2017 8 minutes ago, riffclown said: In all honesty, the video doesn't do the lights justice. I have video also of @esinger with a blue and a green on the tips of his dual kite. doesn't show up well in the video but was mesmerizing to watch in the dark as he put it through the paces.. @ACrop was using some of the fingerlights and clipped onto the vertical spars, they let up her kite pretty well. @Khal has color changing lights that look very cool as well BUT the colors just don't seem to show up on the recordings.. For the price, the fingerlights are nearly impossible to top. They are disposable and for tinkerers like me, you can rescue the LEDs from the dead one to do other very cool stuff. BTW, When flying larger foils you can do some other pretty cool things with Automotive LED strips. These are a different type of light before I discovered the fingerlights but wanted to share.. That looked pretty cool. I wonder how many ufo calls are made because of those? LOL! Quote
Tmadz Posted August 4, 2017 Report Posted August 4, 2017 On 8/3/2017 at 7:07 AM, Paul LaMasters said: I have good success with this firm... https://www.100candles.com/submersible_led_lights.htm I have the ones with a remote controller, LEds are rubber banded to the top of the magic sticks and backlight the kite Thanks Paul. That's where I got mine. Sorry I got busy and couldn't post a picture of my setup. I just have the regular RGB floral lights and they have individual colors too. I took a moment and wrapped each light with a thin strip of electrical tape to keep the case closed. The plastic cases sometimes fall apart with abuse. Other than that, I've had phenomenal luck with them. I don't know about UFO sightings, but I have had a few young people walking by compliment me on my kite. I suspect several of them may have been under the influence of something which may add to the effect. Supposed to have unusually good conditions for night flying tonight. Hopefully, I can get a video without a helper. Quote
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