My new toy:) A tritium powered torch from betalight.nl. This torch will provide me a weak green light for at least 15 years to come (the half life of tritium is 12.3 a). The source is 1.9 Ci Tritium at the date of manufacture and emitts 900 millilamberts of light. Thats enough for reading a map, compass or a watch and even to read a book in the total darkness.. ok maybe its not recommendable to read a book with such a dim light. The torch itself is complete rubber coated and thus wear resistant and a tight fitting cap to protect the light source. On the backside is a rubber coated ring, with fits the torch on a pole or whatever you want. Needlessly to say, the torch even continues to operate under water, in the extreme cold or hot, in total vacuum, space or on the moon...
Comparison of the tritium torch (left) with an ordinary tritium zip marker (middle) and an americicum powered self-illuminating keychain (right)
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