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Reviews > Lighting > Flashlights - LED > Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand > Colleen Porter > Initial Report
Manufacturer: Nite Ize URL: http://www.niteize.com/ Listed Weight: n/a Tested Weight: 3 oz/86 g (wand only - no light or accessories) MSRP: $15.00 US Product Description: A waterproof polycarbonate housing with an attached acrylic cylinder that transforms an LED squeeze light (the wand comes packaged with an Inova brand light) into a glowing wand/flashlight. The total length of the wand is 8 in/20 cm. The circumference of the housing/handle is 4.5 in/11.5 cm, and the circumference of the acrylic cylinder is 2.5 in/6.35 cm. I have to say, it is much larger than I expected. Initial Impressions: I received two wands to test; one came with a green squeeze LED and the other with blue. The wands are exactly the same, it is only the color of the Inova-brand squeeze LED light that is different. My first impression is that although these are really cool (my kids adore them and fight over them whenever I bring them out), I don't think these particular colors have any practical application for standard backpacking needs. I have already had the chance to use these wands for one night in a tent and the green and blue lights transformed the color of all of my equipment so that I had a devil of a time trying to figure out what piece of clothing was what - I spent a very frustrating ten minutes trying to find my son's orange fleece hat, which was rendered a nasty shade of puce. I plan on replacing the blue and green lights with boring old white. The wand itself is, as I said, a pretty darn cool toy. It's waterproof, or at least as waterproof as it needs to be to survive a dunking in the tub. the body of the acrylic cylinder diffuses the light and glows, casting a decent amount of light very evenly around. The end of the tube is clear and thus projects a beam of light, although the beam is not exactly solid - it's a bit swirled, I guess I could say. I haven't yet used the beam for nighttime navigation, so I can't speak to how useful it is for that. It made a decent tent light, even in blue and green. I hope it will be even better when I use it with a white light.
Test Plan:
I have two primary uses in mind – hanging a wand inside my
tent for illumination, and attaching one to my 4-year-old in camp, so
that at
dusk I can always find him easily.
Obviously these are not the main advertised uses for the LED
Wand, but
they are legitimate applications. I have
been searching for a lightweight tent light
for quite some time, with no raging successes so far. At 3 oz/86 g, the LED Wand is one of the lightest
options I've come across, and since I already carry an LED squeeze
light I'll only be adding the weight of the wand itself to my kit. Durability will surely be put to the test, as it will be exposed to both a 4-year-old and a teething baby. We’re certain to drop them, step on them, drool on them, toss them, float them, and accidentally sit on them. They have already been used as lightsabres. We’ll tie them to tents, packs, dry bags, kids and more. The wrist lanyard is an accessory I haven't used much so far. I’ll play around with it and find what it is useful for. There is also a metal clip, but the lanyard can be attached to a wand without having to use the metal clip. I can see from the disclaimers on Nite Ize’s
website that
they do not manufacture the Inova LED light that comes with the wand,
so my test reports will focus on the wands, and not
on the Inova Microlight. Since the wand
is designed to be used with the Microlight I’ll be sure to mention if
there are
any compatibility problems, but otherwise I will focus my attention
away from
the Inova product’s details. I will also see if my other LED
squeeze lights function in the wands as well.
Read more reviews of Nite Ize gear Read more gear reviews by Colleen Porter Reviews > Lighting > Flashlights - LED > Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand > Colleen Porter > Initial Report | |||||
