Reviews > Lighting > Flashlights - LED > Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand > John Waters > Field Report

July 29, 2006

Contents:
Biographical Information
Product Information
Field Conditions/Completed Test Results
Summary to date
Continuing Test Plan

Tester's Biographical Information

Name: John R. Waters
Age: 57
Gender: Male
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.7 m)
Weight: 178 lb (81 kg)
Email Address: exec at bysky dot com
City, State, Country: White Lake, Michigan USA

Backpacking Background

My backpacking began in 1999. I've hiked rainforests in Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico, on glaciers in New Zealand and Iceland, 14ers in Colorado and Death Valley's deserts. I hike or snowshoe 6-8 miles (10 km-13 km) 2-3 times weekly in Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, with other day-long hikes on various SE Michigan trails. I also hike in Colorado and am relocating there, which will increase my hiking time and trail variety tremendously.

My daypack is 18 lb (8 kg); overnights' weigh over 25 lb (11 kg). I'm aiming to reduce my weight load by 40% or more.

Product Information (from Manufacturer website) http://www.niteize.com Manufacturer: Nite Ize, Inc. Style: L.E.D. Wand Colors: Clear Weight: Not available on website MSRP: $15.00 USD Transforms the Inova® Microlight™ flashlight into a versatile Signal Marker / Spot Beam / Beacon. FEATURES: Shockproof Waterproof Durable Floats / Submersible - Depth rated to 1000 feet (300 m) One mile visibility Use as Signal marker, Spot Beam, Beacon and more Limited Warranty: Nite Ize warrants that for two (2) years following the purchase of any Nite Ize Product that the Product will be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use. Features: For an in depth description of the Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand, please refer to my Initial Report.

Color: Clear w/green and blue Inova Microlights
Length: 7.75 in (19.68 cm)
Weight without Microlight: 3.50 oz (99 g)
Weight with Microlight: 3.75 oz (106 g)

Field Conditions/Completed Test Results

Testing was primarily done on a recent trip to Cañon City, Colorado at an altitude of 5687 ft (1733 m) above sea level. The terrain is high desert. It's actually a 35 acre ranch parcel that my wife and I just purchased early this year and now we are in the process of adding infrastructure (driveway, electric, etc.). Surrounded by 30,000 acres of state and federal land, the nearest neighbor is 2 m (3 km) away and, seriously, there is no sound but that of wind, birds and coyotes. From everywhere on the ranch you cannot see or hear a soul.

I have both a blue and a green colored Inova® Microlight™ to insert into the Nite Ize Wand body. To review, the Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. fits into the Nite Ize Wand and seals into the watertight wand by screwing on the top piece. At that point the device cannot be manually operated without opening the unit.

As much as I have used the Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand, I still find it awkward. The light on high goes out after 4 minutes. The Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. can stay on longer, but only if it is switched to the LOW setting, which is not very bright. If you want usable light, it will always go out every 4 minutes (the green one goes out in 2 minutes for some unknown reason). This means the Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand has to be opened and the Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. has to be pressed to be turned on again in 4 minutes intervals. Very challenging under most circumstances. Since this is advertise as a diving light, I'm curious how this is done under water. It appears the only modes that would work under water would be the low light mode or the strobe.

The blue and green Nite Ize Wands appear to not be as bright as a newly started chemical wand of the same size. It glows brightly, but not bright enough to see inside my backpack or the trunk of my car in the darkness. Blue and green lighting is not as bright as white light, and the blue wand is not as bright as the green wand. I found myself reaching for the green wand if I needed more light.

I also found that the Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. itself casts a brighter light than the beam coming from the end of the polished Nite Ize Wand. At 20 ft (6.10 m) the Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. without the Nite Ize Wand lights up a 4 ft (1.22 m) circle on a vertical wall. When the Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. is inserted into the Nite Ize Wand, the beam from the polished end of the wand is only 2 ft (.61 m) in diameter and is less than half as bright. At 30 ft (9.14 m) the Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. outside the Nite Ize Wand casing will cast an 8 ft (2.44 m) diameter circle on a wall and when inserted in the wand will cast a 4 ft (1.22 m) circle that is less than half as bright. (Note these are visual observations and that I have no way to measure lumens).

A test at the campsite showed me that the forward beam of the Nite Ize Wand can go about 40 ft (12.19 M) or so in pure darkness (11pm in Colorado). However it was interesting to me that because the wand emits light (much like one of the Star Wars light sabers, including the handle) that I became night-blinded. I had to shield the wand from my eyes with my hand so I could see the beam. The beam does go about 40 ft (12.19 m) on high, but it is not very bright. I'm talking about just barely being able to know that there was a circle of faint green or blue light shining across the wall of rocks behind the camp site. It is not bright enough to hike with at any speed. The Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. without the Nite Ize Wand was again about twice as bright and went twice as far creating a circle of light at least twice as wide.

I used the green wand to search around inside my tent. I kept it off to the side in the tent stash pocket, but when I wanted to use it, I had to open the top, pull the Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. unit out and press the button, knowing that it would go out in 4 minutes. I sort of got use to doing this in the dark. It was not bright enough in the low setting to work with even though it would stay on indefinitely.

The Morse code signaling function of the Inova® Microlight™ L.E.D. can not be used in the Nite Ize Wand because you can't get to the L.E.D. unit when it's inserted into the wand to press the button. (Hey, I really know Morse code quite well being a ham radio operator. Problem is that I have no idea when I put this thing in Morse mode if anyone seeing the signaling will have any idea what I'm saying anyway.) I guess if you really needed to and if you had really small fingers could leave the top off and try and point the wand in a direction to signal and work the button on the L.E.D., but it would be very difficult. Besides the light from the LED outside the wand is brighter and would be seen more easily.

The large end has a lanyard hook, so it can't be used to position the unit vertical on a flat surface. The other end is the polished end the light comes out. I found that I can stand the unit vertical using that end but it's not too stable. In pure darkness, placed on a flat surface the green and blue wands light up the surface of a 36 in (91 cm) table, but if any items are placed on the table, the light will not hit them because the Nite Ize Wand is short and those items will block the light. With several items on the table, there was little light to worj with.

The strobe is brighter, and I'll do some actual measuring of distance for the next report. I plan on getting to a location with a clear line of site for a few miles and doing a day-time and night-time test where I can measure actual mileage on the strobe.

I've been using the Nite Ize L.E.D. Wands now for about a total of maybe 2 or 3 hours of light-on time each. It appears to me that the light level is dimming now. It's difficult to tell what the battery life will be since I have no way to measure the decline of lumens over time. I can only go based on my visual observation and to note when they cease to emit light or appear visually dimmer.

WEATHER CHART FOR CAÑON CITY TRIP

Summary to date

Continuing Test Plan

My tentative plans for the next 2 months include several 2 - 3 day hikes in Michigan at various locations such as Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Beaver Island. I will also be doing miles of bushwhacking back-country hiking though the 20,000 acres of BLM in the Cooper Mountain range north of Cañon City, Colorado for a week in August and then again in mid-September.

Rain, high humidity, low humidity, sandy soil, rocky ground, high altitude and low altitude will all probably be encountered during the rest of the testing period. I will be continuing testing through the summer in the high, humid temperatures of a Michigan summer, and through early fall in Michigan which will likely be wet and cooler. The two planned trips to Colorado in mid-August, and mid-September should find both hot and cool but dry conditions. Temperatures could range from 30 F to 90 F in the desert areas of Colorado (-1 C to 32 C), giving an opportunity to test over a wide temperature range and a variety of conditions. Michigan temperatures will vary pretty much the same.

I will also be testing in variety elevations, from the sandy lakeshores of Michigan at 177 ft (54 m) above sea level, to a high of 12,360 ft (3767 m) in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains of Colorado.

Questions still to be answered:

Can I change the batteries easily in all trail conditions? Where can I buy new batteries? Are the batteries readily available even in trailhead areas? How long do the batteries last? What are some other ways to use the product?

I will also report any other issues that arise during the testing period.

Thank you for the opportunity to test this product!

John R. Waters

Reviews > Lighting > Flashlights - LED > Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand > John Waters > Field Report