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FrozenGate by Avery

Glowing Laser Accessories

Quetzal

Quetzal

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Jul 21, 2012
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Howdy all!

I remember a while back while I was "lurking" before becoming a member, I saw a photo of someone's laser that had little areas around the "emitter" (for lack of a better word) that glowed bright blue.

I also remember reading that there was some chemical that they used in little vials that supposedly glowed by itself (without the usual sunlight exposure or electric current).

Try as I might, I can't find the post again, and I was wondering if anyone had any insight into how this was done, as I'd very much like to have a "Tron" style laser of my own.
 





You're looking for tritium vials. They're something like $15-30 apiece depending on where you get them. They're not very bright though.
 
Thanks!

Still, if it glows a little in the dark, it would be really cool.

They are safe, right? (Reading about the radioactive decay)

+1 rep for you :D
 
They're moderately safe. Only thing to really worry about is breaking them and breathing the gas, but when housed correctly it's not something to cause much concern.
 
This specifically relates to the tiny viles used in sights, but you get the picture...

Taken from General FAQ's - Trijicon, Inc.

Is Tritium harmful?
According to documentation by health physicists in statements on file at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), it would take the simultaneous rupture of 10,000 of these small glass capsules in a small room 10 foot by 10 foot to potentially constitute a radiation health hazard. For this reason, customers need not be concerned about the potential risk of the night sight system. Furthermore, our front sight is 0.018 curies and the two rear sight dots are 0.018 curies each. A complete sighting system is 0.054 curies. This is less than many tritium watches, which have up to 0.200 curies or roughly four times as much radioactivity. In addition, the weapon is not as close to the body, and in less constant use than a watch.
 
Virtually all the rays are blocked by the glass casing. Even if you breathe the gas, it goes right out again next breath. You'd have to break a vial, burn the gas, and drink the resulting water or something equally silly.
 
Hm, I remember reading somewhere about "extreme danger" breathing the gas in :thinking:
I'll see if I can find it or if I was dreaming.
 
ZRaffleticket said:
Hm, I remember reading somewhere about "extreme danger" breathing the gas in :thinking:
I'll see if I can find it or if I was dreaming.
Click to expand...

You probably were dreaming. :crackup:

Even if tritium gets into your body, since it's an isotope of hydrogen, it would be flushed right out in ~12 days through urine, sweat, or breath vapor.
Drinking more water reduces the days to two.

Cheers! :beer:
 
Again, thanks for the replies.

So, if I wanted to get some tritium vials into my laser, I'd have to get the host made custom, correct?
 
Quetzal said:
Again, thanks for the replies.

So, if I wanted to get some tritium vials into my laser, I'd have to get the host made custom, correct?
Click to expand...

That or have someone mill a slot into the host you have to place the vial in.
 
Those are beautiful!

And that's the post I originally saw :D

I'm still waiting for my "pocket mini" host to arrive from CajunLasers, so I'll have to look at that and see which one would look best with it.

The best part is that those tritium vials are the exact same color as my 1W 445 that I'm planning on installing in the mini :)
 
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