Forums > Technical Discussion > Glow sticks (i'm all about the CYALUME)

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Mystaddict
439 posts
Location: Oceanside, California, USA


Posted:
For those of you who are like me and enjoy spinning glowsticks, I would recomend CYALUME brand lightsticks. They have a cylinder shape not a hexagon shape like walmart camping sticks. Those thing are so annoying to spin. They just whistle and whistle, Drive me crazy. CYALUME lightsticks are easy to set up to, just a snip of the little hook and a slide onto your strings and you're set. Just thought I'd put my $00.2 in.Eric

Its about talent, not make up or costumes.


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Does anyone know how to make a glowstick? My family REALLY wants to know how to make it in bulk, even by the gallons. Save a buncha money, rather than $3 a stick at Fairs and Festivals. ;D Hee hee. But anyway, We'd like to know the percentage of both ingrediants so that we could get the right glow. If anyone could send a link, a recipe, or even a hint of ingrediants, please, feel free to reply!!! Thanks a LOT!!Jillian

pozeeBRONZE Member
old hand
887 posts
Location: san diego, USA


Posted:
has anyone tried the 2 color changing glowsticks? they have orage-yellow-green, and the other one goes pink-purple-blue. kind of cool but they change gradually and the only person that will really notice it will be yourself. you start off with an orang and a pink and end up with a blue and green(those are my favorite colors, blue and green)

anyone got a light?


NYC_not_PKOne Tyred Guy
203 posts
Location: Camaiore, Lu, Italy


Posted:
MichiganGirl... I've made the glowstick ingredients in College. It was cool, we had a whole big beaker of glowstuff. Unfortunately the ingredients are expensive so I don't do it with my HS kids. If you're paying more than $1 a stick, you're paying FAR too much. I buy in bulk and stock up. There are several sites listed here including glowstickfactory.com that sell them pretty darn cheap. Do read up on this string as there are lots of different kinds...I think if you tried to buy the ingredients and make it, you'd be paying quite a bit more.

PK is a god.. i love the Peeekster.

.:PK:. [poiinthepark founder member]


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing smileSTAY SAFE! hug


Dr. Spinmember
15 posts
Location: Chicago, MA, USA


Posted:
Yeah, I found a few different recipes and basically the stuff is really expensive if you don't do the organic sysnthesis yourself which is more than most homebrewers are capable of. Cyalume has economies of scale working for them.The basic reaction is the oxidation of an aryl oxalate to a high energy intermediate which then gives it's energy to a fluorophore. The reaction is catalyzed by hydrogen peroxide. The particular oxalate determines (for the most part) the kinetics of the reaction, while it's the fluorophore which determines the brightness and color (mostly). Cyalume also does further modifications (not commercially available)to their fluorophores to make a brighter yellow and a longer green which they mix for their flagship green sticks.The fluid in the glass is hydrogen peroxide dissolved in dioctyl phthalate (organic solvent). The outer tube is also filled with dioctyl phthalate saturated with an oxalate (bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate has decent kinetics) and a fluorophore (9,10bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene gives a nice bright green). Sodium salicylate helps catalyze the reaction.Lemme know if you need more info or want some references...Clark

NYC_not_PKOne Tyred Guy
203 posts
Location: Camaiore, Lu, Italy


Posted:
Or if you want blue, like we made in college, its 9, 10-diphenylanthracene as the dye.Now that I remember it, I actually found it anti-climactic to synthesize myself. After all, in order to making your final product you needed very sophisticated ingredients made by a chemical company anyway. You might as well just use the final product. If it was made from bubble gum and baking soda it would have been cool (McGyver?) but it kind of felt like cheating starting with expensive, synthetic chemicals anyway...

PK is a god.. i love the Peeekster.

.:PK:. [poiinthepark founder member]


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing smileSTAY SAFE! hug


Dr. Spinmember
15 posts
Location: Chicago, MA, USA


Posted:
Totally... Like the stuff takes forever to dissolve (a sonicator helps... once you find one :-). And the reaction starts up alot slower if everything isn't really well dissolved... and it definitely isn't any cheaper. I tried the blue fluorophore as well, it was a lot fainter. The green is probably the most impressive color you can do without going nuts. Cyalume uses the 1-chloro and 2-chloro substitutions of the green color... one makes it super bright and one makes it longer lasting. These are both pretty simple substitutions if you know what you're doing... I don't :-)All in all, your right, it was alot more satisfying to just get the sticks... I totally know what you mean about lacking the "MacGuyver" factor smileClark

lusidmember
9 posts
Location: bakersfield, ca. usa


Posted:
Someone mentioned that they would like to find omni cyalume glowsticks for cheap. Go to https://www.botachtactical.com/
they cost $1 for 8-12hr industrial, 30min high intensity and 5min ultra high intensity. Sometimes they go on sale for $.85. I guarentee you won't find them cheaper. The 5 min. one's are so short but so incredibly amazing at the same time!!! This is also a great site to get photonII ($10) and Rav'n lights ($24).

Blackbirdmember
337 posts
Location: London UK


Posted:
I concur with general consensus, the best uk site for glowsticks is www.clubbertoys.comfree p&p! woo!btw, the red glowsticks arent as good as they sound.

x X x ß £ Å Ĉ К ß î я Ð x X x


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
wow! you found aqua ones? I've only ever had one of them and they are like the holy grail. They are like ice blue, like obi-wan's light sabre, nice and bright too.please tell me where you found them!anyone@mmkm.net

VolcanogrrlBRONZE Member
member
9 posts
Location: Richland, WA, USA


Posted:
Another option -- in the States I have found cyalume sticks @ Army surplus shops -- 10 sticks for $10 or something, and they last a good 8 hours. I've used them at night, stashed 'em, and found themstill glowing the next day...

I do all my own stunts...


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
the best place to get glowsticks, the good brand cyalume, that i have found so far is https://store.yahoo.com/bcssales/chemicallights.htmltypically
they cost me around $1.05 each, but the more you buy, the cheaper they are. they also have a wide assortment of colors, and if u have never seen the ULTRA high-intensities, you have gotta check those out. they are great for a quick show of skills. they are super bright but they only last about 5 minutes. dont be fooled by those $.49 glowsticks.. anything thats not the cyalume brand wont last nearly as long or be as bright.

Mystaddict
439 posts
Location: Oceanside, California, USA


Posted:
Raver in KS, were the glowsticks you bought from that web site cylinder with a hook and hole? I'm looking for a site with that type of cyalume stick. Hook + hole, industrial(12 hour), cylinder shape. If anyone finds them then be sure to alert me to the web site. Ericappreciate it!

Its about talent, not make up or costumes.


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
most websites selling glowsticks do sell the hook with the loop type glowsticks.. those to me aren't as bright and dont last as long.. but heres a site for you..https://store.yahoo.com/bcssales/chemicallights.html

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
sorry, wonr glink..here ya gohttps://store.yahoo.com/clubtoys/glowsticks.html

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
sorry wrong link, here ya gohttps://store.yahoo.com/clubtoys/glowsticks.html

Mystaddict
439 posts
Location: Oceanside, California, USA


Posted:
Good link but wrong intensity. Those were novalty glows which only last 6-8 hours, I'm looking for industrial which last 12hours. Your wrong about what you said. I'v done plenty of experiments with glows and they're the same. The hook and hole however are a lot better to twirl cause the only prperation you need is bitting off the hook. The other glowsticks with just a hole aren't strong enough to withstand wraps so you have to take a small screw driver and put a hole in them, then you have to cut the other hole off so your wraps don't get caught up. The hook can be bit off and shaven down on the ground. This is why I love the hook and hole glows and not the others.Eric

Its about talent, not make up or costumes.


NYC_not_PKOne Tyred Guy
203 posts
Location: Camaiore, Lu, Italy


Posted:
Myst, I could be wrong but I thought that the main difference between industrial and novelty was the glow length and the hook. Novelty seem to always have the hook. I didn't understand, why did you not like undustrial without the hook? Isn't it the same as just biting it off? I'm curious as I'm thinking of buying a bunch of industrial from glowstickfactory...

PK is a god.. i love the Peeekster.

.:PK:. [poiinthepark founder member]


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing smileSTAY SAFE! hug


Mystaddict
439 posts
Location: Oceanside, California, USA


Posted:
Industrial come with a hook and hole as well. High intensity, ultra highs, and any orange have just a hole. The difference in the holes is a big deal. The hook and hole have extra strenght in the hole, it's a thicker plastic. The glowstix with just holes tend to be a little thin on plastic around the hole. This is why I'm trying to find a site with the hook and hole industial strenght glows. I've had some before, but got them from a rave so I wasn't about to buy in bulk for 5 bucks for two. so yet again, any help will be appreciated.

Its about talent, not make up or costumes.


NYC_not_PKOne Tyred Guy
203 posts
Location: Camaiore, Lu, Italy


Posted:
Cool, got it. I'd be interested as well so do post if you find them...

PK is a god.. i love the Peeekster.

.:PK:. [poiinthepark founder member]


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing smileSTAY SAFE! hug


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
i am going to calgary in a while to buy 250 glosticks that are cyalume for the grand total of 80 $$$$peace out

mattMember
1 post

Posted:
I order my glowsticks online. Because you buy them in bulk they are super cheap.
Some are 30 cents per piece.
I bought a 100 of these recently:

https://www.glow-sticks.com/product/4-inch-12-hour-safety-grade-glow-sticks/

They are the industrial grade. So they have a 12 hour burn life and are really bright.
Oh and the shelf life is 4 years!
So I can buy a bunch and then keep them for awhile.

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