RE: [Paddlewise] More Re: Being Seen At Night--LEDs etc.

I did some work on white LEDs a few years ago. Glad to see they are catching
on. As far as I know, the brightest white LEDs available are around 4 candle
power. Of course you could use 1000 of them. Nichia is the leading
manufacturer of white LEDs. 

cu

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
[mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net]On Behalf Of ralph diaz
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 1:35 PM
To: PaddleWise_at_paddlewise.net
Subject: [Paddlewise] More Re: Being Seen At Night--LEDs etc.


I have been getting good comments on this both within PaddleWise and back
channel.  Do keep the info flowing!

Someone passed the message on to a company that manufactures LED components
and a  fellow called me from therre (BTW, I don't think that such pass-ons
are a violation of PaddleWise policy as my question was clearly open-ended
and welcoming of inputs from anyone).  That led to most useful info.
Basically you can get LEDs to the same luminens as an incandescent or
halogen the only limit, at this time, being possible costs of such a unit.
The fellow gave me some good pointers that are most appreciated.

What was particularly revealing was that LEDS could be programmed to
automatically run from, say, yellow light to white to blue and back again.
This color change would have the benefit of drawing attention and being
noticed.  That is what makes a flashing light such as a strobe or one of
those red LEDs used for bicyclist so great in drawing attention.  But, as we
are aware, a flashing light in a maritime setting can only be used as a
distress signal such as a white strobe.  Other flashing light colors, such
as red, are also out because they may be confused with a navigation light
and lead a large vessel astray aground or into a collision.  A changing
light color is sort of like a flash but is not a flash.

Someone mentioned using light sticks duct-taped to the paddle blades.  From
what I have seen that has not been as effective as it might seem to be but
it is certainly something we will put to a real life test among other
schemes.  Also someone mentioned using a flashing light on deck...a no-no
for reasons explained above.  Having said this, however, a few of us locals
agree that if we were out in traffic accidentally at night and scared to
death we would use our strobe as a last minute warning if that is all we had
and take our chances with the law.  I am not advocating this as a
replacement for a workable normal lighting system just being realistic.

Oh, an added comment to what Al Mille indicated he did (flashlights with red
and green lens on paddle blade powered by 2 AA batteries each).  His  system
added 10 ounces of weight to the paddle.  That is a lot for most of us.  I
am wondering whether LEDs would be great in such an application powered by 1
AAA battery each.  This would reduce weight significantly, probably to about
3 ounces total for the two flashlights.  Since it is the paddle motion that
draws the attention, this may be enough light.

Again, keep the ideas coming.  Rest assured that whatever the results are of
the real-life tests, we will post them on PaddleWise immediately since it is
such an excellent circulation point and clearancehouse for valuable
information.

Another point: I want to acknowledge again the role that Manhattan Kayak
Company is taking in this particularly Bonnie Aldinger, one of the partners
in the company, who is co-leading this effort with me.

ralph diaz
--
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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