Largest Glowsticks for Night Diving?

[ItMustBeJames]

I like taking large glow sticks on night dives as my marker light. There's no good reason; it's just something to get a laugh from my fellow divers and to be a little different.

So far I've been able to find 15" green glow sticks online with relative ease. They aren't cheap, but I consider them worth it for the occasional night dive at the local quarry.

Has anyone found them in sizes larger than 15 inches? If so, where can I pick them up?

 

[DCBC]

Why not make your own light-sticks and put the mixture into any size container you like? Here's one recipe I was given:

You will need: luminol, 3% hydrogen peroxide, 2 liters of distilled water, sodium carbonate, (an odourless white powder), copper sulfate pentahydrate (odorless blue crystals) and two mixing bowls (non-metal). These ingredients are available at your local drug store, scientific supply store, or may be purchased off the Internet.

Dilute the hydrogen peroxide with equal parts of water and mix in one bowl. Set it aside.

Place a small amount of water into the other bowland and mix 4 grams of sodium carbonate. Add 0.4 grams of copper sulfate pentahydrate and then 0.2 grams of luminol to the solution.

Mix the contents of both bowls equally (in the quantity you like). Pour the mixture into any clear container and Viola.

Note: The mixture, or ingredients are not intended to be ingested, placed on the skin or near the eyes. Generally this in non-toxic, but that isn't an excuse for abuse.

 

[ItMustBeJames]

Now that's a cool idea! I guess I'd have to figure out what kind of container I could put it in and make sure it was water tight. But that could get really interesting! Thanks!

 

[DCBC]

It's liquid so it's incompressible, the container could be something simple like a plastic water bottle. This seals well and is relatively inexpensive. Good luck with the experiment!

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Use clear plastic tubing from the hardware store. You can insert some thick wire in the tube and then bend it into any shape you want. Like neon tube art. Heck you could bend it in to an outline of a fish or something to catch their eye.

 

[themagni]

Why not get 2 x 15" sticks and tape them together?

 

[Lenaxia]

Why not make your own light-sticks and put the mixture into any size container you like? Here's one recipe I was given:

You will need: luminol, 3% hydrogen peroxide, 2 liters of distilled water, sodium carbonate, (an odourless white powder), copper sulfate pentahydrate (odorless blue crystals) and two mixing bowls (non-metal). These ingredients are available at your local drug store, scientific supply store, or may be purchased off the Internet.

Dilute the hydrogen peroxide with equal parts of water and mix in one bowl. Set it aside.

Place a small amount of water into the other bowland and mix 4 grams of sodium carbonate. Add 0.4 grams of copper sulfate pentahydrate and then 0.2 grams of luminol to the solution.

Mix the contents of both bowls equally (in the quantity you like). Pour the mixture into any clear container and Viola.

Note: The mixture, or ingredients are not intended to be ingested, placed on the skin or near the eyes. Generally this in non-toxic, but that isn't an excuse for abuse.

Thats pretty cool. does that formula start glowing immediately? Or can you activate it later?

 

[DCBC]

Thats pretty cool. does that formula start glowing immediately? Or can you activate it later?

It activates as soon as the contents of the two bowls are mixed together. I don't think that you would have a problem storing them separately in a dark place and mixing them at a later date. They're stored separately in clear breakable containers within a normal lightstick and are activated when they're broken (mixed), but I haven't tried this.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Here are a couple of YouTube videos by NurdRage that might be of interest:

Video #1: How to make different-colored glow sticks


Video #2: How to make TCPO

 

[RJP]

Why not make your own light-sticks and put the mixture into any size container you like? Here's one recipe I was given:

You will need: luminol, 3% hydrogen peroxide, 2 liters of distilled water, sodium carbonate, (an odourless white powder), copper sulfate pentahydrate (odorless blue crystals) and two mixing bowls (non-metal). These ingredients are available at your local drug store, scientific supply store, or may be purchased off the Internet.

Dilute the hydrogen peroxide with equal parts of water and mix in one bowl. Set it aside.

Place a small amount of water into the other bowland and mix 4 grams of sodium carbonate. Add 0.4 grams of copper sulfate pentahydrate and then 0.2 grams of luminol to the solution.

Mix the contents of both bowls equally (in the quantity you like). Pour the mixture into any clear container and Viola.

Note: The mixture, or ingredients are not intended to be ingested, placed on the skin or near the eyes. Generally this in non-toxic, but that isn't an excuse for abuse.

Any issues vis-a-vis disposal?