no no and know if some guy breaks into my house i don't want them to find keys to my car easily.

EaGle1337

@PynkFloydd:

Yes what he said. Radium (or whatever they used to use to make things glow back in the day) = dangerous.

Tritium = not so much. You could literally ingest the material inside this small tube and you'd be exposed to maybe half as much as you get during an x-ray.

Your junk is not going to fall off. Unless your name is Spitzer. His will fall off for a different reason. Unless singing myspace callgirls are radioactive...Maybe Tom should post a warning.

YtuMaMaTambien

Just for kicks..you may want to know that these are illegal in many countries for the radioactive content - including Denmark, also the compass and fishing lures that contain this.

JoOngle

I bought a green glowring about 2 years ago. Lost my keys twice but found them with this thing. A lot harder to find in daylight though.
Not enough light to light your hand though. All you wimpies out there, your junk will be fine. Your tampons might glow though.

gizmodohomepage

I'd get one of these but I really like not getting a body cavity search when I cross the US/Canada boarder which I do often.

Altho I may grow to like it, you never know.

SirDrinksalot

Tritium has been used for many, many, many, many years and it's very safe. When I was in the military, Tritium was in the compasses. It's also used in gun sites. ...so far, no adverse *coughs* reactions *coughs*.

PynkFloydd

WAY late gizmodo! Dealextreme has been selling these type of key chains for a very long time.

ppeetteeyy

@yaesumofo: My first order with 'em, so I guess we'll see.

strider_mt2k

@The Lab:
Try getting that through the TSA

StarWhores

@Marty
" provided the hair on your junk does not fall out."

You say that like it's a bad thing.

StarWhores

@Kaiser-Machead:

two demerits for that blight on humanity remark

mtopper

I dont want to have a glo"stick" ;-)

mtopper

@nutbastard:
But you can't get abortions for herpes. I would say its the second worst.

I bought like 10 of these to attach to my mooninite light brite set, now we'll have a real panic.

thechansen

I have had generally good experiences with DX, actually. Some stuff is crap, just like everywhere else. They are pretty upfront with their shipping times and they do actually respond to email. Better than some vendors stateside, in my opinion.

getz76

These things have been around for years and years and even longer as indicators in watches. It's safe (unless ingested as noted by the fellow above).

BoinK

The problem with this is that Dealextreme sucks.
They are slow and the crap they sell is crap.
There are other versions of these which are much better.
BTW Tritium is pretty harmless in these smal quantities.
The radiation is very weak. so weak it doesn't even go through the glass envelope the gas is contained in let alone the plastic case the little glass envelope is held in.
There is NO danger in this as a keychain.
In general these are a fantastic idea. Like when you drop your keys at the movie theatre. they are easy to find due to the tritium marker.
Again DX sucks.
Yaesumofo

yaesumofo

Just finished my radioactivity training a couple weeks ago. Safe unless broken and then eaten.

@av8thor: Won't penetrate the glass window of a Geiger counter. Have to do a swab test and read in a scintillation counter.

The Lab

@Kaiser-Machead:
Yeah pregnancy is the #1 worst STD.

nutbastard

WARNING: May Adversely affect persons originating from Krypton. Do not Use in Conjunction with Yellow Sun.

nutbastard

I wonder if anyone at the company actually keeps these in their pockets and are practicing what they preach.....

I think I'm OK having to relace a $3.00 watch battery VS having my nuts & bolts fall off!

Sloth

@Kaiser-Machead: Youth is completely wasted on 'em. ;)

strider_mt2k

I just ordered a couple.
Hard to resist shit like this.

Kinda why I hang here. :)

strider_mt2k

@92BuickLeSabre: If someone else waves their precious jewels in front of your face, you may be inclined to refer to it as junk :P

I'm not too worried about my sperm. Children are the blight of humanity anyway.

Kaiser-Machead

@Stalhandske: I was going to say the same thing; this material has been used in scopes for years.

getz76

Well, Beta radiaiton can't penetrate skin so I doubt anything is even escaping the plastic that encapsulates the tritium. (Except photons)

Still, I do wonder what happens when you run tricorde.... i mean Geiger counter over it. Could mean hours of fun at the airport if the TSA weenies go all JoJo the Indian Boy over it.

av8thor

@EBone and Monty: Men, men! Once upon a time these precious parts of our bodies were considered treasure! Jewels! Family Jewels! Have we fallen so far that we denigrate it so easily, calling it "junk" as though it belonged in a gutter?

No kind sirs. Take pride in your "junk." Lift it out of the gutter with the other "junk" and lift it back up to its rightful place!

92BuickLeSabre

Links to the brand (nite) thats been around a couple of years.
[www.glosticks.co.uk]
[www.tizertech.co.uk]
Got one on my keyring, it´s great if you lose it in snow or grass, also have a couple of other on other important stuff.
I also have a traser watch with tritium it´s just great with that perfect glow.

And other products with tritum in is the ACOG scopes which loads of military branches use.

And the half-life of tritium is about 12 years, so in 12 years the glow "power" will be about the half as well.

Stalhandske

Ow! My Sperm!

WEGGLES90

Some of the pictures make it look like it barely glows... Am I the only one who thinks this is just that glow in the dark stuff you get from sticking it in the light for a while?

Zgradis

Is it supposed to look like a Green Lantern ring?

I suppose the radioactivity is just another fun coffee table discussion waiting to happen, provided the hair on your junk does not fall out.

Monty

@EBone: I was gonna make a snarky remark about anyone else but you wanting to find it in the dark, but I'm not gonna because I'm a NICE GUY! :D

strider_mt2k

I think I kinda want one.
-and one for my wife, because she can't kill me if I hand her one of her own, right?

strider_mt2k

No thanks. I don't want my junk glowing in the dark.

EBone

Wow $10 each! I bought a whole bunch of these tritium keychains off of ebay about 4 years ago for about $20 total, shipped from Singapore, even.

The tritium gas is an isotope of hydrogen and sealed in a little borosilicate glass (ie Pyrex) vial that is coated on the inside with a phosphor. The phosphor absorbs all of the beta radiation and gives off light. The color and brightness depends on the particular phosphor used. I keep a yellow one on my keyring, but they come in about 10 different colors.

It's bright enough to see glowing through a jeans pocket in pitch black and you can read by it in a pinch. Bright it is not but considering that it will glow like that for a good 10 years or so it's still not bad.

One time my wife dropped hers and the plastic housing came open and the vial came out -- fortunately it was not broken and I superglued it back together.

John Laur

i got one of these a few years back. i don't know why but my testicles are grapefruit size now.

foureight84

Man, if the TSA has a fit about nipple rings, I can't imagine what would happen if you traveled with this.

fuzzycuffs

Hm, I was under the impression these were not allowed in the states... at least last time I checked.

BaseVilliN

How long before somebody brands this with the Simpsons logo.

DeadWriter

@EaGle1337: duh, they will find your keys anyway.

Stalhandske

@PynkFloydd: Yes, because we know if the military uses it, it MUST be safe. Like all those guys standing in a foxhole in the 1950s just outside Yucca Flats...

I know, it's safe. I just like commenting about my junk.

EBone

For you cowards that thinks this radiation, don´t make any airline travels without a suit made out of lead...

The amount of radiation on a round-trip cross-country
from New York to Los Angeles and back would expose you for about 3 mrem cosmic radiation... Think again, lol.

Stalhandske

due, my balls already glow in the dark

MrBlahBlah

@The Lab: The army is a nice touch, but I have one that says jihad I use specifically for flying because I want people in the air to know who not to take hostage.

portugue

@StarWhores: It would be very easy to get this through TSA as they can't detect it. Furthermore, I have been traveling for a couple years now wearing a shirt that says "army" in arabic. You'd think that'd get me stopped but it hasn't raised an eyebrow. Did I mention I'm white?

The Lab

@DeadWriter: you sure, i tend to hide mine i can't find them in under 20 minutes...

EaGle1337

Cool, fun look find and ball shaver!

--Tito--

I seem to recall reading somewhere that these were illegal to import into the US. Here are the googlez:

[wiki.answers.com]
Tritium devices can be purchased in the UK and Australia, but are illegal for import to the United States, however they are available in the US as gunsights and for military applications.

[outdoors-magazine.com]
Beta lights (tritium filled glass tubes) haven't been available in the US and are currently illegal for import due to NRC regulations.

bandit

@portugue: Wrong, but very funny. Hope you have a credit in the karma bank to offset the t-shirt. :)

getz76

Terrorists are buying these, swallowing them along with some Dulcolax, and then 24 hours later visiting public restrooms....
Dirty Bombs! Death to America!

scarbrtj

@WEGGLES90:

Woo! Futurama reference FTW!

MacBastard

I see a good market potential in these being gifts from X-Wives and X-Girlfriends. She always said she hoped your "junk" fell off, and now she can make her dream a reality.

Curves

plasma sperm

jkr

John Banner here.

Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

ideaman2020

Isn't tritium illegal in the US because of it's dual-use nature?

fireshaper

@MacBastard:

Ahahha! Yes! The F-Ray.

WEGGLES90

Clearly not for people who have a habit of gnawing on key chains, pens, etc or have family members who do so.

MadCrazy

@fireshaper:

It's legal here, but those that sell items with it here (exit signs, watches, etc.) have to be registered with the Nuclear Regulatory Comission, and must provide them with info on every person that buys items containing them. Most dealers don't care for the red tape, so they opt not to.

YtuMaMaTambien

These have been around for years, I have one :)

Knirfie

No trouble with my order thus far...

strider_mt2k

"Tritium is widely used in nuclear weapons for boosting a fission bomb or the fission primary of a thermonuclear weapon." -wiki

Yeah.... I'm thinkin' I'm gonna pass on this one.

avconsumer

Now all I need are 4 robotic arms that can interface with my nervous system and I'll be able to harness the power of a sun. I mean, an long as the inhibitor chip doesn't get damaged everything will be fine.

AlabastaJoe

This gives new meaning to the term . . . Blue Balls!

riqgeez

@bandit: Because America is full of a bunch of pussies. I managed to get one through via ebay and singapore.

gizmodohomepage

Where I work I think this thing is the least of my worries.........Thats all I can say....

superbryant88

There have been night sights for hand guns for years using tritium. Nothing bad has happened to me as a result of using those. JUST A SECOND MOM!!
I've carried them on my gun for... I'M ON THE PHONE!!! anyway, for a number of years and... You know what, I have to go. The bats are back and I need to get help since I just dropped my fingers.

munan

"RE: Well, Beta radiaiton can't penetrate skin so I doubt anything is even escaping the plastic that encapsulates the tritium. (Except photons)

Still, I do wonder what happens when you run tricorde.... i mean Geiger counter over it. Could mean hours of fun at the airport if the TSA weenies go all JoJo the Indian Boy over it."

1st part is somewhat true. Low beta radiation will not penetrate the skin, but you can still absorb it through pores in your skin.

2nd portion: B/c again it's low energy, Geiger counter will not pick it up.

The problem I have with this key chain even though it's low energy radiation: what happens if you break the key chain. Now you have radioactive contamination that could possibly be there for 12+ years. But I'm thinking that the activity is less than 1 microcurie.

jTexans

@jTexans:

A microcurie of tritium would not be close to enough activity to cause any glow. The tritium contained in exit signs is around 20 curies.

The NRC does not track everyone who buys products with tritium in it. Last time I checked Home Depot didn't do a background check when an exit sign was purchased.

With a 18 KeV beta there is little to worry about as far as exposure. The comments made of clothing or the dead layer of skin being enough for shielding are correct as are Geiger-Mueller detectors being unable to detect tritium. Liquid scintillation is the most common way of finding tritium contamination.

BTW, the ALI (Annual Limit on Intake) for tritium is 80 millicuries, which means if 80 mCi were ingested in the body it would result in the regulatory limit of 5 REM.

Trav47

@EBone: mmmm...good ol' military. lol

I will DEFINITELY agree with you since they made us takes malaria pills that had a high chance of burning your brain stem and making you go psycho. ...but, when we'd play with Geiger counters, the compasses wouldn't set them off unless you'd put them next to the sensor. It took quite a bit of the material to get a solid reading.

PynkFloydd

I've had one of these on my key chain for years now, and have sired 2 kids during that period. My children's super powers have yet to reveal themselves, but they (the kids) are super smart and wonderfully cute, and the glow stick has enabled me to find my keys on more than one occasion, so I would say it has been a great purchase.

forrsmg

They've been using tritium in watches for years...in fact last time I checked my dive watch hadn't eaten through my wrist yet...Besides glow in the dark junk might be a good conversation starter :-P

RumRunner5

sweet mini-WMDs

Midnightoutlaw88

the keyring is safe, but they used (is?) restrictions on there export from the UK as Tritium is a fuel for use in nuclear weapon warheads.

but you would need a few thousand keyrings for that ;)

Bridon

No offense, but where have you been? These have been available since 2002 and even earlier. The first variants came in 7 different colors and are now only available in 3. Do a search for "nite glowring" on google for more results.

robstamack