SnakeEater
Member
This looks very interesting. There has got to be a goo reason why I haven't seen multiple threads about people transforming regular sights into night sights, right?
NIGHT SIGHT PAINT
NIGHT SIGHT PAINT
Anyone tried Night Sight Paint?
- Thread starter SnakeEater
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mrmeval
Member
It's glow in the dark paint. It has no radiation source to keep it illuminated. Unless it's highly exotic it is limited in it's glow time.
The Lone Haranguer
Member
My understanding of "glow-in-the-dark" paints is that they have no luminosity of their own, but will absorb light over a period of time and then appear to glow for a little while when the light is taken away. Therefore painting your sights with it is not going to make true night sights.
I remember seeing a thread (a long time ago) which referenced some informal testing of luminous paints. I was highly impressed with the duration of glow produced by some of the paints. It seemed that the most common "glow in the dark" paints are extrtemely watered down versions, and if you used a more concentrated paint, you got some surprising results. You still had to flash your sights with a bright light, though.
Maybe somebody can find that old thread...
Maybe somebody can find that old thread...
SnakeEater
Member
Well I ordered some, for $15 what the heck. I'm gonna do some trials and see how it performs. I'm thinking for a SHTF or TEOTWAWKI scenerio it might be nice to dab some on my rifles and pistols that aren't equipped with night sights. Also, I'm curious to know what the shelf life is, as we all know tritium sights fade out after 7 years or so.
mrmeval
Member
I've heard this is pretty good and it can be mixed with a clear coating.
http://www.unitednuclear.com/glow.htm
http://www.unitednuclear.com/glow.htm
SnakeEater
Member
Yes I did Jason, I ordered it as well.
1 old 0311
member
THAT is not the one but someone (on E-bay I think ) sells one that glows for 12 hours.
the naked prophet
Member
You could have a holster made which uses a pair of LEDs to "charge" the phosphorous sights. With a built-in switch so it's only turned on when the pistol is holstered, a pair of AA batteries should last for a long, long time. You would go through a pair of batteries probably once every two weeks. By the time the batteries had cost as much as tritium sights, the tritium sights would have faded and needed to be replaced.
An interesting option.
An interesting option.
Walt Sherrill
Member
Get tritium sights. Everything else is a cheap alternative.
The glow-in-the-dark paint must be illuminated to work, and doing that risks compromising your night vision. (Or betraying your position.)
For low-light, try Testor's Flourescent model paint in the colors of your choice. (Its cheap and works pretty well if there's any light at all.)
The glow-in-the-dark paint must be illuminated to work, and doing that risks compromising your night vision. (Or betraying your position.)
For low-light, try Testor's Flourescent model paint in the colors of your choice. (Its cheap and works pretty well if there's any light at all.)
duncan
Member
Just use a little and it should work acceptable.
Glob it on and your gun will look like a too too on a pig.
Glob it on and your gun will look like a too too on a pig.
Grump
Member
Sorry, bud, but that's not my experience. The half-life of H^3 is something like 13 years, IIRC, and that just means the radiation (in that case, Beta) has gone down by half in that amount of time. I've seen little noticeable fade at 12 years and the 20-year old set is still bright enough to be useable.
I suspect that there is a bit of "reserve", where the phosphorus will glow the same at 65% of the original radiation charge as it does with the full.
As for the paint, I bought some from a supplier in Canada and am totally pleased with it.
After stored in the dark, like typical cased situation:
* A 1-minute flashlight charge results in 10-20 minutes of bright usable, and goes perhaps an hour before it's not much use,
BUT
* Exposure to room light all day results in super-bright glow--brighter than Tritium sights!!!-- for a good hour, and usable glow for at least 12 hours.
Therefore, if your weapon is deployed in the light for anything more than an hour a day, it's just fine.
It's best applied over a white base, then covered with a clear-coat.
My kid got busy and dabbed several of our light switches with the stuff two years ago. Continues to work great, all night long.
The last installation was mixed with clear epoxy to keep it durable. Need to refine my application technique, but it sure works good.
The stuff that's 12-hour uses some rare earth components that were discovered maybe 10-15 years ago. It ain't nothin' like the old Cracker-Jack toys were made of, or those cheap Halloween vampire teeth.
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