Key Light Guy

Here is another testamonial from one of our long time customers..

 For a couple of years now I have been giving my students your lights.  Illuminating a crime scene with them is a great help as they are usually poorly equipped.  The white lights are great for lighting up evidence in the dark.  Agents of the Mexican Attorney General’s Office have been the recipients of these lights and at times I run into ex-students when I travel.  They are always quick to show me their lights and tell me how they have used them.  They are also very, very useful for those who come home late from the bars and have a hard time finding the key hole.  I suspect that having these lights has increased the professionalism of their investigations.   Thanks much.  Roger F. Marshall

Thank you Roger

I see ads and listings for UV LED key chain lights or blacklights as they are sometimes called for as low as 99 cents.  I think to myself, how can they sell them so cheap?  Then upon closer inspection I find out that these UV keychain lights are emitting a type of UV (400nm) light that is useless for the main reasons people want them for.  These uses are for document verification like drivers licenses, credit cards, currencies etc.  This type of UV light is in the 400nm range.  Light energy is measured in nanometers or nm and the lower the  number the more energy it has and 400nm is not a low number when it comes to UV.  As a result it is  cheaper to make and sell.  Many inks and dyes that are UV sensitive won’t show up hardly at all with 400nm UV light especially when there is daylight or artificial light around.  So if you want a UV LED keychain light that is going to show the markings you are looking for you’ll have to pay more.  The best compromise between value and performance in the area is 380-385nm.  These perform well in lighted area and extremely well when area lighting can be reduced.  I have used 365nm UV keychain lights and these work excellently in any condition but as you may have guessed they are quite expensive and are relatively hard to find since there are not many companies who even make them.  So there you have it just another case of buyer beware.

This is from our customer Jon B.

“It was late November in the Catskills in New York, and I was heading up
a mountain under about half a foot of snow. I came across a group of
four kids with two adult leaders, one of whom was quite sick. I found
them right at sunset, and they didn’t have a flashlight among them. Our
obvious choice was to hunker down and wait six hours for a
search-and-rescue team to walk them out. Instead, I reached into my
pocket and pack, pulled out 6 keychain lights, and the group walked
safely off the mountain. As a hiker, I now always carry the six spares
(for myself or others) at a total weight of only two ounces!”

We often look at these little keychain lights as novelties but as we can see from Jon’s story they can be a life saver!

Over the years we’ve had numerous churches purchase large quantities of our led keychain lights for special events.  These events include Christmas, Easter and even July 4th.  The effect can be quite dazzling when a large congregation holds up their keychain lights in a darkened sanctuary!  Then after the service the church member has a useful momento of the service to put on their keychain.

In upcoming blogs I will be writing about the uses our customers have for our little lights.  One use that some of our customers have told me about is attaching the light on their dogs collar when taking their dogs out for a walk or run at night.  They switch the light on then let the dog go and instead of trying to look for their dog they just keep an eye out for the light.  I’m always interested in the uses people come up with for these lights and I would like to here from anyone who has used these lights in unique ways.  Also, I am always on the lookout for new products to carry…any ideas?