Cyalume Surface Tip Flare, Miltary Grade, 5 Minutes Duration, High Intensity Orange

Cool contraption

Well built but not to mil spec standard, will di a regular job !

Very cool looking product, it can be used as a Security device when you're camping or maybe while your playing war games - air soft

This is not exactly high tech stuff, but it appears as if it can do what it purports to be able to--it breaks the cyalume. It's kind of hard to get the trigger right...it's easy to get it too tight (where it might not go off) or too sensitive (where it just goes off on you). The stuff that's supposed to pass for trip wire is basically thick string. (Fortunately, I have some of the real stuff to use.) The instructions are minimal, but it doesn't take rocket science to figure it out. I wish I'd used the money on a remote motion sensor instead. Oh, well, until I can afford better....

To keep this review somewhat structured, I will go over my experience from start to... now.I debated purchasing this item for one reason: the shipping and handling price. About six bucks. Not bad, but because I wanted two to start, that for some reason doubled the price of shipping. and will further increase the shipping price the more you get. (If you want ten, shipping will be about 60). Maybe I'm a bit spoiled with amazon prime but that seems excessive for the size of the item.After deciding to purchase the product, the estimated shipping and delivery was 4 - 14 days. Which is typically LONG for me. It was delivered from somewhere in New York, to my residence in New Mexico in two days. Maybe that shipping price payed off? :)Now I have the product. The box itself is about half the size of a standard 400 page spiral bound notebook. The instructions are printed on the "lid flap" of the box and are not confusing, but more closely described as odd in my opinion. Inside the box contains: the devise itself, 100ft black thick sewing string, two 4ft sections of about 18 gauge wire, one medium U staple, and 1 6" Cyalume orange high intensity 5 minute chem light. According to a sticker on the box, my chem light expired 09/2011. Which contributed to loss of a star.Because I found the instructions strange, I'll point out what each item in the box is for, or what I learned from my trials.1: The current picture that amazon depicts the device upside down! Look closely near the bottom of the chem in the picture and you will see an arrow indicating "this end up". It doesn't actually say this but next to the arrow it does say "UP"2: The string is the actual tip wire to activate the device3: The wire is to attach the device to the platform. Like a tree or 2x4.4: The instructions don't actually mention the U staple at all. From my guessing, its intended to be used to secure the trip line to the opposite end of the device. eg. The second tree or the second 2x4...5: With the device right side up, the chem light will just drop/slide into the retainers. This is where I messed up. I placed the thinner end of the chem into the lower retainer, then tried to "roll" the thicker end into the upper retainer. That squeeze effectively activated the "expired" chem light.This honestly surprised me. I'm used to those cheap 4" chem lights that once you crack them you have to shake them to get the full illumination. This one, You can actually see the chemicals mixing to create the light and were intensely bright. It looked just like when you add creamer to coffee. By the way, this devise only works with 6" chem lightsNow for the actual functionality of the device. (so far)I armed and activated it twice, (without chems) and it worked fine. The third time I armed and activated it, (again without chems) the spring detached itself from the base plate. The end of the spring that is attached to the striker held strong. After re-attaching the spring to the base plate with A LOT of force it was operational again (this happened 3 times!). I recommend clamping the spring ends absolutely closed.A bit more functionality thoughts but not yet tested.What I like a lot about about the item, is although the box says "disposable", it is EVERYTHING but disposable! Not subjected to being just a trip flare. It is advertised as a silent alarm of sorts, but if you tie a noise maker to the striker (tin cans, jingle bells) it becomes audible and visible if used creatively. It has enough tension in the spring to be used as a spring snare for trapping small animals. Maybe used as an automatic fishing reel if you find a suitable river.Although there were some growing pains, there wasn't anything that would be a deal breaker. This is a product I am completely satisfied with. I hope I have helped save you from some frustrations! I have told a lot of people about this product and will continue to do so.Thanks for reading!P.S. If you have questions, I WILL answer as soon as i can!

This thing is great! Works fantastic for camp security, marking hunting trail, home security, and can be used with other things besides glow sticks with a lil modification, sound alerts and so on, just wish calumet would sell there ir sticks to civilians, only thing I would do to this is change the trip line with some good 200 or 400 lbs Kevlar line

Great idea however, in order to fully utilize the amount of light from a light stick requires you shaking it after snapping it. It does not happen with this.

This device is an interesting design and it works perfectly. It can be used repeatedly by simply replacing the used/actived glow stick with a fresh non-activated one. Great item!

If you are a prepper and took all this time to prepare your bugout location... if you have to go there, then you better have these... This item is so cool. it even comes with a black 100 foot trip wire. better than thread and mouse traps~!!!this could be set up at quite a distance in an area you would expect someone to mount an assault. the best part is at night if you retreat closer to the main base... you can see this in a distance. you might not hear anything, but you sure could see this! I actually have 2 of these now and debating on getting 2-4 more...