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Part of an old hobby lives!

Okay, got my new UV light in the mail yesterday, after charging up the included batteries I got to test it a little last night and it indeed seems pretty powerful for an LED flashlight UV light, and unlike 395nm flashlights that give off a lot of purple light, this light that uses 365nm LEDs with a filter glass at the end cap of the flashlight to further filter things, I didn't seem to notice any obvious purple like with the 395nm flashlight (I shone them side by side for comparison). They can show stuff even without the room being dark, and in a darkened room it lights anything in the entire room that would glow under 365nm UV, a fair amount of my fluorescent rocks glow real nice with this flashlight (the others need me to use by small 254nm tube SW). When I took the flashlight outside last night and walked a good distance away and looked back at where I set the flashlight you could barely see the glow of the LEDs, but when I stepped in front of the beam my clothes glowed brightly :lol:

Here is a link to what I got:

uvBeast V3 365nm Black Light UV Flashlight

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CV1XW5K/

......it has a customer rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars with 550 reviews (as of right now)

I was very impressed with the concern for high quality they put into making these, other customers have been impressed also which motivated me to buy one after reading some of their reviews.

It even comes with two 18650 batteries and a battery charger.

I know 254nm SW is needed for some fluorescent rocks, but from what I read on a flashlight forum 254nm LEDs are still very expensive, so likely why you don't see 254nm LED flashlights like you do the 365nm and higher, and the larger more powerful 254nm tube lights can get pricey too :lol: that is why the 254nm tube lights I have are the smaller much less expensive ones. I think a big part of the expense with the 254nm tube lights is the expensive Hoya filter glass that needs to be used.

...........you purchased the exact LW light I have and having used it in the field, I agree it is the most powerful LW flashlight in its size range on the market. KT paid with the shipping, about $84 for it from UVBeast company.

.......the flashlight is really a great field tool!

KT, what fluorescent illumination did you acquire? I have an interest in illuminating something in the field and my little Harbor Freight isn't getting it.

KT might likely respond with additional comments, but the above is likely what you might be wanting to know about for field use. (note: the flashlight is powerful, but it is LW at 365nm, some fluorescent minerals only respond to SW UV)

Check the Amazon link in my post to read details and reviews, I got it thru our Amazon Prime account since we get free shipping, but you can buy it directly from the company also if you wish.
 
Thanks, I was going to read up a little on how some plants might look under UV and why, but the chlorophyll makes sense !

I haven't read up on it yet in detail, but in my internet searches I did notice another additional use for UV was checking the freshness of some foods.



:laughing: that is fantastic KT, be very very glad for that, it seems from forum comments I've read occasionally in the past many wives seem to only tolerate their husband's hobbies rather than have an interest in the hobbies themselves :laughing:

For many years, the Queen appreciated nice looking mineral specimens, but never was interested in even going along and collecting them, other than when Prince John was a cub scout and interested in collecting some crystals. But she seems a bit fascinated by this part of the hobby, especially when the collecting is so easy! :laughing::laughing:

On the 5th collecting trip, KT finally recognized two different textures...like in opal there is potch (patches of fire) and pinfire (a myriad of tiny pin head sparkles). Most of this rock has potch texture, but a few pieces have pinfire texture. Once KT gets some decent pictures He will email you some, or post it in your thread when you start it. :D:D
 
KT, what fluorescent illumination did you acquire? I have an interest in illuminating something in the field and my little Harbor Freight isn't getting it.

Do you want to use LW or SW? Likely your HF lamp is a LW but a 385-395 nm wave length. KT has a 365 nm wavelength flashlight. It is the UV Beast T3 365 nm and it is a torch in the dark, but costs $85 with shipping. Web site is UVBeast.com. You might like their compact pocket lamp, 365 nm, and it costs only ~ $40. The primary difference between them is the T3 has 3 cree leds and the smaller one has 1 cree led.

The SW lamp KT purchased is the WayTooCool 5-watt 2 battery handheld lamp, but it may be out of your price range at ~ $130, it includes 3 18650 rechargeable Li-ion batteries and a 2-battery charger. It is not so great for field collecting as it is still a low wattage lamp...presently technology is such that high output SW lamps are very expensive....$300 and Up and I mean very up!

But it fine for checking shortwave response at home or in the field...it is good for up to 12" away for a fluorescent response.

KT is curious as two what you need one for...pm me if you care to enlighten me!:D
 
For many years, the Queen appreciated nice looking mineral specimens, but never was interested in even going along and collecting them, other than when Prince John was a cub scout and interested in collecting some crystals.

But she seems a bit fascinated by this part of the hobby, especially when the collecting is so easy! :laughing::laughing:

On the 5th collecting trip, KT finally recognized two different textures...like in opal there is potch (patches of fire) and pinfire (a myriad of tiny pin head sparkles). Most of this rock has potch texture, but a few pieces have pinfire texture. Once KT gets some decent pictures He will email you some, or post it in your thread when you start it. :D:D

:laughing: Hey, that's the way to keep her interested in the hobby, take her on the hunts where the collecting is easy ! :laughing:

Looking forward to seeing the difference between the 2 types of texture, no hurry though, you can wait till I start that thread within a few days or sooner.
 
Didn't UV hunt as long last night (got a later start than usual) but had an idea I wanted to at least check, the road our driveway is off of is a short gravel road so I wanted to take the 365nm flashlight and see if anything glowed, didn't notice any rocks glowing, just what was likely tiny bits of wood debris from doing yard work :lol: but hey, at least I know !

(still more areas of my property to check, but greater chances of rain the rest of this week so have to see when the weather allows, but I can still do research to see if there might be some close by areas worth checking later)
 
Didn't UV hunt as long last night (got a later start than usual) but had an idea I wanted to at least check, the road our driveway is off of is a short gravel road so I wanted to take the 365nm flashlight and see if anything glowed, didn't notice any rocks glowing, just what was likely tiny bits of wood debris from doing yard work :lol: but hey, at least I know !

(still more areas of my property to check, but greater chances of rain the rest of this week so have to see when the weather allows, but I can still do research to see if there might be some close by areas worth checking later)

There are lots of organic things that fluoresce....oils, resins, etc., and of course paper, cloth, and many plastics. It is surprising that an area that looks clean in normal sunlight is so cluttered up with peoples trash when looked at with ultraviolet light.
 
now that is some nice stones to collect

Wow :shock: if we lived close to there I think diamond hunting might be my main hobby and detecting 2nd :lol: or maybe take my detector there to hunt for metal stuff while scanning the surface for diamonds :lol:

here is information on that park where you can hunt for diamonds https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/crater-diamonds-state-park some pictures of some of the finds there https://www.bing.com/images/search?...+Park&form=RESTAB&first=1&tsc=ImageBasicHover
 
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Wow :shock: if we lived close to there I think diamond hunting might be my main hobby and detecting 2nd :lol: or maybe take my detector there to hunt for metal stuff while scanning the surface for diamonds :lol:
With your new fuel economy car may be that would be a good weekend trip if your wife can get off.
 
Good reason to go to Arkansas

Thanks for the promotional plug for one of our many Arkansas state parks, david!

You don't even need a lot of storage room to store or display your finds , sounds like it would make a fun weekend or longer , espically after a good soaking rain. :laughing: Having grand kids along with good eyes would definatly help in the hunt.
 
You don't even need a lot of storage room to store or display your finds , sounds like it would make a fun weekend or longer , espically after a good soaking rain. :laughing: Having grand kids along with good eyes would definatly help in the hunt.

Yes, being close to the ground with young eyes can be very helpful! :laughing::laughing:
 
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