|
Detailed
Information:
Throw away your standard old combustable road flares!
These LED road flare replacements are very bright, very
noticable, and very inexpensive! MSRP is expected to
be around $9 each! They can be magnetically attached
to the car's side panels. Rubber feet protect the finish
(do NOT move the car with them attached, they will fall
off). They are crush resistant to 10,000 lbs and even
float in water (but water will get in).
The base of the FlareAlert is yellow injection molded
plastic. The type of plastic is not given. 4 rubber
legs protrude from the bottom to lift the unit off the
ground and give it some stability. The rest of the body
is actually a large domed red lens.
Inside are 12 red LEDs arranged in a circle and pointing
outward and upward. This should put about 1/2 of the
LEDs in direct line-of-sight of oncoming traffic and
1/2 pointed upward. However, place it on a flat vertical
panel, like the back of a trunk lid or the inside of
an open trunk lid, and those "straight up"
LEDs are now pointing "straight out" toward
oncoming traffic.
When activated, the LEDs blink with the first click
of the switch, and stay on constantly with the second
click. I could not get a good reading on the light meter
for measuring Lux or Overall Output, but the LEDs are
very bright.
The switch is a simple rubber shrouded click switch.
It is situated on the base in a dimple which does a
very effective job of preventing accidental activation.
Press in until it clicks for "on" and do the
same again for "off".
On the base is a pretty typical battery door. Pop it
open with your fingernail under the latch. Drop in 2
AA batteries. There is no orientation diagram on the
base of the unit, but negative goes against the springs.
Reattach the cover plate and you are ready to go. Runtime
is currently unknown, but there appears to be a PWM
regulator in place which flickers the LEDs very rapidly.
This would extend the battery life while having no impact
on useability. You can see the flicker if you move the
unit very quickly in front of your eyes.
The entire unit is advertised as "water resistant".
It has no seals but will operate when full of water
and will orient itself upward and float if dropped in
the lake. When placed on the ground, it is unlikely
that water would get into the unsealed battery compartement
since the rain would run over the top and off.
From a safety standpoint, the low profile design of
the FlareAlert makes it much less likely to fly through
the air if struck by oncoming traffic.
The FlareAlert will soon be available individually
for consumers or in 2 packs. Future iterations are expected
to include various colors for specialty functions, a
heavier version Landing Zone kit for rescue helicopter
signaling, and an even smaller version for personal
use.
What I Liked: Water resistant,
Tough/impact resistant, Long battery life, Bright, Won't
blow away easily, Very visible, Easy to use
What I Didn't Like: Not sealed
for water entry
Other Things I Noticed:
Conclusions: A great little emergency
beacon. Should be useful in all kinds of emergencies,
from a broken down car to signaling emergency personel
for easily locating your house. Not yet avaiable at
the time of this writing, but should be on the market
soon!
|
