FUN-TASTICK

Garrity Fun-Tastick, retail $1.50 to $2.50 (http://www.garritylites.com...)
Manufactured by Garrity (http://www.garritylites.com)
Last updated 03-06-07




The Garrity Fun-Tastick is a battery powered LED light designed to replace chemical lightsticks. Like chemical lightsticks, the Fun-Tastick is designed to be disposable, but you can turn it on and off as many times as you want before the batteries poop out. The Fun-Tastick features a light emitting stick approximately 6.35" long, with a small battery carriage and switch on the end. The entire light is approximately 7.5" long.

The model I'm testing has a brilliant blue LED near the bottom, and a fluorescent green stick that glows green when exposed to the blue light from the LED. As I understand (and I could be wrong - wouldn't be the first time), the other Fun-Tastick colors except white and red also use a blue LED that causes the stick to fluoresce in the color it's supposed to. The white Fun-Tastick has a white LED, so the stick glows white. The red Fun-Tastick has a red LED and appears to use either three button cells or two button cells and a metal spacer. And the stick glows, of course, red.


SIZE



The Fun-Tastick is ready to use as soon as you take it out of the package. Turn the knob at the end of the tailcap approximately 1/5 of a turn clockwise (as the light is oriented with the switch facing you and the wand pointing downward) to turn the Fun-Tastick on, and turn it approximately 1/5 of a turn the other way (counterclockwise) to turn it off.

The light comes with a break-away lanyard that you can use to loop the light around your neck. If the break-away link breaks away, you can re-connect the snap that came apart on you, just by pushing the two halves together firmly until they snap.



The Fun-Tastick is disposable, so you're supposed to just chuck it and buy a new one when it poops out.

I'd probably root around for a hammer and smash it open to rescue the LED before throwing the rest away; other users have had some success with using strap wrenches to break the adhesive between the body and switch. If you are successful, you should be able to replace the three button cells. I believe they're size LR44 (also found as AG-13). Place the three cells in the light button-end (-) down, and screw the switch assembly back on.

If you break your Fun-Tastick doing this, you can try to take the "stick" part off using the same strap wrenches, and if you're successful, put it on the end of your Arc-AAA flashlight so you'll have a refillable lightstick to use.



The Garrity Fun-Tastick isn't the most durable flashlight you can buy, but it should be able to withstand most common flashlight accidents (like falls, being knocked into walls, etc.) with impunity. But you probably didn't buy it to use as a flashlight anyway, you bought it as a glowstick, so I won't have to try and take beamshots or light measurements.

It should be somewhat water-resistant, so don't be afraid to use it in the rain or snow. It might leak if it fell in the toilet or tub, so try not to throw it into one of those fixtures. At least, not one with water in it. But a little rain or snow shouldn't hurt it.



Photo of a Fun-Tastick lighted up.
This is the green model - blue LED and fluorescent green "stick".



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was sent by MrOrange of Candlepower Forums and was received on 11-10-03.


UPDATE: 11-14-03
I have heard from a buyer that Fun-Tasticks come in white, red, green, and blue. I also heard from the same person that they originally cost $2.50 at Wall-Mart; they were reduced to $1.50 and placed on clearance after Halloween. These were apparently being sold specifically as a safety aid for trick-or-treaters.


UPDATE: 11-19-03
From a post on Candlepower Forums, comes the following:

These light sticks don't need to be cut or sawed to get the tube off...

Take a look at the light stick right below the small clip (on the tube). On the blue & green ones, it's easy to tell by looking at the tube that it is made of one kind of plastic and the housing that holds the batteries is another.

Take some pliers and gently squeeze right at the base of the tube next to the small clip. You will hear some cracking. Don't worry, this is only the glue bonds breaking. Rotate the tube and squeeze again. Repeat until you don't hear any more cracking. Then, using your hands, gently apply "bending" pressure at the joint between the tube and the battery housing and the tube will separate. Then, just pull the tube off.

Expended Fun-Tastick tubes will fit on the end of an Arc-AAA; that's why some users want to remove the tubes from these before disposing of them.

I also received word that the other Garrity Fun-Tastick colors (red, white, and blue) are on the way (thanks to a fellow flashaholic), so I'll have a complete set of them for this web page. Pictures when I receive them, of course. :-)


UPDATE: 11-22-03
As promised, I received red, white, and blue Fun-Tasticks a day or two ago.
And as I promised, here are a couple of pictures:


Here are the three additional colors of Garrity Fun-Tasticks, still in their packages.


And here are the three additional colors: red, white, and blue.
The green one appears to be the brightest, followed by the red, the white, and the blue.

Too bad they're disposable - but then again, children are very unlikely to get one of these things open and eat the batteries, and then have to go to the hospital and get the batteries taken out. :-\


UPDATE: 01-18-06
I received another Garrity Fun-Tastik on 12-02-05, courtesy of a website fan.
As proof, here is a photograph of it:





UPDATE: 03-06-07
I received several Fun-Tastiks from a member of Candlepower Forums around 04-24-05, which I just discovered . One of them has been modified with a self-flashing RGB LED; this LED performs a color wash effect.


PROS:
Serves its purpose very well
Water-resistant
A variety of colors available
The price is right


CONS:
Not submersible
Disposable - could be refillable because its light source is an LED


    MANUFACTURER: Garrity
    PRODUCT TYPE: Disposable light stick
    LAMP TYPE: LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Rotary on/off via tailcap
    BEZEL: 5.5" long plastic diffuser
    BATTERY: 3x LR44 button cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: Break-away neck lanyard, batteries sealed inside
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar Rating





Fun-Tastick * http://www.garritylites.com






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