An Unorthodox Halloween – Page 45

Product Review – “Clip on super bright LED light”

Back in November I reviewed the Floralytes. I loved these for lighting my pumpkins last year, and it was time to buy some more so that I could bring more pumpkins into the yard for this year’s theme adjustment. (more on that later)

You can imagine my surprise to find the floralytes had doubled in price. That led to me searching for a new light. And I found these “clip on super bright LED lights” from Jack’s Toolshed.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Now, my order did not go off without a hitch. Ordered last Thursday, they shipped on Friday. However, the tracking number they gave me did not register with UPS, and said it had been cancelled. My email to customer service on Friday was answered on Teusday, they had placed a new label on my shipment but it did not populate in their system, so there was no tracking on my package…

They arrived safe and sound despite this setback, however.

Actually smaller than I expected, they come with a clip, but can be separated from that clip easily. Perhaps just a bit TOO easy. It’s possible they could FALL off if bumped while angled ‘up’.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

How do they perform, however?

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

For whatever reason the ‘white’ is not near as bright as the rest. It is also not as defined in a spotlight. Almost like it’s shining through a dirty or frosted bulb. I checked 5 different ones, and they all were the same.

Red, Blue, and Green, however are all nice and bright.

The clips are sturdy and attach to things quite strongly while the swivel mount is stiff enough to hold a position. Meanwhile the spotlight style of the lights do not detract from them serving as lighting for the interior of items. A quick 30 second setup here features a lindberg skull lit on the interior by a red light while a blue one shines from above.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Another concern with the lights would be in the switches. I’ve had some that are a bit loose, and you have to pull them back a hair from ‘all the way on’ to get them to light. And, the battery compartment can also pop open easily.

Neither of these are anything a piece of tape can’t fix, however, and for under a buck, what more can you really expect?

Update 11/1/10:

Well, after attempting to utilize these in the pumpkins, as planned, I’m sorry to report that these things are only bright for about 2 hours. Then they begin to dim swiftly. Letting them sit overnight brings them back to being bright again. So, for quicky setups, and short uses, they are great. For a solution to battery lighting concerns…you’re going to need to look elsewhere.

Farewell Jack.

June 2006, a dark shape took form in the back yard…

Soon, a head.

The hope was always to hook up fog to the head, but I was never sure I could get the fog to climb the pipe 6 ft into the head in our cold temperatures. It had me dancing in the dark when it actually worked.

Jack was named Jack Jackula by the boys, and we made trips around the neighborhood collecting “ugly sticks” to build him in October. It was Jack that started the whole thing…not only was this guy crazy lighting fires on Halloween, but what the heck is he gonna build NEXT?

Designed as an entrance from day one, he quickly became a photo op that year.

2007, Jack didn’t fit in, and soon found himself cast to sentry duty on a little corner of grass between my house and the neighbors.

By 2008, however, Jack had made his way back to the haunt proper, fitting the opening in our fence PERFECTLY, as if inspired so long ago.

He served the role well, my little niece here among those refusing to pass behond his glaring stare into what lay beyond.

It should be no surprise, then, that Jack was first among the things placed in ’09.

Good bye Jack. You will be missed….

Sign 3.0

Goodbye to a tradition….

Sign 2.0 is being retired.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

It served us well for 3 years.

However, the need to touch it up every year. The problems that became apparent with flipping the wooden number boards around every day breaking/stripping the hooks on which they sat, the fact that storing it + numbers was always a pain, and the desire for something more suited to multipurpose use all played into the decision to retire it to be cannibalized for other projects.

Sign 3.0 emphasizes simplicity, multi-purpose usage, and light weight.

From 2010 Buildup

Still with a few surprises at night.

From 2010 Buildup

A new “announcement sign” is also underway.

Bob’s swiftly scrounged together board from last year will be updated with the same criteria in mind.

From bob

Witch Skulls re-envisioned

With the discovery of the green flame torch kits, I’ve been re-envisioning the witch skulls.

So, taking advantage of the fact that green flame gives off very little visible light, we’re planning to use the green flame in the blacklight area. I wanted a minimum of 5 torches, which means 5 skulls. We tried a new way of staining the plaster skulls with a foam stain, which worked wonders.

Then, a little fluorescing paint later, they really came to life.

From 2010 Buildup

A little summer time carving as well, in celebration of sign 3.0. But, a little more on that later.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Product Review: Tiki brand Colored Flame

Long time followers know that I have been seeking green flame for quite some time.

Latest in the list of products promising the solution is Tiki brand Colored Flame from Lamplight Farms.

Currently available at WalMart and Home Depot locations, so check your local stores.

The can comes with a most impressive list of warnings upon it, and the special tag attached to it.

From 2010 Buildup

The normal “caution flammable” (I would HOPE), and “don’t drink” (thank you idiots), and the surprising “contents under pressure”.

It comes with it’s own set of tweezers with which you are supposed to remove the wick.

From 2010 Buildup

Inside of the lid, there is a red cap.

From 2010 Buildup

The moment I touched this cap there was a release of pressure, and a small spray escaped from under the cap. You wouldn’t want to be doing this anywhere near eye level…

Now, my experience with the whole green flame quest has told me that the devil is in the wick. Wicks tend to have impurities that color the flame towards orange. The wick here is certainly unique, not the fiberglass I’ve seen other brands attempt to use.

From 2010 Buildup

However, The thing is crammed down TIGHT in the cannister. And, I busted the provided tweezers attempting to extricate the thing, but had pulled it out enough to get a grip on the thing with my fingers (ignoring the may cause irritation warning) to pull it out the rest of the way.

From 2010 Buildup

The cannister was enough of a different design I wanted to make sure my witch skulls would still fit, so forgive it being in the pics.

Initially there was some orange in the flame as the wick burned, but within 5 minutes, it had transitioned to be a nice green. As you can see, however, green flame gives off practically no light…

From 2010 Buildup

So, don’t expect them to light a way for you. You’ll need a secondary source of light to bring scenes into view.

From 2010 Buildup

But, I’ll have much more on how I plan to do THAT later.

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The cannister listed average burn time as 4 hours, and the thing was indeed still burning 4 hours later. However, the flame had progressively gotten smaller throughout the burn. But the color seemed to get more ‘pure’ as time went on as well. Still, at the 4 hour mark it was still burning well, and was easily resisting the breeze with no signs of being blown out.

At the price tag of $5, this makes these among the cheapest solutions with a couple of caveats.

They are strictly one use only. Once you pop that red cap and pull the wick, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle. They are also not refillable, and the fuel will evaporate quickly if left out and open. So, it’s 5 bucks each and every time you want to burn one.

However, the 4 hour burn time is better than many of the competitors as well.

For my personal use for a 3-4 hour haunt on Halloween, these are the perfect solution. If you are burning a lot more often, the refillable fuels will eventually catch up and be the cheaper solution. What that point is, you’ld have to do the math.