NVG fingerlights

[Helikopter]

I´m currently looking for a good NVG fingerlights ! Would be nice to get some ideas only from people with some experince.

Best regards

Helikopter

[chinook240]

We used these for a while, quite cheap but not soldier proof.

Fingerlights at (http://www.seitzinc.com/shop/page3.html)

but use these now

Night Vision Torch and Targets (http://www.armedforces-int.com/suppliers/night-vision-target.html)

or

Millite Finger Light NVG LED (http://www.brightguy.com/products/Millite_Finger_Light_NVG_LED.php)

or

M J Services (GB) Ltd (http://www.mjservicesltd.com/fingerlights.htm)

Its all on Google!

[MOSTAFA]

I've used that Fingerlight FL5 (2nd post) for over a 1000 hours and it still works - don't think I have even changed the batteries. I seem to remember borrowing it years ago!

[FrontRowUnion]

You must have got the good one then MOSTAFA, because my only "experience" of these articles was spending hours on end looking for all the bits after the b****y things had disintegrated in the cockpit.

FOD anyone ??????

:ugh: :ouch:

[vecvechookattack]

I use 2 of the MJ Services ones.... One on each hand works very well. Had them about 5 years now and there are working fine....However, like Frontrow...I also fell foul to the concept of trying to change the battery whilst airborne.... Do not do it....it ends in tears...

[Helikopter]

Thanks a lot, great to get feedback from people in the business.

Regards.

[Stitchbitch]

If you stick monkeys didn't have a habbit of fiddling with every piece of survival equipment issued to you there'd be a lot less man hours wasted pulling seats out and checking for 'bits' that "just came off in my hand"...:}

The above websites show a good piece of kit, you shouldn't go wrong if you get one. Just don't try to change the 3 batts on the fly, so to speak..:ok:

[vecvechookattack]

every piece of survival equipment issued to you

Its hardly SE ..... its a torch.... and it wasn't issued...I bought them

[Stitchbitch]

Thats what I thought until they became an issued piece of kit...:)

[Could be the last?]

If you are saying that the current issue finger torch isn't good enough, then flag it to the AES IPT (via your Force HQ) and get something done about it!

If you are saying that you are not currently scaled for the item, then i refer you to the above!

[Gainesy]

Do we see the "Shiny Gizzit Syndrome" rear its head?:)

[vecvechookattack]

Tried that but its not classified as Aircrew escape or survival equipment. At the moment the Force HQ are trying to decide which IPT / PT is responsible for fingers and so whilst I wait for the big decision,I bought my own....in the same manner as I bought my own Nav bag and the same manner in which I bought my own watch.....

[GTPerformer]

have a look at the fingerlights by LFD (Len Fleck Developments) They have been used by many on UK fast jets for over 10 years. Can be used NVG Friendly or covert (IR only). Quality piece of kit.

[Stitchbitch]

vecvechookattack, I think you will find that it is Survival Equipment and is cleared for use on most fixed-wing / rotary types. If you work in a organisation that has SE fitts you'd know this. PM me if you need any help.:ok:

[vecvechookattack]

I took my finger torch to the SE section to have it serviced and they said it had nothing to do with them and I should go to stores to get a new one.

[Stitchbitch]

vecvechookattack sorry to hear that. The only user maintenance you could realy do is a battery change, if the torch isn't working they are correct to point you to the stacker/pusser for a new one (or so I'm told)...I am assuming you're senior service/coasty at this point. :ok: Any probs then get the rating to demand you a new one. The NSN is on the MJ site above.

[PPI Zulu]

We used to get issued the Fingerstar (http://www.lfd.ltd.uk/?P=FingerLights) before the 'new (http://www.armedforces-int.com/suppliers/night-vision-target.html)' one (as in Chinook 240's post) was brought in.

I simply can't get on with the new one - it's too bright, even on the 'low power mode' and its white-ish light causes a lot of splash-back off the windscreen. Having said this; that is in a small side-by-side cockpit where putting your straps on energetically can leave the LHS with a black eye :ouch: and I have no experience of a larger cockpit environment with the new torch.

My money's on the Fingerstar (http://www.lfd.ltd.uk/?P=FingerLights) - The switch has two positions as it can slide back and fwd. At the fwd position you get green LED illumination (the switch is push-on-push-off) and at the aft position you get IR (push-on-release-off), which is at the same freq as a 'Black Light' Landing Lamp, meaning that it can be seen on NVD/NVG.
The green light is eminently suitable for use around the cockpit but is also strong enough (just!) to light your way across dispersal. The IR LED is, I guess, designed for use as a signalling device to those with NVD/NVG - I've tried to illuminate things with the IR LED and view them through the tubes but anything that can be illuminated is too close for the tubes' focus.

As luck would have it the very kind people at Flying Clothing have a 'free to a good home' box in which I found no less than three Fingerstars one foggy morning. After the new finger torch was brought in, every time a Fingerstar (now obsolescent) was returned it went 'free to a good home'. Now I have two spare so that when, inevitably, one goes wrong I won't have to get the new style...:E...smug or what?

I wish that had happened with the old Aircrew watches when the new ones started falling apart...what a pile of :mad: ...some idiot got promoted for saving all that money (and quality) - bring back the Rolex Oyster...:eek:

...no, I don't know why some of the text is odd sizes - I can't seem to fix it.
.

[vecvechookattack]

My money's on the Fingerstar -

The trouble with that one is that the slidy bit becomes too loose and slidy after sustained use. So much so that the slidy bit slides backwards and forwards on its own without any prompting.

I agree with the "Free to a good home" box. I managed to prof a pair of gloves from there last week - Win :ok::ok::ok:

[PPI Zulu]

The trouble with that one is that the slidy bit becomes too loose and slidy after sustained use. So much so that the slidy bit slides backwards and forwards on its own without any promptingYep - I'll acquiess to that one; but I still think the the other advanatges of the Fingerstar (http://redirectingat.com/?id=42X487496&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lfd.ltd.uk%2F%3FP%3DFingerLights)put it out in front.

I agree with the "Free to a good home" box. I managed to prof a pair of gloves from there last week - WinAll the way from Falmouth? - just how Nazi has the guy at Sea Hawk Flying Clothing gotten?!! That's pretty a dedicated trip for a free set of gloves ;)!!

I remember a friend, at Sea Hawk, who lost a glove. He presented the remaining glove at FC but the guy said that he might have been trying to get a free pair by bringing one in and then trying the same trick next week with the other one! My oppo argued the toss but couldn't win. Eventually the Nazi said that he'd have to register it as a theft with the Mod Plod and produce a Crime Number before he'd let him have another pair!
Wingsy did this and got his gloves - however, about two weeks later he started receiving letters from the local constabulary tree hugging department about being a victim of crime and would he like to speak to a counseller about the incident!!!:eek:

What a f:mad:ing waste of time, effort and money - all for a pair of gloves. I'm so glad 'our' dept has their collective head screwed on right...BZ and thanks for the free humbugs:ok:

[Mmmmnice]

I have used a white LFD finger torch for several years. The switch can get a bit flaky in operation, and I have seen similar torches fall apart on their owners. Although not strictly NVG compatible the white light is dim enough to avoid reflection problems and allows clear map reading of all map colours/tints (ever tried following a water narrow feature on a 50thou using a blue/green filter!) Not the sexiest finger torch ever seen but the most reliable performer of all the ones I have tried..............and best of all it was a freeby blagged at the Paris Air `show!