unanswered questions

[Tim (Slowhike) Garner]

i posted questions on other articals & never got a bite. mabey they where posted in the wrong place at the wrong time…so anyway, here goes again. QUESTION #1… i beleve it was ryan (in his SUL winter chalenge)that talked about gluing ccf pads together. i was hoping to learn more about what kind of adhesives he used & how well they held w/ time & cold. i particularly would like to know the best adhesive to use on the gossemer gear thinlight pads. also, i wonder if i could sucessfuly glue a thin layer of fleece or other fabric to the thinlight for moister distribution, reduce wrinkling, & even glue the 1/8″ thinlight to the inside of a sleve for a BA air core. QUESTION #2…in “notes from the field- SUL tarp vs hammock inhigh uintas” carol cooker mentioned a mini alligator clip on her photon light. if this was a DIY project, what`s the best glue for that project. QUESTION #3…carol also mentioned triming the red cap on her li nipper bottle to insure a leak proof seal. what about that? thanks…slowhike

[D G]

Tim,

I’m not sure I can answer about adhesives on foam pads but about your other questions:

1. Photon sells a small alligator clip that snaps onto their photon lights. The photon freedom lights I have seen at REI come with this clip as a bonus. It’s a great item to have, since you can clip it to a hat brim to use as a headlight, or to clip it to a ridgeline on a tarp etc. What’s nice about it is that it has a universal joint on it so you can aim the beam where you want. I think you can order the clip from the photon website directly. The clip also has little magnets on it that allow it to be attached to something metalic. By the way, the clip is made mostly of plastic so it weighs next to nothing.

2. The little red caps sold at this website sometimes can bottom out before the top seals, so even though it will be tight you can get some leakage of alcohol around the threads. You can fix this in about a minute by placing a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and rubbing the bottom of the red cap to take off a little bit from the bottom. Not much material needs to be removed, probably just a few millimeters. I should add that I’m not sure if this was only a problem with really early units or not.

[Vick Hines]

Tim,
Glueing pads: Barge’s cement works pretty well. Use the thinnest possible smear on both pieces, let it dry for 10 – 15 minutes, put the pieces together and hammer them. Literally whack them with a rubber mallet. Barge’s will work on microcell polyethelene – the hardest glueing job.

For glueing fleece, I don’t know. You might try 3M spray contact adhesive – the permanent version. It may not adhere to some pads, however, especially polyethelene foam.

Spot check all adhesives to make sure they don’t melt whatever you are trying to glue.

Glue for mini-gator clip. Superglue works well on most plastics if you first clean the parts thoroughly with denatured alcohol. As always, the old standby, epoxy, will stick to almost anything. Don’t forget to sand and clean the surfaces first, regardless of what glue you use.

[John S.]

Tim, go to radio shack and ask for mini alligator clips. They come in package of 10 or so. The photon 2 (not photon 3 and I don’t know about photon 1), has screws on the back. She unscrewed one in the appropriate location and attached the mini alligator clip that way. No glue was invovled. You could instead buy photons clip, but it’s different and will weigh a few more grams. There are online instructions for the alligator clip.

[John S.]

Here are your instructions found in one minute using yahoo.

http://www.bright.net/~mziegler/HomemadeGear/mPhotonholder.htm

[paul johnson]

Good suggestion on the gator-clip fr/RS.

just keep in mind that it won’t work on a Photon 3/III or a Freedom. they have a press fit batt compartment cover and no screws. on these units, possibly the lanyard hole could be utilized for this purpose with some minor adaptions made to attach the gator-clip.

also, the neat uni-joint feature will be lacking.

as long as we’re talking 2/II and no need for a ‘uni’, then it’s an excellent suggestion. very clever solution.

[Tim (Slowhike) Garner]

thanks for the replys. i went to the photon sight & scaned through the discussion froum & read quite a few. i also made a couple posts w/ photon ideas that others may find useful. photon`s adjustable clip looks intrestingly useful, but i have to wonder how easyly that little goose neck could be broken. by the way, i do have the photon 2 w/ the screws. using the lanyard hole opens up some secure possibilitys too. also… i`ll experiment w/ the barge glue on some pads & fabric. thanks again…slowhike PS…the leaking isue i have w/ the red cap is differant than bottoming out you described. it`s not a real big deal but each time i close the screw spout, it leaks alcohol on my fingers. other than that it dosen`t leak. does anyone else`s red cap do that?

[D G]

“PS…the leaking isue i have w/ the red cap is differant than bottoming out you described. it`s not a real big deal but each time i close the screw spout, it leaks alcohol on my fingers. other than that it dosen`t leak. does anyone else`s red cap do that?”

That (or something similar) happens to me also. No matter how careful I am after dispensing the alcohol and closing the screw cap I always feel a little alcohol on my fingers.

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