Category: Product Reviews

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
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.

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.

________________________________________

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.

Product Review – Floralyte Submersible LED

I needed a means to light all our pumpkins on stakes. One without wires, yet one bright enough to be seen over the lighting we were to have in place.

Enter the Floralyte LEDs.

We bought a dozen red, and a dozen white.

First of all, the good:

These things are BRIGHT! Especially the white. Easily like having a little maglight. Quite impressive for such a little package.

They did their job admirably.

From Halloween buildup 09

However, some things I did not like:

The on/off is a matter of screwing and unscrewing the base. And, it’s quite touchy. I had difficulty in getting them OFF, unless completely seperated. Others I had difficulty getting them to light. Of the 24, I had to do some creative repair on one due to bouncing around seperated bending a contact.

I have not tested the water-tightness of the things, but it looks dubious at best. I’m sure MOST of them would light and be submersible fine. I’m doubtfull ALL of them would.

Still, for our use here, I’ld highly reccomend the floralyte. For submersible operations, I’ld be sure to buy a couple extra.

And, you might have noticed, we’ve begun the Christmas conversion for the next months. Fret not, your regularly scheduled Halloween stuff will be back swiftly.

Product Review: Froggys Swamp Juice

First, I’ve got to send out a very special shoutout to Froggys Fog.

Let me explain this with my first experience with Froggys Fog, in the days leading up to Halloween last year:

I placed an order on their website. Or, I tried to, but somewhere between our connection and theirs, I never got a confirmation number. So, I went over to their shop on Amazon, and placed an order through THERE.

The next day, I got a call, asking if I really wanted two identical orders or if this was some kind of a mixup. Instead of just filling both and billing me twice, they checked, going above and beyond. FROM THAT MOMENT, it did not matter whether the product was that much better than the stuff sold in local stores, they had won me over.

THIS year, I have purchased from them twice. Both times, within 24 hours I have a confirmation, shipment notification, and tracking number in hand. TALK ABOUT SERVICE!

Fortunately the product is also just simply head and shoulders above ‘regular’ fog juice in all ways.

2007: “regular” fog juice in the front during our alternative lighting display:

From Halloween 07

2008: Project nightfall. THE FOG MACHINES, FOG COOLERS, AND LIGHTING ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. Weather was comparable Only difference on the fog is THIS is Froggys Swamp Juice.

From Nightfall

The ground was COVERED in Fog. A few minutes in, the whole atmosphere was drenched in fog.

From Nightfall

But, I think our neighbors stated it best: “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

And, yes, Froggys Swamp Juice takes your fog maching from a ‘that’s cool when it fires’ to just plain “that’s awesome”.

News and reviews.

The Jacob’s Ladder is getting it’s final touches.

From Lab

Of course, it will look much better once the gorgeous clear tube is in place.

From Lab

Then, Monday night, we headed out to Lagoon, yet again. I got some flash photos on the Terror Ride. I got the ‘no pictures’ moan from the dark. (really, a moan, the guy was trying to stay in character as they sometimes walk behind cars to scare them) So, we’ll get a few more at a later time.

First is this great wall.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

The gate creaks back and forth, and a couple of the spines move around as you drive by. THIS is something relatively simple to re-create for a home haunt.

Second are these guys (there’s actually 3 of them)

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

These guys are perplexing, as they are opposite a lit display and hard to see, but their head turns as you pass. Turns the WRONG way, too. Instead of their gaze following you, they turn to look behind you. ??? Easy to see the mechanism with the flash.

ON TO TONIGHTS REVIEW.

RUSTOLEUM UNIVERSAL HAMMERED FINISH SPRAY PAINT.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

As you might be aware, I’m painting quite a bit of ye olde plastic these days. And, anyone who has tried to spray paint plastic knows it doesn’t like to stick well. Well, having been pleased with the Krylon Fusion hammered finish on the generator, but it didn’t QUITE cover the whole thing. And, Lowes doesn’t carry Krylon, and this Rustoleum was the only hammered finish rated for plastic in the store. I bought 2 cans, one copper, one black.

The Rustoleum cans have a nice spray trigger, and spray out in a very nice narrow fan that makes application easy and controlled.

I sprayed the copper into the inside of the cat-sand buckets on the generator to give a nice finish for the lights to reflect off. And…it looked like crap. The ‘hammered’ finish was more like pock-marked as any dimples just showed the white of the bucket. A second coat did little to help matters. But, it was INSIDE the thing, no one was going to be noticing.

It DID adhere exremely well. And makes a nice, tough coating on the plastic. I figured the color issues must be from the plastic, however, and a standard color would probably be fine on plastic, just avoid the textured finishes. So, I decided since the Jacob’s ladder is WOOD, we’ll use the black THERE instead of finishing the generator with it.

Again, the hammered finish pock-marks show the white through.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Sure, they’re TINY on the wood, and no one is going to notice, but it bugs me. Also, these cans really don’t seem to go quite as far as the Krylon cans do. Overall, I’ld suggest avoiding the Rustoleum Universal hammered finishes.

For a comparison, this is the Krylon fusion hammered finish over the red wine barrel of my generator.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween