illuminated flying object

2004-05-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

The Flashflight Flying Disc is an amazingly great implementation of a very cool idea - an illuminated frisbee. Luminous frisbees have been around for ages but are basically work than useless, the dull glow wearing off after a scant few minutes. The Flashflight ingeniously incorporates a super-bright LED (powered by a standard watch battery) safely protected from knocks in a water-resistant housing. The entire body of the Flashflight is beautifully lit thanks to nine radial fibre optic channels radiating from the central LED housing. The ends of the fibre optics glow like bright pin-pricks. It looks like some sort of deep-sea jellyfish, in a mad way. The fibreoptic channels also incorporate "wave guides" which ensure more efficient transmission of light - this sort of attention to detail and the high quality of all aspects of the manufacture indicate that the Flashflight is clearly a labour of love, designed by keen disc-chuckers.

Available in three colours (Red, Green and Blue), the light is turned on by rotating the central bezel housing on the underside of the disc. This is a very simple and effective solution, and the light stays on when the disc suffers percussive traumas such as hitting tree trunks (while playing nocturnal disc golf, like you do...) You can expect to get around 100 hours of light from a battery with the red version, or 20 hours for the green and blue. When the battery finally dies, it is a simple matter to replace it - simply snap off the bezel casing, pop your new battery in (a CR2430 3V or DL2430 3V Lithium coin cell, available widely at jewelers or electronics stores) and away you go!

But how does it fly, you ask? Well, the Flashflight has very similar flight characteristics to a standard "ultimate" disc from Discraft, although it weighs 10g more at 185g. Extensive testing has revealed that the flashflight flies straight and true and retains its shape very well even when it gets a bit of hammering. It is widely used by Ultimate players (who are generally a finicky bunch when it comes to discs) and is made from high-quality plastic, not that nasty brittle stuff like the discs you buy in a tat shop at the seaside.

The Flashflight isn't just limited to its ostensible function - it also makes an attractive and unusual mood light, and is great taking to raves, where you can either throw it around or pulse the light on and off in time to the beat, if that takes your fancy.

This is fantastic, innovative and beautifully designed product, and would make a great gift for any sporty insomniac friends.

techtoys

illuminated flying object