I’ve gone through 4 Duncan light up counterweights within the last 3 months. I really like them, but the batteries don’t last long at all. I’ve also had 2 of them that were VERY difficult to turn on, and once I got them on, nigh impossible to turn off. (yes, I know you have to hold it) Personally, I think its a great product, but has some serious design flaws, like the on/off switch is a poor design, I have to carry a pen around to turn it on or off, and lack of a replaceable battery (although these batteries cost about 5$ at walgreens or somewhere anyways, so you might as well just get a new counterweight.
I just thought I’d share some other light up counterweights I’ve found and see if anybody has come up with anything similar, cheaper, better, etc.
First one I used was a ‘Firebug Hiking Locator light’ from Lowes, very similar to this http://tinyurl.com/d2qf7be its got about the same weight as the Duncan die, 5 red LEDs that flash a crazy star pattern, takes cheap watch batteries, and screw it and unscrew it to turn it on/off. It works pretty well, but cost 10$. Poked a hole in the bottom, ran a zip tie through it, good to go.
So far though, the cheapest/best thing I’ve found to use are those LED light up fingers, like seen here http://tinyurl.com/cu76a6h They will only last a couple days per use, if that, but they are SO CHEAP. I can get a pack of 3 here at Michael’s Craft store for only 2$, and they are like 1$ for a 4 pack on Amazon. I put a small piece of tape over where the light comes out because Its pretty bright and I dont want to flash anybody or myself. If you only use 1, its pretty light, but easy to get used to, lately I’ve been zip tying 2 different colors together, It makes it a little bigger and heavier, but its neat to go for a while with one color and then switch colors in the middle of a performance, or have 2 different colors together.
I’m sure theres plenty of different light up options online, these were just the 2 easiest things I could find locally. I also considered a red light up fishing bobber, and some light up tops from the dollar store, couldnt find any light up keychains locally that stayed lit without holding a button.
Anybody have any other suggestions of things to use? link me.
But it’s sooooooo good!”