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Guide to Glowsticks
Reviews - Product Reviews
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 09:33

Ever wanted to know where to get glowsticks? And the differences in the terminology to the different glowsticks? Here you go!



I see a lot of people asking about buying glowsticks, and I thought this might come in handy.

First of all, the glowstick comes in 1.5, 4, 6, 10, and 15 inches. A 1.5 glowstick is commonly known as a "mouthie" because, well, that's where it goes. Four inch sticks are not usually used because, when held in eagle claw, the glow is diminished, and when held like a stick, the tosses and stalls become much harder.

6 inch is the most common because it provides ample glow and your body is most tailored to its size, making catches and stalls easier to pull off.

When buying 10-15 sticks, keep in mind that the size of the chemicals that actually do the glowing does not increase, but only the "food" juice that increases time. This creates a much dimmer glow in these size sticks.

It also goes without saying that everything is much harder with these size sticks short of figure-8. Traces are large and unmanageable, tosses are slow, catches are harder, and stalls are almost impossible due to the smaller center of gravity. I don't recommend using large sticks.

Glowsticks come in a variety of shapes, but basically they consist of a thick, short bottom cylinder, a long tube, and some sort of connection device. If a glowstick is uncracked, you can plainly see a glass-like container that contains a liquid that is colored to the intended glowstick hue. If it is cracked, there is usually a bunch of flappy crap at the bottom of the glowstick, and the liquid inside is an ugly grayish color.

Cheap glowsticks are colored on the outside, while the liquid inside is actually blue. This causes pink and red-tone colors to appear purplish, and other colors to have a slight blue tinge. Watch out for these, as they break easily and the seams rupture.

The long tube comes in 2 shapes: round or polygonal (many flat sides). The polygonal shape usually comes with "industrial" sticks, which are found in hardware stores (Home Depot, Orchard Supply Hardware, Ace Hardware) and in camping stores (REI, Camping World). These tend to be tougher and more durable. They hurt more when hitting yourself when glowstringing. (Intentional or not.)

Round shapes are usually advertised as "party" sticks. The majority of cheaper sticks are round, as they are less durable.

WATCH OUT FOR CHEAP STICKS!

Avoid buying anything that is not intended for industrial purposes or manufactered by Omniglow/Lumica Lights.The most fragile part of these cheap sticks are the seams that join the fat cylinder on the bottom with the long tube.

Round sticks manufactered by Omniglow are fine. Omniglow creates the highest quality sticks I've used. The color is high quality and they do not use colored shells. The seams are soldered to prevent breakage. I highly recommend buying Omniglow. Again, round sticks feel softer when stringing than industrial sticks.

The times that come with the sticks are inversely related to brightness, ex. 12 hrs have the lowest, 5 min the highest.

They accomplish the difference in brightness by subtracting the clear fluid (the "fuel") around the container and increasing the amount in it.

Order of Brightness:

12 hr.
8 hr.
30 min. high intensity
5 min. ultra high intensity


Microwaving and freezing your sticks are a common way to keep your sticks longer. Try sticking for 12 hours straight, and you will know why this is used.

General Explanation:

Cold makes things freeze. Freeze=no movement. No movement=no light. By freezing the sticks, you get them cold enough so that they don't consume the fuel inside the sticks, keeping them dark.

Heat makes things hot. Hot makes things move. Movement=light. By microwaving your sticks, you are heating them up so that they are brighter.

Put these together, and you can see how to freeze your sticks and revive them when you need them.

Scientific Explanation:

The light is created when electron molecules are excited and jump up to a high energy level. When freezing your sticks, the electrons no longer create light because they are out of energy to move.

When microwaving your sticks, you are speeding up the movement of electrons, thus creating more light. By microwaving already cracked sticks, you can see the difference.

How long should you microwave your sticks? At 10 seconds, it reaches its peak, so you should do no longer. The seams may rupture in cheap sticks as soon as 17 seconds, and in high quality sticks they usually break at 20-25. At 30, both low and high-quality sticks tend to cover the inside of your microwave with cyalume. Keep in mind that my friend has one of the powerful microwaves of 1100watt and he can't let them go no longer than 12 seconds. Check the watt as you open the microwave it should be stickered to it.

You can buy glowsticks at select Longs Drugs stores, Fry's Electronics, Walmart, Target, hardware stores, camping stores, and a few dollar stores. There are also many Halloween niche shops that sell these during the season. Party City and other party stores will also carry these.

Buying online is usually a good alternative to buying in the flesh. When buying bulk, it is smart to use a website. The best deals can usually be found at:

Extremeglow.com and GS.C members are given 10% off for the omniglows.

I highly recommend extremeglow, because of good price and selection and somewhat good shipping times.

Anyway, thats the end of my guide. Hope it helps, and correct me on any mistakes.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 26 February 2008 19:22 )