back to article El Reg regains atomic keyring capability

It's official: El Reg's merchandising tentacle Cash'n'Carrion has regained its atomic keyring capability with the arrival in our virtual emporium of the Nite Glowring. The six flavours of glowring You demanded the return of the legendary tritium-powered Traser, but sadly they'e no longer available. Instead, we've sourced …

COMMENTS

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  1. damian fell

    Originals still going strong

    I still have some of he original Traser glowrings, still glowing away quite brightly. I'd say the ten year estimate on them was conservative to say the least

    1. KroSha

      Re: Originals still going strong

      YMMV; I found my old one recently, it has gone dark.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Originals still going strong

        YMMV; I found my old one recently, it has gone dark.

        How did you find it then? :)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Originals still going strong

        Dear Sir,

        Please find enclosed a cashiers check drawn on my account at the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran for £5,990,000. I would like to order one million (1,000,000) of your delightful (and legally exportable) Traser mini-key rings. They will make wonderful gifts for my distant relations to the west.

        Please send to:

        Mr. Michael Smith esq.

        Secret Santa Coordinator

        Complex #7, Reactor Assembly Building

        Bushehr, Iran

        B00M1E

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Paris Hilton

          Re: Originals still going strong

          Why would Iran try to obtain tritium by dogdy means when they can very easily get a container of it (or even produce it themselves) by placing a phone call, being NPT signatories and all that?

        2. Sarah Balfour

          Re: Originals still going strong

          Considering there are just shy of IRR43,000 to the £, and considering the current state of the Iranian economy, that's probably more dough than is actually circulating in Iran…

        3. tabman

          Re: Originals still going strong

          Brilliant! Genuinely made me laugh

    2. Ian K
      Headmaster

      Re: Originals still going strong

      It's more a "might start looking ropey" rather than a "will stop working after" thing; tritium has an half life of a bit over 12 years, so after that long the glowring will only be (at best) half as bright as it was originally. Dropping to a quarter as bright as it started after another 12 years, etc...

      (That's assuming the phosphor doesn't degrade, or any other factors creep in to nobble it...)

      1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

        Re: Originals still going strong

        Remember that your eyes' response to light is pretty much like the ears' response to sound - logarithmic. The bright daylight today is clocking up ~50,000 lux on my light meter whereas a room at night lit by a single light bulb may be about 100 lux or less but your eyes adapt, so a factor of 2 or 4 is no big deal.

      2. HelpfulJohn

        Re: Originals still going strong

        OOps, I should read *ALL* of the comments, first ...

    3. Haku

      Re: Originals still going strong

      I also have a couple of traser glowrings from about 15 or so years ago, still glowing but not as bright as they once did.

      They're stuck either side of a light switch now, very handy when you're coming in at night.

    4. Bob Dunlop

      Re: Originals still going strong

      Yep my original Trasers are still helping me find my keys in the dark. Must be well over 10 years.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Originals still going strong

        Mine kinda went critical. Noticed a failure to glow and the lil glass tube had somehow shattered inside the plastic casing. Not sure how that happened as the plastic still looked intact. Having lasted the prolly around 10yrs, it had served me well.

        1. chivo243 Silver badge

          Re: Originals still going strong

          @AC

          Are you from LaSalle county in Illinois? Prolly?

    5. HelpfulJohn

      Re: Originals still going strong

      "I still have some of he original Traser glowrings, still glowing away quite brightly. I'd say the ten year estimate on them was conservative to say the least"

      Half-life. The half-life of tritium is 12 years or so. That means that statistically, roughly, approximately half of the tritties should have gone "ping" and changed into helium every decade or so. Which roughly, sort of implies that the juice should kind of die in about fifty years or so. Ish. About, give or take a while.

      It's all very quantum and probabilistic and stuff, involving the weak force,, but these things might visibly glow in the dark for a century or more. They'll just glow less and less brightly as time goes on.

      It's entirely possible that the phosphors are set up to be super-saturated at birth, so the first decade or more is just un-flattening the top of the brightness curve and no *noticeable* change in brightness will be seen for a couple of decades. At least, that's how I would design them.

      Just remember, if you have one of these things you are carrying around a thermonuclear device, a nuclear reactor and a generator of beta-rays.

      Cool, yes?

  2. Kaltern

    An elegant keyring for a more civilized age

    The Force is strong with these.

    1. HelpfulJohn

      Re: An elegant keyring for a more civilized age

      "The Force is strong with these."

      Uhhn, no. The force is weak in them and needs intensive training.

  3. AdamT

    Wait, what?

    You are not allowed to ship the larger one world wide but you can ship the smaller one? What if some nefarious overseas individual buys two of the smaller ones? Or even a whole box full?

    TRIIITTIIIAAMMMMAGEDDDON !11!!!!11

    Oh, my bad. Here I was assuming the export restriction rules might actually be based on common sense...

  4. Smiles
    Thumb Up

    Mine work too

    I bought several in about 2000, all but one are still as bright as the day I bought them. Quite like the new colours though...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Mine work too

      all but one are still as bright as the day I bought them

      You have just broken the law of conservation of energy and the weak force. I don't know whether to be cross with you or impressed.

      illegible squiggle pp God.

    2. Sarah Balfour

      Re: Mine work too

      So do I, but the two shades of blue look identical to me, and why can't I have a large green one…?

      1. John Gamble
        Go

        Re: Mine work too

        "...and why can't I have a large green one…?"

        Because the Guardians of the Universe forbid it.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Nite Glowing"

    Why does it say "Nite Glowring" and not "The Register" or something? (I can't buy it anyway, not in the UK)

    1. Boothy

      Re: "Nite Glowing"

      Or even Night, seen as Nite isn't even a real word!

  6. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse
    Stop

    Errr....

    I'm pretty sure they sell exactly the same thing at the cash desk of Cotswolds outdoor in Chichester for £1.99.

    /* Just saying... */

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Errr....

      Maybe, but think of the drinks you will be taking from the mouths of El Reg staffers...

      1. Boothy
        Pint

        Re: Errr....

        hmm, drink... Back in a sec, fridge raiding time

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    4 minutes from order confirmation to shipped.. something fishy there.

    1. hplasm
      Happy

      It's not fishy-

      It's ATOMIC POWERED!!

      Whizz for Atomms!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Maybe they employ an atomic-powered workforce.

    3. Shady

      Maybe it was an Atomic transaction. Did you buy anything else or did you order it in Isolation? The packaging should be be Durable at least, and customer service at the El Reg grotto is nothing if not Consistent.

  8. Tomislav

    Furthermore you can get it on ebay and, lo and behold, they ship worldwide...

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/NITE-TRITIUM-GLOWRING-KEYRING-GADGET-MINI-GLOW-IN-THE-DARK-RING-KIT-MARKER-STICK-/400310733263?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item5d346109cf

    1. imanidiot Silver badge

      They only have pink in (limited) stock. Rest is sold out.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      They might SHIP it worldwide, but that doesn't mean us Murcans would ever see it ARRIVE.

    3. SniperPenguin

      Translation

      @Tomislav

      I think El Reg mean "Our supplier can't be arsed to ship worldwide"

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Translation

        We don't care if other suppliers are shipping to the USA. But they are flouting US law...

        1. Martin-73 Silver badge

          Re: Translation

          US law is silly. Video at 11

  9. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    Ahem, excuse me...

    I've been wondering - how many of these do I need to buy to build a thermonuclear device to destroy the world?

    1. Ashton Black

      Re: Ahem, excuse me...

      I take it you're just asking for a friend?

      1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

        Re: Ahem, excuse me...

        Absolutely! I would think of doing no such thing myself! He-he. He-he-he...

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon
          Headmaster

          Re: Ahem, excuse me...

          "He-he. He-he-he..."

          Shouldn't that be more like "Mwah-ha-ha-harr!"?

          1. Captain DaFt

            Re: Ahem, excuse me...

            Underlings laugh,"He-he. He-he-he..."

            Masterminds laugh,"Mwah-ha-ha-harr!"

            Obviously, he's the underling being used as a cats-paw by his master.

            1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

              Re: Ahem, excuse me...

              "Obviously, he's the underling being used as a cats-paw by his master."

              Or so you'd like to believe... He-he. He-he-he...

    2. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

      Try lithium deuteride instead

      The fission explosion creates a burst of neutrons that smash lithium into tritium and helium. This gets you your fission fuel when you need it without the hassle of trying to store a radioactive cryogenic liquid.

      1. xenny

        Re: Try lithium deuteride instead

        It turns out that tritium is actually rather handy for getting better performance out of a typical nuclear weapon, which in turn lets you build a smaller/lighter thermonuclear weapon.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Try lithium deuteride instead

          However, you need an awful lot of tritium and it is a little hard to handle in these quantities. When we had 500Ci or so on site I did actually calculate what volume it would occupy if converted to tritium oxide, and how hot it would get if I could keep it all together long enough. It would easily fit into one of these lights, until the case either exploded or melted locally.

          Because of its short half life and low atomic mass, tritium really is very radioactive. Fortunately it benignly emits low energy electrons and does no harm till you breathe it in or swallow its oxide. If it is bound in a nonvolatile compound it's pretty harmless and the byproduct is helium 3, which is innocuous. Fortunately because the preferred route to disposal for the British government has been from Windscale sorry Sellafield straight into the Irish Sea, and the last I heard it was well into the gigaCi.

      2. Dave 32
        Mushroom

        Re: Try lithium deuteride instead

        Ah, yes, the "Castle Bravo" effect:

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo

        One presumes that they've also tried Lithium Trinitide as well as Lithium Deuteride, although I couldn't find any references while doing a very quick search. ("Hi guys/gals!" I always include a friendly greeting to any spooks who may be reading my stuff, based on selected/sensitive keywords.). Then, again, most aspects of nuclear weapon design are somewhat classified, well, excepting for all of that design information on wikipedia/wikileaks/etc. :-/

        Dave

  10. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
    Mushroom

    Bombing of Register HQ in 5.4.3.2.1.

    So now that El Reg has joined the rogue states in going nuclear, when are the staff all going to get Kim Jong Un haircuts?

    Enquiring minds would like to know.

    1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

      Re: Bombing of Register HQ in 5.4.3.2.1.

      Patience. They still have to finish the secret submarine base under Rockall.

      Why do you think LOHAN been taking so long.

  11. McHack

    Good for homes and computer rooms

    Slip on the appropriate key and apply with 2-sided tape above the keyed switch for the generator/UPS/battery supply so you can find it when the power is cut, especially after it was left in the wrong position after the once-monthly test last done sometime last year.

    Actually a glob of silicone cement would be better, make someone work to remove it.

    Without the ring, you can use the hole to screw one to the door frame to keep the keyhole illuminated. Lots of fun possibilities.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Good for homes and computer rooms

      Slip on the appropriate key and apply with 2-sided tape above the keyed switch for the generator/UPS/battery supply so you can find it when the power is cut, especially after it was left in the wrong position after the once-monthly test last done sometime last year.

      I tend to install proper emergency lights where the switches and controls are - that ensures I have light exactly where I need it, when I need it. It's also on the testing regime, for obvious reasons :).

  12. ukgnome

    £4 postage - you money grabbing so and so's

    1. Triggerfish

      Well for some reason W Yorks its £5.

    2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Devil

      Be fair. It's got to be delivered by special nuclear train...

  13. McHack

    Also in US?

    "No1 Gadget Store UK" sells them on Amazon.com, for considerably more. Supplies seem rather limited though. "Free" shipping with those high prices. Don't see "UK only".

    http://www.amazon.com/Original-Nite-Tritium-Glowring-keyring/dp/B00F3887SQ

    Limited supply, high prices... Smuggling? Not the worse thing that's been brought in lately. Not like it's drugs, explosives, biological weapons, or radioactive nuclear materials...

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Also in US?

      Surely worse than all that lot combined is the annual spate of haggis smuggling into the US for Burns Night. That's much more of a threat to your national security. Especially if the buggers deep-fry it for breakfast the morning after.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Also in US?

        Not to mention Canadian terrorists smuggling Kinder Eggs of Mass destruction

        canadian-kinder-surprise-smuggling-ring-broken-up-by-us-officials

    2. Rick Brasche

      Re: Also in US?

      LOL also comes in "New Clear Case".

      Piers Anthony fans just got a chuckle outta that.

  14. Crisp
    Flame

    Tried to buy one

    Tried to pay twice with two different cards. Payment rejected both times.

    Why wont you take my money El Reg?

    1. Triggerfish

      Re: Tried to buy one

      Yep that's a bloody awful payment interface.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Tried to buy one

      Am forwarding your post to people running shop - to see if they can figure out what is not going on.

  15. Little Mouse

    "completely harmless to people, animals"

    I can think of loads of ways you could harm yourself other people with one.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Alien

      Re: "completely harmless to people, animals"

      So can I.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You don't do one that glows blue in the presence of Orcs?

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      I'll sell you something that does. £100 for this special orc-detecting toilet roll holder. It's 100% tested. It's never failed to correctly show whether there are orcs present or not.

      Obviously should orcs ever show up, the toilet roll will come in handy.

    2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      This one glows in the presence of idiot users - try it at work

    3. Col. Muckstard

      Or in the presence of Fremen..?

    4. Sarah Balfour

      Orcs - or Norks…?

  17. McHack

    DIY: Demonic Garden Gnome

    "Officer, it's been staring at my house for years, at my bedroom. I can see his eyes glowing at night, every night, through the snow, in the rain. It's evil, possessed I tell you! Surely you can see how the only rational way to stop it was with the dynamite!"

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just be careful

    if headig for the US....

    "Is that thig Radioactive?"

    {DHS goon sweeps geiger counter over device}

    "Sir! You are a Terrorist. Here is your one-way ticket to Gitmo and an orange jumpsuit."

    /just saying/

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just be careful

      "Here is your one-way ticket to Gitmo and an orange jumpsuit.""

      Apparently they have run out of stock of orange jumpsuits. ISIS have enthusiastically taken on board the US justice model and have cornered the market on them...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just be careful

      {DHS goon sweeps geiger counter over device}

      And picks up nothing at all. Those weedy little electrons average around 5keV, I think, and they can't make it through paper let alone glass.

      Just tell the goon you think there is a tiny battery in the end cap, if you get asked. If. As I understand it the DHS is staffed by the people who couldn't hold down a job collecting garbage because it was too intellectually taxing. (Apartheid South African police joke repurposed).

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: Just be careful

        Reminds me of an old Soviet joke:

        Q. Why do KGB officers go round in threes?

        A. One can read, one can write, and the other is there to keep an eye on the dangerous intellectuals.

      2. Dave Bell

        Re: Just be careful

        There's currently a fuss about terrorists using thermite to attack 'planes. The Air Marshall's are fretting because nobody has told them how to put the stuff out. (They're basically undercover DHS armed cops.) Luckily, igniting thermite is a little difficult, because there is no practical way of putting it out.

        Or it may just be American journalists who are the idiots.

        When I encountered thermite in a school chemistry lesson, the teacher used magnesium ribbon and a bunsen burner to start off the reaction, which you don't find on many airliners.

        1. PNGuinn
          Black Helicopters

          Re: Just be careful

          Industrial strength microwave oven?

          ISTR that, while apparently harmless on airline "food", can cause several £k worth of damage to an aircraft with nothing more than a bigname supermaket ready meal.

          Run!

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Just be careful

          the teacher used magnesium ribbon and a bunsen burner to start off the reaction

          I don't think I am giving anything away at all by observing that if you have a laptop battery, or even a large phone battery, it is very easy to ignite thermite. Ultimately the only way to ensure security for aircraft is to limit air travel to people who are adequately verified by webs of trust; and as the British government can't even prevent a trio of dangerously stupid schoolgirls from making it to Syria, this isn't going to happen.

          1. PC Paul

            Re: Just be careful

            If people read all about what it's like over there and still decide to go to substantial trouble to voluntarily go, why not just let them?

            We should be concentrating on not letting them come back...

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Just be careful

          There's currently a fuss about terrorists using thermite to attack 'planes. The Air Marshall's are fretting because nobody has told them how to put the stuff out. (They're basically undercover DHS armed cops.) Luckily, igniting thermite is a little difficult, because there is no practical way of putting it out.

          The difficulty in putting it out bears no relation to how difficult it is to ignite something.

          As for thermite ignition, it does take some heat but it is by no means hard (not helped by the fact that smokers are allowed a lighter in carry-on, and I suspect a strip of magnesium will not trigger any alarm bells). To extinguish thermite once it is ignited, however, strikes me as nigh impossible with the few means you have on a plane.

          Having said that, I have no idea how you'd get thermite onto a plane - I suspect any usable quantity would show up quite well on carry-on luggage scanners. At least I hope so..

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Just be careful

            smokers are allowed a lighter in carry-on

            Which just goes to demonstrate that all this stuff is really just security theatre.

        4. jeremyjh

          Re: Just be careful

          Mine decided it would be best to undertake this reaction on the school drive. Outside the Bursar's office.

      3. slightly-pedantic

        Re: Just be careful

        A fellow traveler told me today how he had been taking some Whitby fosils of ancient amonites into the US and the customs inspector attempted to impound them as it's illegal to take Seafood into the US. He got away with it after suggesting the customs office try BBQing and consuming them!

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just be careful

      A relative recently underwent radioactive Iodine-131 treatment for Goiter. She was cautioned to NOT cross the US border, lest she set off the radiation sensors, and be swarmed by uniformed officers carrying weapons pointed at her.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Just be careful

        My father-in-law has been seeded with some for of radioactive stuff and now carries a "I'm radioactive card" The irony of his early days with CND isn't lost on him.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Just be careful

          My father-in-law has been seeded with some for of radioactive stuff

          A guy I once did some work with from Winfrith told me how his neighbour used to go on about the dangers of radioactivity right up until he needed radiotherapy for cancer, whereupon for some reason he went very quiet on the subject.

          1. PC Paul

            Re: Just be careful

            On the other hand it's exactly because it's so dangerous that controlled use of it is effective in helping him.

            He's not wrong, but like all things there's a right time and place...

          2. Alan Brown Silver badge

            Re: Just be careful

            "A guy I once did some work with from Winfrith told me how his neighbour used to go on about the dangers of radioactivity right up until he needed radiotherapy for cancer, whereupon for some reason he went very quiet on the subject."

            FWIW Rutherford's labs at Oxford were cleaned up and repurposed for other research many years ago. After a while staff started going down with various nasty cancers. It was assumed that material was missed and the place gone over wih a fine tooth comb - nothing found - and deep cleaned again.

            Staff kept getting ill. After banging their heads against trying to find the source of radiation which was causing it, the source was found to be mercury.

            More precisely, from broken mercury thermometers from decades ago which had seeped into the floorboards and been reacting with the atmosphere. Mercuric oxides are extremely nasty things and it only takes small amounts to cause trouble.

            Radioactives are generally more benign, unless you're a smoker (Polonium buildups in the lungs are probably what causes most lung cancers that occur more than 6 months after a smoker gives up)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Just be careful

        If i had the time, I would do that for fun.

      3. Chris G

        Re: Just be careful

        After getting my back and kidneys squidged a bit in a car accident in the '80s, the hospital pumped radioactive iodine into a vein and took X rays of various bits. The pics were quite amazing, like a glow in the dark road map of the body.

        I also did a bit of work at Windscale when it was still called that, so I don' need no steenkin' glow in the dark keyrings when I already glow myself.

  19. recovering grinch
    FAIL

    Tax Evasion

    Almost bought some, then "taxes" appeared. Oh reeeely. <Delete>.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Are these OK at airports?

    What happens when you go through security? Any issues?

    /just askin'

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Are these OK at airports?

      If there was radiation coming out of them, they wouldn't be classes as "totally safe", surely? The radiation is caught when knocking photons out of stuff.

      1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

        Re: Are these OK at airports?

        I never had a problem with a Traser watch, so these should be OK too...

    2. imanidiot Silver badge

      Re: Are these OK at airports?

      Having recently flown to the USA on business carrying a similar tritium glow device on my keychain I have not been bothered about it at either Düsseldorf or NY. I doubt they can detect them unless they look at them in the dark and realise it's something other than one of those "charge in the daylight and glow for maybe 30 minutes after that"

      Also, hello worthless NSA peon forced to read this, don't you just wish you could get a real job like the rest of us goons? ;)

      1. 's water music
        Facepalm

        NSA analysts

        Also, hello worthless NSA peon forced to read this, don't you just wish you could get a real job like the rest of us goons? ;)

        Whaaat? I've been reading this drivel for free for years now. Why didn't any of you mention I could do it professionally before?

  21. bozoid

    That was fast

    The Mini Glowring (the only one I can order from over here in the Land of the Free(TM)) is sold out already.

    I haz a sad.

  22. x 7

    Betalights. More key British technology lost overseas. Saunders-Roe Developments pioneered this technology, but were sold off by Westland Aircraft. Why? Because Westland were out of cash after the Tories sat on helicopter orders for a few years........

    The technology and manufacturing ended up in Canada, with Saunders-Roe closed. It is key military technology - powerless light sources for aircraft, vehicle controls, gunsights. And like we did with so much during Thatchers time in power, we gave it away overseas for peanuts

    1. Lars Silver badge
      Alien

      @ z 7

      The guy you are looking for is

      Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, OM FRS[1] (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand-born British physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics.[2]

      and

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium_illumination.

      Innovations are often patented, their time is always limited.

      From the way you express the loss I have a feeling you have been hit by a virus called Jeremy Clarkson a spin master of massive proportions when it comes to inventions and history.

  23. x 7

    export restrictions.......

    I think you'll find the export restrictions are due to the possible military "dual use" controls - no one wants the the enemy getting self powered night sights, or aircraft instrument panels

  24. This post has been deleted by its author

  25. Herby

    Cleanup??

    Isn't obvious that to get rid of nuclear waste you use NukeAway. At least that is what is used in the land of Ork.

    As for thermite, it is pretty difficult to get started. In my youth, I tried with magnesium ribbon and it failed miserably. Of course that did not deter me and my brother as we disassembled some firecrackers and used the KNO3+S+C mixture to get the thermite started. The next time I used road flare which did the starting job nicely. A few years later in the 10th grade (4th form) my chemistry teacher made a hole in the lab table with thermite results. It IS very hot!

    Such fun!!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Cleanup??

      As for thermite, it is pretty difficult to get started

      Let us hope that any terrorists trying were as inexperienced with the stuff as you obviously were.

  26. Sarah Balfour
    Unhappy

    I haz a sad, too…

    they is all gones! I could just get a big purple one, I guess…

  27. Rob Clubley

    Mine was also still glowing nicely after about 11 years.

    I also brought it to New Zealand with me when I emigrated, presumably in breach of some laws, whoops.

    Unfortunately I shut it in the door last year and broke the plastic part.

  28. Stevie

    Bah!

    Pfft! Real men yearn for the Polonium Initiator Medallion, available for a limited time from Putin Energy Overstocks.

    "The Last Medallion You'll Ever Buy".

  29. Boothy

    Stock

    So the Reg getting new stock in at some point, or was this it? :-/

  30. MattW99

    Hope they've improved...

    I had three of these a few years ago and in each one the plastic plug sealing the tritium tube inside the body worked loose allowing the tritium element to fall out and shatter asunder.

  31. Richard 12 Silver badge
    Unhappy

    You bastards, the purple ones are gone!

    Any idea when they might be back in stock?

    I have some money here that I want to dispose of in return for a nuclear furnace.

    1. Kaltern

      Re: You bastards, the purple ones are gone!

      I have a blue one, yours for, shall we say a round £50?

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