Comments on: Raid the dollar store for an illuminated umbrella

By: Bubble Umbrella

Bubble Umbrella — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:25:06 +0000

@andrew very nice catch. For me it reminds more like stars wars :)

Anyway very nice idea by Mikeasaurus.

By: kevin mcguigan

kevin mcguigan — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:34:07 +0000

to those of you who critisize the hacks posted on this site. i don’t recall seeing anything you built being posted.

By: Spork

Spork — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:50:18 +0000

@Roly I’m glad you mentioned that. Here is a link for more on the Hickman schematic:
http://ozvalveamps.elands.com/techsite/ledtorch/ledtorch.htm

I’m also a fan of this ‘dollar store hacks’ idea.

By: Roly

Roly — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:43:30 +0000

@McSquid
Agreed. Really like this hack for its effectiveness – it’s very simple but it makes a huge difference to being seen by motorists. It would be great if this idea caught on.

But for a slightly advanced hack it would be good to get away from the direct battery to LED idea (which I’ll bet this is), and include a small inverter. Yes, I know it lights up for a while, but it actually has worse efficiency than a normal globe, and that ain’t great.

I built such a LED torch (flashlight) a while back after a design by Ian Hickman, and it’s ability to get about a year of frequent use out of a single AA cell by sipping it dry is, well, slightly amazing. A few turns on a balun core and a single transistor turns a horror show into a dream.

By: makovsky74

makovsky74 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:30 +0000

Nice) I’d buy it)

By: Kimmo

Kimmo — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:11 +0000

Now girls, girls.. step away from the keyboard, go solder something nice and let the nice people do whatever they want with their own site. (no offence towards girls though)

You’re making fools out of yourselves – I doubt you even use that kind of language when you confront real people.

By: bobob is my hero

bobob is my hero — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:47:21 +0000

@bobob

You sir, are and idiot.

By: andrew

andrew — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:49:38 +0000

Bladerunner was the first thing I thought of when I saw this.

By: Dubya

Dubya — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:38:48 +0000

I enjoy the simplicity of this (great job), but the way its put together looks a bit weak… think I’ll just hold out till they get more in stock http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travel-outdoors/9260/

By: jAMES

jAMES — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:06:14 +0000

Awesome. Not the greatest hack i’ve ever seen but I love ‘dollar store hacks’ I vote for a regular ‘dollar store hackable’ segment , highlighting fun cheap trinkets that could be used to make something cool, or just as a source of parts.

@Caleb
ignore the trolls (including me from time to time)
idiots like us in the comments just increase the number of words in an article, making it more likely someone will stumble on it in google. Plus ignoring them is the worst thing you can do to attention whores.

By: Caleb Kraft

Caleb Kraft — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:44:20 +0000

@bobob,
If you insist on going to every post and complaining about Arduinos without being on topic whatsever I’m going to have to start marking you as spam. You are not adding value or even commenting on the projects themselves anymore. It’s like an Ardunio protest. If you wish to protest Arduinos, I suggest you start here: http://www.arduino.cc/

By: bobob

bobob — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:34:14 +0000

i don’t get it-where’s the aurduino???

By: macegr

macegr — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:26:31 +0000

Maybe use one of those lightsabers, since they telescope already. A real lightsaber, not a toy.

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:07:03 +0000

I don’t know why I dislike reading instructables so much but, I do. It really is a great resource for people posting how-to’s but don’t want to host their own site. Having said that, I will not apologize for my “instructables contempt” but, I do hope they continue.

I wonder if replacing all or part of the umbrella shaft with an acrylic rod then making faceted cuts in it or even sanding the outside to make refraction points for the light would work out.

By: mikeasaurus

mikeasaurus — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:59:53 +0000

Thanks everyone for your comments!

@jrtcs
It’s not pointed at the ground because it’s not trying to illuminate your pathway while you walk, it’s to indicate your position to motorists so they see you and slow down.
Another version of this can include both, a light up and a light down.

@TJ
Thanks?! Umbrellas are goofy looking anyways, style-shmyle. The poncho choice was because I wanted to keep the costs down as much as I could. Feel free to make yours with rip-stop nylon or some other kind of material, which is what i had originally envisioned byt scapped due to cost/time and difficulty in stitching up the sock.

@Jac
Ummm… sorry dude, you also left your wallet on the seat too. I spent all teh money on slurpees, I hope you can forgive me.