ACR Electronics
Fort Lauderdale, since 1956 — the rescue beacon that talks to a government satellite system and never asks for a subscription.
Cyalume
The chemical light stick, made in West Springfield and Aix-en-Provence — a signaling product with an expiry date printed on it and no battery to fail.
Cyalume makes the light stick — the sealed plastic tube you snap and shake, with no battery, no switch and nothing to fail electrically. The chemiluminescent business traces to American Cyanamid, was acquired by Omniglow in 1993, and became Cyalume Technologies after a 2006 transaction; Arsenal Capital Partners completed its acquisition in 2017. Military light sticks emerged in the early 1970s, first with the US Navy and then the Army. The thing worth knowing before you buy a box is that these are single-use and dated: Cyalume publishes different shelf lives for different products, from two years for mini sticks to five for a 15 cm SnapLight.
- 2 to 5 yearsPublished shelf life, depending on the specific product
- 2017Arsenal Capital Partners completes the acquisition
- 50+Years of lightstick research and development, per Cyalume
What we'd reach for
- SnapLightThe safety light stick. Cyalume's FAQ gives 5 years for the 15 cm version — check the date on the box, not the box design.
- ChemLightThe military-specification stick. 4 years for the 15 cm size, 2 years for the mini — shorter than most buyers assume.
- Infrared sticksVisible only through night vision, and rated 3 years. A genuinely different product from the visible sticks, not a color option.
- Light stationsEvacuation and emergency lighting units built around the same chemistry — no power, no maintenance, one shelf life.
- Markers and patchesGround and personnel marking for low light, single use.
- Search and rescue lightsThe SAR end of the catalog, and where the comparison with pyrotechnic signals is most direct.
More in Field & pursuits
All brands →The nearest neighbors on the shelf — same categories first, same department after that.
McMurdo
Portsmouth, England — a beacon name established in 1937, now under a Dutch owner most write-ups get wrong, and the closest thing ACR has to a peer.
Orion
Easton, Maryland — flares, smoke and signal kits made in Indiana and Pennsylvania, for the one federal requirement most boaters discover has quietly expired.
SOL
Survive Outdoors Longer — the bivvy-and-signal end of Adventure Ready Brands, Littleton NH, and a brand that publishes almost nothing about its own origins.