Here's a cool Kickstarter project that I am backing, and wanted to get the word out there.
This is the Mule Orb, by UV PaqLite, who also produce the the UVGlowStik, the 6" ToobLite, a UVO ring necklace and the flexible signature UVPaqLite sheet that I have covered previously as part of their Scout Pack.
The UVPaqLite line gets its signature glow from the solidified clear epoxy, in which crystals of glow-in-the-dark strontium aluminate are suspended. These crystals offer significantly more "glow" than the powdered SrAl2O4:Eu that goes into other moon-glow products.
The trick with the Mule-Orb is that it combines those very efficient crystals with a USB rechargeable battery-powered LED. The hybrid option works in energy saving cycles: 4 second bursts of light from the LED's every 2 minutes keeps the crystals at a super bright level allowing users to maintain a glow stick illumination for at least 100 hours. Check out their existing Mule-Stick option.
The LED is activated in two ways; the first is to activate the lights for constant-on, acting as a flashlight which sines through one face of the crystal-embedded epoxy, and the second as the pulsed-recharge option, keeping the crystals charged. A built in photo-receptor allows it to also be set to only pulse in the absence of light, meaning you can leave it set outside and not have it pulse whilst it is lit by ambient light, further extending the battery life.
The Orb is water resistant, but not water proof, which is why the UVPaqLite folks have also designed this diving case, which I am also hoping to lay my paws on, with a 30m (100') depth rating, this would be excellent for all the PADI Open Water types out there, and given its operational life, might even suit the needs of all you cave and wreck certified types to act as markers and waypoint indicators.
All in all this hybrid option looks to be a really good investment, and certainly worth adding to anybody's bug-out-bag .
Go check out the KickStarter page, as well as their home-page, their technology is the reusable, green-alternative to disposable cyalume sticks.