OK so I read the article on the hidden UV ink but my question is if the ink will glow under UV light will it glow under the Sun? Is the Sun also UV light?

Mark,

The sun's spectrum includes UV light, but not enough to make UV sensitive material glow under sunlight. You need more UV light per unit area than the sun provides. The use of a black light will provide enough UV light to make the UV sensitive materials glow.

Joe

What is this for???

What is this for???

This applies to an article in the latest rodmaker magazine. It is a good one and well worth the subscription.

A side note. Tom McNamara bought several of my rods at the show last year and I understand he was going to put them in the showcase of numerous rods from many different builders in the Mudhole showcase. I will give an SBSS to anyone that can find the rod in that showcase that has the uv markings on it. Send me a picture of yourself with the rod.

This article really got my interest up. I ordered two pens yesterday and will get to work as soon as they come in. I've been thinking that these may have more applications than just the security issues mentioned in the article. Very interesting concept and it brings to mind all the things that custom builders can offer their customers over a factory rod.

We talk about competing with factory made rods but really, how can the factories even begin to compete with custom rod builders? Dollar for dollar we can offer a lot of things they can't. Retrieval and rescue devices, security features, Kayak lease attachment loops, custom handles for better fit, and oh yeah, all the additional performance that no factory rods can match. I think if more builders would make "packages" of some of these features standard on their custom rods they would find that most customers would find it a no brainer to buy custom over factory every time.

When I began working on this project about a year ago, I discussed it with J.P. Timberlake. He started his own experiments with the UV pens and found that in bright sunlight, the ink he was using would tend to show up. My experience was just the opposite - the ink in my pens won’t show more than a very subtle mark in even the brightest sunlight. They require one of the special UV lights to make them glow.

What we determined is that it all comes down to the particular brand UV ink pen you’re using. And the trouble is, none of the pens that either one of us has used has any sort of manufacturer identification on it so being able to recommend one over another isn’t yet possible.

My advice is to try or buy several from different sources. The last ones I got from the Blacklight shop don’t show up in sunlight. At least not enough that the casual observer would ever notice in the least. These pens are also sold at hobby and craft stores, Office Depot, Staples, etc. You’ll just have to experiment with a few and when you find one that stays hidden in everything except under the special UV light, buy several and put them back.

The article has several ideas for good ways to use the technique but there are doubtless others that will come to light (no pun intended) once more and more rod builders experiment with them a bit.

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I hate it when you guys start discussing stuff like this from the magazine and my issue hasn't arrived yet!

I feel SOOOO deprived!

i did notice when I experimented that a gloss vs matte finish gave slightly differing results in seeing it in sunlight. I think putting it on a guide wrap would eliminate this descrepancy and provide more consistent results.

[www.amazon.com] just bought this heading out in search of the rod.

Sources were provided in the article.

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