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I've read through the forum about marshalls, nite lites, and the tt tracers (which I was leaning towards gettting), and a few people mentioned using glowsticks. I was liking the sound of spending less! I just looked on ebay though, and found knock-off, obviously Hong-Kong made waterproof, led collars in just about every color for less that $5. Has anyone ever tried any of these or should I buy one of each of the few different styles and put them to the test??

i dont know what to say thats the first time i have heard of them my self

i use the SunBurst Saturn Light Up Collars and they work great

I've heard good things about those ones as well, I just figured, even if they last half the time as the legitimate brands, at less than 10 for any color or style with shipping included I can't see it hurting to try! I think I'll go with a few different colors from a few different sellers/styles and see where it goes! If they're junk, then nobody will really be surprised. But if they work well, we may be onto something!!

i`ve own a few different lighted collars, but i think the tracker flash is brighter than any of the collars.

http://www.niteize.com/collections/led/products/spotlit

heres what i use there cheap and i havent broke one yet
i use one red and one blue , one time my dogs came running up the road behind us in the dark side by side , we thought we were being pulled over by the cops. you can leave them on constant or switch them to flash

I have a hand full of those tracker flashers. they are ok but I keep going back to the Sunburst Saturns-- they are way brighter. ---the original batteries were Nicads.... would only last a couple of nights without re-charge when they quit, I put nmh sub c batteries in and they will last a bout 4 days on all the time! .I do not have any Idea how long they will last now on short hunts!
they are visible from both sides Red and orange seem to be more visible than the blue and white but try what you wish.

if you get those posted above I would sure get a couple for each dog and fasten them to each side of the dogs collar...

Hey zach are those the ones from Bass pro ? If so i had bought a couple a while back and they did'nt last but a couple weeks, i think the water damaged them from coon huntin. They might be okay if you keep them out of the water. Good luck and keep us posted as to what works.

Not from Bass Pro, just some guy in Hong Kong on ebay! I found 2 styles I'm going to try and report back. For the price they're worth a look! For those that use the tritronics tracer, doesn't it get hidden by the dog's neck?? I really like the idea and design of those but was a little worried about that....

id keep your $5 in your wallet. Lighted collars are a bullseye for trigger happy landowners if your dogs ever get onto private land

The Tri tronics tracer is a joke.

Just my opinion, but saturn sunburst sucks. I got three and there all broken. I got sick and tired of sending them back to get fixed. I don't think they hold up well in lots of water or to lots of abuse. There expensive, bulky, not very bright or well made. Not worth the money. I use the blinking led collar lights out of nite lite, but since I got GPS I don't hardly use the lighted collars anymore.

StrawberryMt wrote:The Tri tronics tracer is a joke.

Why do you say that? Not debating with you, just want to know some more opinions to persuade me one way or the other!! One concern I had was that it sits under the neck and couldn't be seen, then I was wondering if it would work to put it on the top side of a tracking collar? I figured the weight would keep it on the top side, but not sure how effective a shock would be if needed!

cjohnson1178 wrote:Just my opinion, but saturn sunburst sucks. I got three and there all broken. I got sick and tired of sending them back to get fixed. I don't think they hold up well in lots of water or to lots of abuse. There expensive, bulky, not very bright or well made. Not worth the money. I use the blinking led collar lights out of nite lite, but since I got GPS I don't hardly use the lighted collars anymore.

There's just something about being able to watch the dog work that I love...I think that's why I've come to like runnin coon so much!!

montananative wrote:id keep your $5 in your wallet. Lighted collars are a bullseye for trigger happy landowners if your dogs ever get onto private land

The spots we run on the river are all public land. Rarely do we come up to farms, houses, etc. The edges of the river are steep, and nobody living anywhere near so I'm not too concerned!

I have both the Marshall lighted tracking collars AND Magnums lighted collars. Ive seen the Sunburst ones and thought the colors were a little dull. Plus those snap on blinky things are down right annoying! The Tri-tronics Tracers aren't popular where Im at, but I know a few people who have them and they like them. I personally haven't been out with someone who has one, but they say they work just as good as anything else..but Im skeptical.

The Marshalls I have work just fine, the blue and green are a little harder to see from further distances, but your still able to locate them just fine. Also its a tracking collar to boot, so it limits the amount of collars on your dogs neck, and they dont really weight that much. The batteries need to be replaced more (of course) if you use the lights but if you have a Costco or a Sams Club, your set!

The Magnums I think put off the most light, I still think the blue and greens arent nearly as bright as the yellow/red/white's but I can still see my dogs in the briars from across a river and 100ft from the bank. Plus when you send them in if a light goes out, collar strap breaks or a battery's lived its life or even if it just malfunctions, they send you a brand new collar and its only $25. I only use the Magnums if my Marshalls are getting a tune up or we're just hunting in our orchard and dont really need a tracking collar(the zapper is a better locator:twisted:) .

All in all its about personal preference. Some people love the Sunbursts, Marshalls,Magnums, Tri-tronics, TT's and even the annoying blinky snap ons...its just about what YOU like. Its all about trial and error, I just got lucky and had people with a number of these lighted collars and got the ones I liked the most. Cheaper isn't always better.