where can i buy tritium vials?

This is an old thread but you contact the guy and ask

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=169525

Of course in today's security strict atmosphere you may not be able to buy then in the US anymore. I just saw some on e-bay but they were from a seller in Australia and the seller can not ship them to the US. Of course you can always try extracting the tubes from night sights...good luck with that tho...lol.
 
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Tritium hair conditioner, for that all over life long glow?

Pendants would be cool, something that the kids just couldn't flatten the batteries on.
 
CPF as linked above is definitely the place to look. The U.S. NRC dictates what device can use Tritium and who can sell it. Your purposes would not fall under their approved uses and I don't believe any domestic source will ship you vials unless you have NRC paperwork proving what you will be doing with it (I.E. a business that can show it is using the vials for night sights, which are an approved use).

You can order from a foreign source (assuming they will ship to you), but you risk the chance (albeit a small one) of confiscation at customs. It would most likely have to be an individual in another country you're buying from as a company would flag radar (which I've seen happen).

If you do get one from a foreign source for your intended purposes, I don't even know the worst-case consequences you could face if caught (which you really wouldn't be, frankly).

A flashlight vendor here in the U.S. tried carrying vials for a while for installation in flashlights. Someone reported them to the NRC and they went through some headache over it. It couldn't have been too awful though because the company is still in business and I don't believe any of them went to jail. And they were distributing/selling the things, after all.

Just to say again, for personal use in your described device, you're not keeping in line with the rules of the NRC, but I doubt you'd ever hear a word about it.
 
There's a couple of sellers on ebay who'll ship to the US from across the pond.

I got a ton of hits on http://www.ebay.co.uk. Try searching for "isotope". The vials are mostly sold for use in glowing fishing lures.
 
One thing they do scan for is any radioactive activity in packages coming from overseas, the chances of items like those zipper pulls passing through customs I would think would be rather slim.

Question is, is it worth the headaches if it is found when coming in?
 
Have ordered trit vials from abroad twice and did not have any problems either time. Yes, it is always slightly risky mailing them into the US. If you are worried, you could also try breaking your order up into multiple shipments to insure that at least one vial made it through customs.

Like Cougar said, no measurable amounts of radiation can be detected from trit vials so an agent would have to x-ray or open the package to find them.
 
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