This is a holder for a 6 inch Chemlight. I developed it for use within the U.S. Navy. Chemlights have a light sensitive dye inside them that breaks down in the presence of UV / visible light. The original packaging is a foil/plastic - and does provide a good way to store the chemlight, however, upon issuing chemlights to a large group of working personnel, there are a number of issues that crop up.

 

The first issue is breaking the chemlight in the package. These chemlights are of course one-time use, so this renders what is required safety equipment unusable in an emergency. It is somewhat possible to detect a discharged chemlight while sealed in the packaging by shaking it and listening, but it would require the user to check it regularly and is not a 100% definite method for testing if a sealed chemlight is still good. The next issue is damage to the packaging. If the relatively fragile packaging is damaged, it will let some light in gradually damaging the dye that does the work of glowing, reducing brightness down to 10-20% of original, and shortening the on time significantly. The last issue is personnel opening the package before they intend to use the chemlight. This means light will destroy the dye as described above very quickly.

 

As opposed to trying to manage this issue by having leadership regulate (micromanage?) how people are using the chemlights, I prefer to design around these problems. Good design makes it so you don’t have to think about things. You look at it, and you instantly know what its for. You use it. It just works. Good design is so elegant, you forget about it.

 

This 3d printable chemlight holder for 6-inch chemlights is being released as public domain. Feel free to take this design, modify it, change it, 3d print it for personal use, 3d print it for commercial use, no attribution required.

 

3d print this model with a material that blocks light and can withstand the temperatures that the people that will use this item will work in. Mind that they may store this item in their cars – adjust material choice appropriately. I used Nylforce Carbon Fiber, but NylonX Carbon Fiber Filament or any other carbon fiber filled filament should work. Any filament dyed with carbon black should also work. Mind that carbon fiber is abrasive, so you will need a hardened steel, ruby, or tungsten nozzle to avoid wearing the nozzle. Adjusting the horizontal size compensation setting in the slicer should allow for adjusting the how tight the threads come out. Adjusting the extrusion multiplier might also provide some control over thread tightness. I printed mine too tight, and then used a silicone/Teflon grease to make them move nicely.

 

Print at 0.2mm layer height, about a 0.4mm nozzle. Infill is 100%. Simply3d provides a single infill extrusion feature – use it if it is available.

 

Autodesk 360 Fusion files are provided for your convenience. The timeline is not neat, but this is my first 3d print of this level of detail.

https://a360.co/2Jyp689