# Lightstrips: what are they for?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [May 20, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351 "2013-05-20T23:29:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Moon\_Dew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Moon\_Dew](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Moon_Dew)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/1 "2013-05-20T23:29:04Z")

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In the crafting menu, under the electronics tab, is the option to craft a lightstrip (inactive). I suspect that this, somehow or another, is meant to be a stationary source of light, like for your base, right?

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/1X/21b5d044e8473b25d0bf905d60477e25f6fbe0cf.png) [@system](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/2 "2013-05-20T23:40:35Z")

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Nope, low power light source that lasts long. Also mobile.

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**Author:** ![Moon\_Dew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Moon\_Dew](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Moon_Dew)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/3 "2013-05-20T23:50:01Z")

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Does this game even have stationary light sources (aside from fires)?

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/1X/21b5d044e8473b25d0bf905d60477e25f6fbe0cf.png) [@system](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/4 "2013-05-20T23:55:44Z")

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Computers.

I know, it sucks.

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**Author:** ![Narc](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/narc/32/2705_2.png) [@Narc](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Narc)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/5 "2013-05-21T00:01:27Z")

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Lightstrips last forever on their 12000 internal charges, and having an active one in your inventory lets you do sewing or reading even if it’s otherwise too dark to do so. The flipside is, as the description says, you can’t turn them off after you activate them, and have to disassemble them to recover components when they finally die.

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**Author:** ![Izicata](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/izicata/32/70_2.png) [@Izicata](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Izicata)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/6 "2013-05-21T03:07:34Z")

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> [@Narc](#):
>
> Lightstrips last forever on their 12000 internal charges, and having an active one in your inventory lets you do sewing or reading even if it’s otherwise too dark to do so. The flipside is, as the description says, you can’t turn them off after you activate them, and have to disassemble them to recover components when they finally die.

If you even live long enough for them to run out of charges. One character I had made it to around day 45 before the game crashed on load and my car disappeared, but the lightstrip I made on day 2 was still going strong with 9000 charges left. Those things just don’t die.

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**Author:** ![i2amroy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/i2amroy/32/909_2.png) [@i2amroy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/i2amroy)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:35am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/7 "2013-05-21T06:35:18Z")

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Yeah right now lightstrips last some absurd amount of time, like 120 days or something similar (and the number doesn’t count down if you aren’t near, so one stashed in your base will last even longer then that).

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**Author:** ![Flare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c0e974/32.png) [@Flare](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Flare)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/8 "2013-05-21T06:40:29Z")

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Their life cycle isn’t that crazy compared to some of the stuff we have already.

> **[New Light Source Lasts 15 Years Without a Recharge - Ecoble](http://ecoble.com/2007/12/11/new-light-source-lasts-15-years-without-a-recharge/)**
>
> How about a glowing light source that lasts for 15 years instead of the typical 15 minutes of a glowstick? GlowPaint‘s newest product does just that and is also non-toxic and inexpensive and doesn’t require a recharge via solar or electrical sources...

That stuff allegedly lasts for 15 years and you just paint it in the places where you need light.

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**Author:** ![i2amroy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/i2amroy/32/909_2.png) [@i2amroy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/i2amroy)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/9 "2013-05-21T06:47:27Z")

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Yeah but considering that it’s basically just some pieces of wire welded straight onto the terminals of a battery with “15” charge it’s crazy efficient (for comparison a flashlight with 100 charge doesn’t even last a whole day, and a lightstrip with 1/9th that lasts for 120 days). IIRC lightstrips are only actually supposed to last like 5 days, they just got messed up at some point and haven’t been fixed yet.

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**Author:** ![Soron](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/soron/32/885_2.png) [@Soron](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Soron)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:51am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/10 "2013-05-21T06:51:26Z")

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Yeah, I was sloppy with the math when I coded 'em. I meant for them to last 5 days and 5 hours, but was off by a fairly large factor when moving numbers around.

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**Author:** ![Nopkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@Nopkar](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Nopkar)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:32am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/11 "2013-05-21T07:32:51Z")

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but in all honesty i’m cool with them lasting that absurd amount of time. seems fitting

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**Author:** ![i2amroy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/i2amroy/32/909_2.png) [@i2amroy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/i2amroy)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:51am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/12 "2013-05-21T07:51:48Z")

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> [@Nopkar](#):
>
> but in all honesty i’m cool with them lasting that absurd amount of time. seems fitting

Personally I think they should probably be reduced, and instead our long lasting/low level light source should be based on our plutonium cell (similar to what is suggested in [this suggestion](http://www.cataclysmdda.com/smf/index.php?topic=1398.0)).

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**Author:** ![Nopkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@Nopkar](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Nopkar)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/13 "2013-05-21T08:03:55Z")

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you know, maybe the plutonium cell would be a better fit.

honestly I never use any light source other than my flood light bikes around my compound

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**Author:** ![Iosyn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/iosyn/32/35_2.png) [@Iosyn](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Iosyn)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 6:04am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/14 "2013-05-22T06:04:51Z")

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They’re the low-powered lights you find in strip joints.

Why you’d want to make them in a survival setting though I’d never know. Maybe because it adds a nice ambience?  
Chain some some zombie hookers up and hit the noisemaker.

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**Author:** ![Tripsky](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/tripsky/32/43_2.png) [@Tripsky](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Tripsky)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/15 "2013-05-23T02:44:14Z")

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> [@Moon\_Dew](#):
>
> Does this game even have stationary light sources (aside from fires)?

this used to irk me too - as i usually set up shop in LMOE bunkers. notably dark LMOE bunkers. someone pointed out though that car headlights can be turned on and last forever - which is what i think nopkar was referring to with:

> [@Nopkar](#):
>
> honestly I never use any light source other than my flood light bikes around my compound

which also sounds bitching.

so if you want a permanent light there, just get a chassis and slap some headlights on to it. made my base feel a lot more hardcore post apoc.

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**Author:** ![Nopkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@Nopkar](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Nopkar)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:11am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/16 "2013-05-23T05:11:43Z")

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> [@Tripsky](#):
>
> [quote=“Moon\_Dew, post:3, topic:1351”]Does this game even have stationary light sources (aside from fires)?

this used to irk me too - as i usually set up shop in LMOE bunkers. notably dark LMOE bunkers. someone pointed out though that car headlights can be turned on and last forever - which is what i think nopkar was referring to with:

> [@Nopkar](#):
>
> honestly I never use any light source other than my flood light bikes around my compound

which also sounds bitching.

so if you want a permanent light there, just get a chassis and slap some headlights on to it. made my base feel a lot more hardcore post apoc.[/quote]

exactly what I was saying. I like to think of them as those floodlights they use on construction sites that set 8-10ft off the ground. put a few of those around and inside the compound and you’ve got one hell of a good looking setup.

Now if I could set them up remotely to turn on and off i’d have a proper security system

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**Author:** ![KWilt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c5a1d2/32.png) [@KWilt](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KWilt)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/17 "2013-07-13T00:32:08Z")

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> [@Nopkar](#):
>
> [quote=“Tripsky, post:15, topic:1351”][quote=“Moon\_Dew, post:3, topic:1351”]Does this game even have stationary light sources (aside from fires)?

this used to irk me too - as i usually set up shop in LMOE bunkers. notably dark LMOE bunkers. someone pointed out though that car headlights can be turned on and last forever - which is what i think nopkar was referring to with:

> [@Nopkar](#):
>
> honestly I never use any light source other than my flood light bikes around my compound

which also sounds bitching.

so if you want a permanent light there, just get a chassis and slap some headlights on to it. made my base feel a lot more hardcore post apoc.[/quote]

exactly what I was saying. I like to think of them as those floodlights they use on construction sites that set 8-10ft off the ground. put a few of those around and inside the compound and you’ve got one hell of a good looking setup.

Now if I could set them up remotely to turn on and off i’d have a proper security system[/quote]  
Bit of a necro on this thread, so sorry, but I recently heard that you can only put headlights facing northward. So is there any way to orient the headlights, or am I just going to have to build them all on the south wall of my LMOE?

Also, since this post, has there been any other stationary lights added that I could use to illuminate my dark and dreary base?

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**Author:** ![pingpong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pingpong](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/pingpong)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/18 "2013-07-13T00:50:40Z")

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Lights come out of the front of a vehicle, so you’d need engines to put the vehicle into place. Two wheels, small motor, seat, controls, and a gas tank should be enough attached to two frames. Then you can position it, turn on the lights, and remove all the bits except the light and maybe controls.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KWilt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c5a1d2/32.png) [@KWilt](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KWilt)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/19 "2013-07-13T02:14:13Z")

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[quote=“pingpong, post:18, topic:1351”]Lights come out of the front of a vehicle, so you’d need engines to put the vehicle into place. Two wheels, small motor, seat, controls, and a gas tank should be enough attached to two frames. Then you can position it, turn on the lights, and remove all the bits except the light and maybe controls.[/quote]Ah. Well then. I guess I finally get to test out my segue design I’ve been meaning to try out. Should be small enough to move around in the LMOE without breaking anything.

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**Author:** ![Zireael](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/zireael/32/956_2.png) [@Zireael](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Zireael)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/lightstrips-what-are-they-for/1351/20 "2013-07-13T06:56:53Z")

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> [@i2amroy](#):
>
> [quote=“Nopkar, post:11, topic:1351”]but in all honesty i’m cool with them lasting that absurd amount of time. seems fitting

Personally I think they should probably be reduced, and instead our long lasting/low level light source should be based on our plutonium cell (similar to what is suggested in [this suggestion](http://www.cataclysmdda.com/smf/index.php?topic=1398.0)).[/quote]

Agreed. 5 days and 5 hours seems logical, too.

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