Product Review: Nite Ize Glowstreak LED Ball

I was given this Nite Ize Glowstreak LED Ball at SuperZoo, and my dogs are absolutely thrilled with it. This is easily the best nightime ball we've tried, and it solves all of the problems we've had with similar products. It's grippy, bouncy, waterproof, holds up to chomping, and is bright but not too bright.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Glowstreak ball seems like it was designed by people who had the same problems I have had with light-up balls. Glow in the dark balls have to be charged ahead of time, they don't glow very brightly or very long. Hard plastic LED balls don't bounce very high, and they hurt to catch.

Nite Ize already makes fantastically durable carabiner lights with replaceable batteries. The Glowstreak ball is basically an extension of that technology. The Glowstreak ball is motion-activated, after it hits something it flashes for a while before eventually shutting off.

Unlike a lot of light-up balls, this one is waterproof and bouncy. It's the size of a tennis ball, but with plenty of grooves to give it a good grip and make it easier to dislodge if a bigger dog gets it stuck in their throat. (Safety tip, don't let your big dog play with a small ball!)

Photo by Erin Koski

The heart of the Glowstreak ball is the removable core, which must be unscrewed. The core contains the lights and also the batteries. It seals inside the rest of the ball, making the entire thing waterproof. It's really quite durable too! Zip managed to unscrew it once, and the ball isn't any worse for the wear.

Pros: Soft, bouncy, bright but not blinding. Waterproof. Batteries can be replaced. Can take a bit of chomping, I let Zip gnaw it for a bit and though she unscrewed the core she didn't hurt anything.

Cons: Only comes in tennis ball size, no larger option for larger dogs.

Bottom Line: Now that the days are getting shorter, we are getting a lot more use out of our Nite Ize Spotlit beacons. We have them in pink, green, and blue so I can identify the dogs by color in the dark. Fortunately our Glowstreak ball has red LEDs.

Product Review: Nite Ize SpotLit LED Carabiner Light

The SpotLit LED Carabiner Light by Nite Ize is a sturdy and bright beacon that can be clipped to your dog. It comes in variety of different colors including Disco, which cycles through several different colors. It has a steady light mode and a blinking mode, and can provide 20-25 hours of light before it needs new batteries. It uses two 2016 3V lithium batteries and is water-resistant.

Photo by Erin Koski

I see these things on dogs at work all the time, and a lot of them have been wearing the same SpotLit for ages so these things clearly last a long time. This is actually a multipurpose clip light that can be used for just about anything.

The company, NiteIze, makes a whole ton of nifty doodads that I am prone to impulse buying while waiting in checkout lines. These include S-biner double-ended carabiners, gear ties, LED flashlights, and stretchy shoelaces.

These things are very, very bright. So bright, in fact, that looking at them in the dark is a bit painful. I've been putting one on Sisci for our late-night games of fetch in the tennis court, and in full darkness it's blinding. It looks totally awesome when she's chasing a light-up ball, though.

Pros: Super-bright and super-visible. Comes in lots of colors so you can put a different color on each dog. Very durable, lots of people just leave them on their dog's collar permanently.

Cons: Kind of blinding when it's really dark. A bit heavy, I wouldn't want to put this on a tiny dog and I'd be careful with it on a very loose collar as it does flop around a lot.

Bottom Line: This light is so effective and so popular that I don't actually see anyone using anything else.

Product Review: Flash & Glow Jr Ball

This Flash & Glow Jr. light-up ball by American Dog Toys arrived exactly one year ago in our October 2014 BarkBox. It apparently took me an entire year to use it enough to write a reasonable review. This is the smaller size of this ball, at a bit under 3" in diameter. Ours is pink, and when it hits the ground it flashes very, very bright red. It floats and is durable enough to handle being lobbed across a tennis court.

Photo by Erin Koski

This should be the perfect ball for late night games of fetch in the tennis court. It's a little small for Brisbane, but he is very picky about balls and pretty much rejects anything that isn't a tennis ball or an Ultraball. I'm a little surprised that BarkBox sent us the smaller ball because it's almost too small for 40-pound Brisbane and our box is supposed to be suitable for dogs up to 50-pounds.

The Flash and Glow Jr. ball is surprisingly heavy and hard, which might be part of why Brisbane doesn't like it. It's tough plastic without a lot of give, and it doesn't bounce at all.

As advertised, the ball does flash and glow, very brightly. In fact it is so bright that it destroys my night vision and hurts my eyes. I have to try very hard not to look at it directly and I wonder if the dogs feel the same way.

Pros: Very bright and highly visible. Smaller than a tennis ball so better for small dogs. Super durable, nobody has bit through it yet. Floats. Can handle being thrown forcefully on cement repeatedly.

Cons: Extreme brightness is not ideal for total darkness as all you will see for a while is the spots in your vision. It's like looking at the sun. Very hard, hurts the dogs when they get hit accidentally in the dark.

Bottom Line: Not bad for dusk, but after hitting Sisci with it during a totally blind game of fetch I think I will look for a softer and dimmer ball.