[lksteve]

Originally Posted by Cincinnatus

??? I need splainin'

once upon a time, military rations came in cans...peanut butter came in a can about two inches in diameter, maybe half an inch thick...it is a decent burning medium, but needs something to get it lit...bug juice burns readily...now, to mark a drop zone for a night drop (and there was a time when the only jumps we made were night combat equipment jumps, as it should be), one needed something that could be seen from the air...a field expedient method (since bonfires are not clandestine and a small fire isn't guaranteed to be contained) was either to add bug juice to the peanut butter in the PB's original container, or to put some peanut butter in a larger can, say a Pecan Nut Loaf can and light it at the points on the day-letter code in order to allow the pilot/navigator to both authenticate the drop zone and to define a release point...

Originally Posted by Cincinnatus

Also, the question above still stands. Anyone know if the illumination is, in fact, tritium? I need to get a compass and this is one under consideration.

i checked the website...it used the term luminous...i doubt that tritium is involved...i could be wrong, but i doubt it...