canklecat

I'm leaning toward that strategy as well for my bike-mounted tail and head lights. Turns out I've enjoyed night riding more than I'd anticipated, especially during the hotter Texas season. I'm not a morning person but prefer cooler temperatures, and riding at night is often pleasant in summer and fall. But I need batteries that will last for several hours on bright steady lights. I almost always ride with a handlebar bag and occasionally a trunk bag as well, so toting a few spare AA batteries wouldn't add any noticeable weight for resupplying bike-mounted lights.

However after a few months with the Blackburn 2'Fer I mentioned back in September, I'm still very satisfied with it. For months it's been mounted on my Bell Solar helmet as a tail light (mostly in red flashing mode). And I use an equally lightweight USB rechargeable Vivo-Bike Illuminati headlight mounted on the front of the helmet. These are perfect for helmet mounted lights, and weigh far less than four AA batteries (assuming alkaline or NiMH -- although lithiums weigh less, they're expensive and not rechargeable, mostly being useful for cold weather use and long term storage). I can see that drivers see me with these flashy-blinky lights, and I've experienced far fewer close calls riding in traffic.