FenderTL5

I have a Bontrager 'ember' tail-light strapped to the back of my helmet.

Null66

I was running a planet bike Blinkie "3h" self leveling.
It was sort of primitive in LED output. The self leveling seemed to get more bang for what light it put out. I had several comments from drivers. So I presume it effective. Run time on flash was amazing!

Just switched to L&M 360+vis and still haven't worked out effective mounting of the tail light and the headlight. The strobe head light seemed to be noticed. New helmet due Friday, so hoping to work out the mounting better for that instead of the current one.

The Viz is very bright is constant on but not self leveling so I can only optimize it for one riding position...

10 Wheels

Hot Shot Tail Light.

dramiscram

I tried once to put a headlamp on my helmet but after 20-25 kms I was feeling pain in my neck, not much but very annoying, even if not heavy the weight was enough to make a difference. Do you have the same problem?

10 Wheels

It is heavy, but I seem to have a strong neck.

CaptCarrot

I see no-one has mentioned Fibre-Flare's yet

I just stumbled across this: the Fibre flare MVP - https://fibreflare.com/collections/m-...lmet-light-red

dramiscram

Big heads always have strong neck

CaptCarrot

Or just get some EL Wire (comes in panels too)

smasha

the only light i'd bother putting on a helmet is a red-zone - https://www.niteflux.com/store/

all the time i see people with lights on their helmets... pointed at the sky, pointed at the ground, hidden by their backpacks, etc. putting a light on your helmet doesn't "make people see you"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tckl9f3T5xc

NOTHING comes close to the red-zone for off-axis conspicuity. take any of the other lights mentioned above, in this thread, and off-axis conspicuity drops to near zero. off-axis "visibility" may be there, but those lights are merely "visible", not conspicuous, off-axis. outside of their narrow beams, they don't demand attention.

so unless you can keep your head pointed so the small "hot spot" of the light's beam is always pointed the right way, save up for a red-zone.

caloso

Some blinky-helmet combinations work better than others. I had a Bell with a perfect slot for a PB Superflash. Two zipties and it was perfectly solid, almost integrated. Haven't had as good luck with my Giro Atmos.

cyccommute 

I don't see why you are so hard on the lady with 3 taillights even though one was hidden at times and you let the guy with the one blinky to the right of the cab. Her light shows up when she is stopped at the light but his is almost invisible.

As for the Red-Zone, look at the photo gallery. I don't see how the light mounted on the helmet wouldn't be equally obscured by a backpack. Sure it might be brighter but if it were mounted like the lady's light were mounted, it would be just as difficult to see. The only difference would be that you paid $100 for a hidden light instead of $25.

smasha

you're right, on all counts. particularly, a red-zone doesn't solve the "obstructed by a backpack" problem, but it does solve the aiming problem. however... mounted higher up on a helmet, a red-zone might still work with a backpack. but, a RZ could also be mounted to a backpack, and as it shifts around, the RZ would still be conspicuous... as long as it's not mounted in a totally stupid place on the bag.

as for the other lights, i'm just not picking on them in that video. i just wanted to point out that helmet-mounted lights are, more often than not, not doing what people think they're doing.

dynaryder

Much cheaper:
https://www.amazon.com/Nite-Ize-LLW-0...443172-7207451

alan s 

Went with the rechargeable Cygolite Hotshot. Really bright and easy to turn on and off with gloves. The velcro strap works great and the light weighs next to nothing.

smasha

uugh.... yeah, it's bright and all, but it's got a pencil-thin beam. even mounted to a bike, unless it's properly and carefully aimed, it's damn near useless.

mounted on a helmet?!?!? yeah, it throws out a lot of light... but you'll never know where it's going, only that it's not going where you want it.

i like that light and i have one mounted on my pannier rack... but it's just the wrong light to put on a helmet.

alan s 

This light is super bright and seems to have a wide range of visibility. In any case, it is a third taillight for me, with 2 PBSFs mounted on the rear rack, so I'm not at all concerned with precise aiming. I'll do a comparison to the PBSFs and see how it looks.

smasha

the hot-shot beam is about half the "spread" of the PBSF.

here's a test... find a wall about 3-5 car-lengths away, where it's dark. turn on the hot-shot (or a PBSF) and you'll see a red dot painted on the wall. if someone's face is in that red dot, you're conspicuous - if someone's face is outside of that red dot, you're not conspicuous.

HydroG33r 

I've just ordered the Vis 360 from REI, but was contemplating the merits of the Vis 360+. As far as I can tell, the + is just brighter, but nothing else. I'm only using this for visibility to drivers (I have an L&M Urban 700 on my bars), so opted to save $60 and get the regular Vis 360.

Did you look at the 360+ too?

no motor?

No, the + version wasn't out when I got mine, and I won mine as a prize. I ride with the Vis360 and an Ultrafire 501b on my way in to work, with both set to blink. It's really cut down on the amount of people who don't see me.

HydroG33r 

I'm struggling with the ideal setup too... I currently have a Portland Design Works Danger Zone on a-HA! Mode on the mount on the back of my pannier rack, and another one clipped onto my little Camelbak backpack. I'm also getting the L&M Vis 360 for my helmet, and have the L&M Urban 700 on my bars. The problem with my pannier rack-mounted tail light is that my Ortlieb bags probably obscure the light a bit from the sides (how important this is, I don't know). That said, the Danger Zone is only $19.75 at MEC here, so I'm contemplating actually getting a third one to mount on one seat stay (with the included seat stay mounts), and then moving my rack-mounted one down to the other seat stay.

Overkill?

HydroG33r 

Nice. I figured since I'd be using blink all the time for the helmet-mounted light, it didn't matter that much if it was 250 or 120 lumens. Though looking at the specs again (attached), the battery life on the + is markedly better even with the higher output... hmm.... at least with REI I have a year to return/exchange.

jyl

I've received confirmation from drivers that my helmet-mounted Knog V4 is obscured by my backpack unless I am sitting bolt upright, which I seldom do. So, I need to do something about that. I could construct a sort of helmet-mounted "mast" to put the Knog higher . . . Ugh. For the time being, I have added a Serfas Thunderbolt light to the left seatstay.

no motor?

Battery life on mine has been pretty good, especially when compared to the other lights I have. The little indicator light seems to work pretty well, and I rarely have problems with running out of battery power. It's my backup light for the trip home, and being able to reach up and turn on a dimmer light is usually better than stopping most of the way home to replace the batteries in another light.

SlimAgainSoon

PB Superflash, zip tie. Simple.

I like having a light up high, as well as one on the bike down low.

The low light I run solid. The back-of-the-helmet light I run blinking.

I have an itty-bitty white blinkie on top of the helmet, pointing forward. I can look at suspect drivers and get their attention.