Has anyone ever used strobe mode?

[PhotonBoy]

Low frequency strobes are great on bicycles at night. You get more attention and respect. The feeling of enhanced safety is great. It's better than than driving in bright sunlight, to be honest.

[buds224]

Personally, I think its overkill/unfair to use a strobe like a bike light...and if enough people start doing it, it will then fall into the norm, and no longer garner the attention, or the tactical element, that was its premise.

Agreed. I was impressed with the 270lumen warning mode on my Jetbeam ST Cycler. Shines a floody 270lumens and pulses an intermittent burst of turbo at a very low frequency. Not as distracting as strobe, but still will get enough attention on the road.

*** I also use it for night time walks.

[bbb74]

Personally, I think its overkill/unfair to use a strobe like a bike light...and if enough people start doing it, it will then fall into the norm, and no longer garner the attention, or the tactical element, that was its premise.

Actually I don't agree, most drivers associate a slow strobe or blinky light with a bike (I'm not talking about a higher frequency strobe here). It can increase the distance at which a driver recognises that there is a bike coming up. If one day there are so many people using this type of light on bikes that it doesn't get attention any more, then drivers will be so used to bikes being everywhere that they will be on the lookout for them already, and the lights won't be as necessary anyway.

Anyway, if it increases your visibility its going to do that regardless of whether other people are using the same technique. Its often a question of not being seen at all (SMIDSY) vs being seen. Its not about standing out from the crowd.

[buds224]

Sounds like it's a matter of defining the line between strobe and blinky/flashing. I still agree with TEEJ on strobe, but blinky doesn't bother me as a driver.