auroreboreale
Newly Enlightened
I'm sure real flashlight fans will be non-plussed with my old gear, and cheapie LED winkie lights, most from the early 1990's, but I do bike in long subarctic nights (22hours long!) on studded tyres in extreme conditions, like ice fog and -40C.
While I plan my route to minimize traffic exposure, avoiding arterial roads, I do burn a total of 8 lights on my bike in the winter. In the summer we have midnight sun, so day-glow clothes and a front and a rear winkie light does it from June to mid-August.
In winter I run a 12/32W 12V Nicad helmet-light, a white/amber front 5 LED 2xAA Vista winkie light, and a pair of amber 2AAA winkies on my mittens as turn-signal lights. This year I added 2 2xAAA red winkies, one on each saddle bag to give a better definition of my width from behind, much like the running lights on rigid touring motorcycle panniers do.
I also replaced a long-serving red Vista 5 LED winkie, which had lost an LED, with a 10LED Cat-Eye TL-LD1000. I run this with an older 2XAA red Vista running on 'steady on' as a range marker light. I also have 2 red LED winkies running on AAA's facing the rear on my helmet.
Sounds like too much, right?
Well, at 0800, two hours before sunrise, in total darkness, a disorganized driver came up behind me in the dark with no lights on at all, and an iced-over windshield,(!!) and saw me--even through an iced-over windsheild!---and passed me wide, swung back in, and slammed into the car parked on the street 20M in front of me, bounced off, and drove off. A 'hit and run'. Luckily no injuries as both I and a dog-walking person were on the street at the time. I called the Mounted Police who had a lengthy, very costly chat with him...but the bottom line is that LED winkie lights, lots of them, and the brightest that you can get, work!
And they're 'cheap like borscht'!
So, as I have always said, reflective tape is not enough, you have to have lights!
Here's to enlightenment!
PS: Some sources for position-marking winkie lights
an excellent tail-light!
http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/280
on my mittens I use something like this but in orange from On Guard:
http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/319
the humble but essential red mini-winkie in 2XAAA!
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_...older_id=2534374302692895&bmUID=1169968438117
While I plan my route to minimize traffic exposure, avoiding arterial roads, I do burn a total of 8 lights on my bike in the winter. In the summer we have midnight sun, so day-glow clothes and a front and a rear winkie light does it from June to mid-August.
In winter I run a 12/32W 12V Nicad helmet-light, a white/amber front 5 LED 2xAA Vista winkie light, and a pair of amber 2AAA winkies on my mittens as turn-signal lights. This year I added 2 2xAAA red winkies, one on each saddle bag to give a better definition of my width from behind, much like the running lights on rigid touring motorcycle panniers do.
I also replaced a long-serving red Vista 5 LED winkie, which had lost an LED, with a 10LED Cat-Eye TL-LD1000. I run this with an older 2XAA red Vista running on 'steady on' as a range marker light. I also have 2 red LED winkies running on AAA's facing the rear on my helmet.
Sounds like too much, right?
Well, at 0800, two hours before sunrise, in total darkness, a disorganized driver came up behind me in the dark with no lights on at all, and an iced-over windshield,(!!) and saw me--even through an iced-over windsheild!---and passed me wide, swung back in, and slammed into the car parked on the street 20M in front of me, bounced off, and drove off. A 'hit and run'. Luckily no injuries as both I and a dog-walking person were on the street at the time. I called the Mounted Police who had a lengthy, very costly chat with him...but the bottom line is that LED winkie lights, lots of them, and the brightest that you can get, work!
And they're 'cheap like borscht'!
So, as I have always said, reflective tape is not enough, you have to have lights!
Here's to enlightenment!
PS: Some sources for position-marking winkie lights
an excellent tail-light!
http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/280
on my mittens I use something like this but in orange from On Guard:
http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/319
the humble but essential red mini-winkie in 2XAAA!
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_...older_id=2534374302692895&bmUID=1169968438117
. Plus the LED winkies will run for a very long time.
