Flashlight with blinker for walking at night

With winter coming, I need a recommendation on a good flashlight for walking dogs in the evening. I'd been using an Inova but it's too small for my comfort and I'd really like something with a rear facing LED blinker/strobe that alerts cars coming up behind me. Even though we have reflective dog leads, cars are a constant concern. Lights that attach to the collar don't help.

Does anyone build a flashlight that meets these criteria?

- Bright LED beam for illumination with good constant-on performance. Our dogs walk right with us so I don't need a long throw.
- Rear facing LED blinker or strobe to alert approaching traffic
- Regular batteries (rather than lithiums)
- Reasonable size (say Maglite 2 or 3 C cell equivalent)
- Waterproof
- Wrist strap

Thanks for any suggestions!

Personally, I'll carry a smallish flashlight and attach one of these to one of my beltloops in back.


It's got six LEDs and is amazingly visible. I can see the ground below me flashing red when I walk. Note that the way the light is designed, it needs tension against the bungee (was designed for bike seatpost). You can use a small carabiner-style clip to attach it, or use a better style bungee like the front model has so you can loop it back on itself. In my opinion, attaching an LED to your belt loop is better than having a flashlight with a rear blinker because the flashlight might be turned to the side when a car is approaching you.

For the your front flashlight, I'd recommend the Fenix L1D. I got mine about a month ago and it has been one of the best purchases I ever made. Brighter than a maglite, and much smaller to boot.

I don't know of a light that meets your needs, but I would 2nd Dantecubit's suggestion of a rear flasher and a separate flashlight. I also use a Fenix L1D for walking my dog, but for winter use I found it a bit to small to use with gloves on...... So I bought an L2D :thumbsup: Problem solved!!

I'd recommend that you buy a few rear bike LED lights (5 mode). They use 2XAAA batteries, they clip to your belt or pocket, and they do the job beautifully. You can then use a nice mid-size 18650 or 2XCR123A light that doesn't get hot in five minutes like most little lights. Another option would be to get the Rayovac headlight at Costco for about $16. The forward light is very nice and bright, it runs on 3XAA batteries, and it has a blinking red light on the back.

Glo-toob makes a flashing light that attaches to the rear of Mag-light and Streamlight flashlights, Lighthound sells them.

We attach the 50 cent Photon Clones from DX to our dog leashes. The dangling light swings all over the place and is easily visible from all directions.

I have two BIG dogs that I walk over 2 miles every night, so I've spent some time looking into this issue. I agree with that others have stated about separating your signaling light from your main carry light. I wear a reflective baseball cap with a Guardian LED clipped to the back. The advantage of the Guardian is that it has a big dome that allows it to be seen from a wide angle. It is bright and has both continuous and flashing modes. It is also very light and the clip stays where you put it. On the front of the hat, I have clipped a generic 5 LED Cap Light. This generates a reasonable about of light which is good for "poop duty" without completely ruining your night vision. It also has a simple, easily accessible on-off switch can be activated as you approach intersections or need to quickly check that low-hanging branch. Never underestimate the convenience of having a hands-free light when dealing with dogs.

Or, you could do all of it at once with the Panthervision Lighted Cap. I picked one of these up at SHOT Show 2007. However, I have not seen any retail outlet for the version that I have which has 6 front-facing white LEDs and one rear-facing red LED. The multifunction interface is both a blessing and a curse as it allows you to select a number of different light and flash modes, but it is not easy to just turn the light on and off while leaving the rear LED flashing.

My primary carry light until this week has been a TigerLight with a premium battery and generation 3 bulb. This thing puts out an amazing amount of light and is built solid. I've wrapped it with some reflective tape that I picked up at Smith & Edwards in Ogden, Utah. However, last week I got my P3D Rebel 100 from the Fenix-Store. I love the interface and brightness of this light. It starts out on low which is perfect for signaling, but can easily be stepped up to 100 lumens should you need more light. I wish Fenix made a traffic cone for this light which would make it ideal for this use.

My dog does wear a reflective collar, but I wear all the lighted stuff so that I can insure that it is facing the right direction at the right time. With the hat lights, a simple turn of the head can put light where you want it without releasing your grip on the leash. Additionally, the high placement of the hat light avoids it from being blocked by landscaping and will be seen earlier by a driver than a lower-placed light or leash.

I could go on about reflective clothing and flashing vests, but I don't want to bore you too much.

Stay safe.

Craig.

I always wear one of these on my arm when I cycle at night. It's a reflective band with blinking red leds:-

http://www.reflective.cn/reflective_LED_armband/index.htm

lexina said:

I always wear one of these on my arm when I cycle at night:-http://www.reflective.cn/reflective_LED_armband/index.htm

Click to expand...

The link appears to be bad.

Craig.

IIRC a couple of companies make reflective marker's that are reflective and have flashing leds. The one company that I can think of for sure is Nite Ize's here is a link that show's some of the reflective marker's and collar's for dogs.
http://www.dlsenterprises.citymax.com/page/page/2546731.htm

planet bike superflash

Don't some of the Petzl headlamps have a rear blinking Red LED?
There's gotta be a good one in a AA flavor.

When I go walking with my daughter, I throw my Nite-ize LED wand w/Red Inova microlight in the bottom or lash it to the stroller. It can be seen 360degs as long as you have clear line of sight to it.


http://www.batteryjunction.com/niizelwaredl.html
from
http://www.batteryjunction.com/ledmarkers.html

celler said:

The link appears to be bad.

Craig.

Click to expand...

? I just tested it and it works

lexina said:

? I just tested it and it works

Click to expand...

Yup, its back up now. Thanks.

I think you need 2 devices: a good flashlight and some night market stuff.

Good night marker type stuff - the droplit's, and market bands are particularly good choices for you - the dog collar would work great for the dogs of course. The vest offers ultra visibility.
http://www.batteryjunction.com/ledmarkers.html

These work great too: http://www.batteryjunction.com/a52-001.html

If you have a donor 2-6 C/D cell Mag and like that large size/easy to find batteries and extreme runtimes a TerraLUX TLE-6EX or TLE-6EXB is an obvious choice. There aren't many great, big cell LED lights on the market right now..what about a rechargeable like an Inova T4?

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

8ball

You should really consider one of these collars for your dog. They are not the run of the mill lighted collars that you find at PetSmart; these are used by search and rescue dogs (scroll down the page to see the collars). They are really bright!
http://www.auroralites.com/lighted_dog_collars.asp

Here are some photos of one of these collars on my Rottie.

I walk in a dark friendly area and have tried all kinds of lights and vests.
The most common thing I heard was "We did not see you until we saw the whites of your legs."
I also live near a college town and know that most of teh time I catch a silluotte before I see *any* red lights, blinking or not.

I started walking with a light off and turned it on as a car approached. This has a noticable reaction.

A year or so I bought some illuminite fabric, had a vest made, and now wear that. I have had people hit the brakes as I or they come around a corner and a large 18 wheeler did the same one night.

A few people have stopped and asked what I am wearing.

The best advice howeverf is to assume that you are wearing black with a black ski-mask and that they are driving without lights and are night blind.

kash22 said:

You should really consider one of these collars for your dog. They are not the run of the mill lighted collars that you find at PetSmart; these are used by search and rescue dogs (scroll down the page to see the collars). They are really bright!
http://www.auroralites.com/lighted_dog_collars.asp

Here are some photos of one of these collars on my Rottie.

Click to expand...

+1 i was going to say the same they are good.

8ball

We deal with specific applications and make some stuff that might be a fit.

The Scout Tactical III is a 10 LED rigth angle light that clips the belt. It is used by the Highway Patrol to help be seen. This version has 6 white and 4 red LEDs and has several modes including flashing (1 HZ), alternating (white/red) and SOS. The alternating pattern was specifically requested by the Highway Patrol to avoid getting hit--it's easy to spot from a distance because there are 4 red LEDs (versus 1). It runs on 3 AAAs and retails for $39.99. http://foxfury.com/products/scout_series/tactical3/tactical3.htm

We have a 10 LED (Command 10 Tactical) headlamp with 3 modes and a blinking red LED in the battery pack. It runs on 4 AAs.
http://foxfury.com/products/command/tactical_10.htm