Safety Strobe

last evening, me and my dog almost got run down by an errant motorist as we were crossing the street. Luckily, i was carrying a flashlight and had just enough time to turn it on and point it at the oncoming car. He swerved just missing me and my chihuahua. This got me thinking, I always carry one of my lights while walking at night but perhaps I should invest in a safety strobe light that can be worn on my arm and be visible all the time while I walk.

I looked on line and found a couple. One is a Ledtronics 1D strobe and the other is a Pelican LED mini strobe.

Any flashaholics have experience with these two lights or know of others that would suit my purpose?

Thanks.

I like the pelican because of its small size and can be clipped anywhere.
There is also glo toobs and flash caps. Check out their sites http://www.glo-toob.com/

As for as the glo toobs and flash caps there are many different configurations, colors and etc. Should be a goos start

Edit: I was looking to get a flashcap for myself and besides the sorta high price, they seem a little hard to find. Pelican seems alot easier to find and cheaper.

one of those reflective vests will probalby be more visible.

Thanks for the replys!

I went over to Academy Sporting Goods just now and they had both the Pelican mini and the Ledtronics safety strobe. I got neither. Reasons are as follows: The Pelican mini althouth well made was extremely small and probably easy to lose. It also had the shortcoming of having 2 button batteries which a quick check in the store showed me that they were $3 a piece. It claims over 100 hours run time but nonetheless, the small size and button batteries nixed this one.

I next looked at the Ledtronics and for what it is was rather pricey at $25. It looked well made but was heavy with the D battery and the strobe was really bright and way to flashy to use for a walk light. It would disturb my vision when worn on my upper arm where I plan to carry the light.

Then I saw this thing that looked like the Ledtronics in makeup but was not a strobe but a continuous intense 36 deg. bulb head that came with an arm band, lavalier and runs on AA batteries. I have plenty of AA rechareables so no cost for batteries. It claims a continuous runtime of 9 hours. Soooooo, in short I got it and it will probably do nicely. In a dark room it is white bright! The lens is unique that it shines a wide very visible beam horizontally and a pencil thin beam vertically.

Here it is for $8.

The good thing about dedicated strobe units is that they can be seen for miles no matter which way the unit is held. Some strobe units aren't cheap but you could be in a situation where you life depends on it. With safety equipment there is always a premium and I can understand why.
The strobe unit in the link provided below is not cheap, but your life isn't cheap either.
http://tdl.divebiz.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=101972

Skyeye, check out Planet Bike's SuperFlash LED blinker. It's main purpose is for biking, but it's unique flashing pattern (it's similar to the flashing pattern on those LED lightbars on police cruisers) makes it useful for plenty of other applications.

An alternative would be to get an Inova 24/7. It has a "strobe" function, where it flashes its red, yellow, and white LED's in quick succession. Another *great* attention getter. I actually used the 24/7 as a bike strobe for quite a while before getting the SuperFlash blinker.

You're dog is kinda small to be carrying a Glo-Toob Lithium on its neck, but maybe you can attach one to the leash and set it on the faster blinking rate?

Finally, may I suggest you look into the Amphipod reflective vest? They(Consumer Reports, IIRC) ran an independent test on reflective tests a while back, and that one came on top. I think they also sell reflective collars, etc. for dogs.

greenLED said:

Skyeye, check out Planet Bike's SuperFlash LED blinker. It's main purpose is for biking, but it's unique flashing pattern (it's similar to the flashing pattern on those LED lightbars on police cruisers) makes it useful for plenty of other applications.

An alternative would be to get an Inova 24/7. It has a "strobe" function, where it flashes its red, yellow, and white LED's in quick succession. Another *great* attention getter. I actually used the 24/7 as a bike strobe for quite a while before getting the SuperFlash blinker.

You're dog is kinda small to be carrying a Glo-Toob Lithium on its neck, but maybe you can attach one to the leash and set it on the faster blinking rate?

Click to expand...

This sums up my suggestions perfectly. I only have the Superflash of the 3, but have read good things on the others. The Superflash is really annoying, in a good way though.

+1 for the Glo-Toob Flash-Cap, putting one of these on your Mag means you have a complete traffic-compliant lighting system - a headlight up front and a taillight in back. You don't have to carry an extra light, and since it's powered by it's own set of batteries, should one light run low/die, you still have the second source to light your way. My Mag + Flash-Cap combo is the one light that gets the most questions, compliments, but most importantly attention when I go out walking.

I assume everyone is familiar with Nite Ize lighting products, but I figured I'd link it just in case.

Tirodani said:

I assume everyone is familiar with Nite Ize lighting products, but I figured I'd link it just in case.

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I've tried a couple of those but, IMO, they're inadequate solutions compared to other blinkers or reflective vests. They are neither good as reflective devices (not dedicated reflective surface), nor as illumination gadgets (too dim). My 0.02 lumens, of course.

While this is certainly an excuse to get a high quality new light, I'll bet you can find a perfectly serviceable cheapo armband/rear bike flasher at WalMart, BigLots, etc. for a couple bucks. I found one once at a dollar store that works just as well as my dedicated "name brand" bike flasher. I'd make sure it's one that runs on 2AA's or 2AAA's.

Geoff

I'd suggest visiting a local bike shop. I have a Nite Rider TL 4.0 (The link is actually to the newer version but they look the same) and it has a clip on the back. It's bright, has multiple flashing modes and can be had for under 20 bucks in most places.

Well, I used the C-lite this evening on my dog walk and I was a bit disappointed. I thought it would be easy to attach to my arm with the supplied band. Wrongo! It is a wispy band that is difficult to put on with one hand. The light was bright but not as readily visible at a distance. I put it on a street sign and walked away about 50 feet. It's not a blinker so my eye wasn't drawn to it. I had to find it then I could see it but it was not too bright. I guess this is good for pitch dark conditions on a life vest but not in a city street situation.

I am returning it tomorrow and exchanging it for the Pelican Mini which is the same price. I believe it will be better for my application because it strobes.

I will report on it tomorrow night.

may i humbly suggest any of the jetbeams with the IBS function, you can program a very slow strobe mode as one of the 3 modes in the Jetbeam, that way you have a strobe AND a flashlight too.

The Jet II Pro IBS has a 2 way clip so you could clip it on your waistband pointing bezel down or on the bill of a cap etc. At 225 lumens per strobe, i dont think anyone is going to miss you .... ever

You should try a Glo-Toob. They're a bit more expensive than what you have mentioned, but it's worth not getting run over. They are WAY brighter and strobe in a number of different ways.

I have a pelican mini for my dog as it is small and clips onto the back of his collar nicely. However, the light is rather directional, sounds like an omni-directional light would serve you better. Not to mention the the Glo-Toob is easily 5-10 times brigher.

Thanks! I will see if they have the glo toob before I do anything.

Skyeye said:

Thanks! I will see if they have the glo toob before I do anything.

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I doubt you'll find one at the local sporting goods store.

You can order one here...
http://www.batteryjunction.com/glo-toob-lithium.html

Green is the brightest of the non-white colors and probably your best bet.
Red makes a nice tail light.
Amber is my favorite.

Just a suggestion . . . .


I've seen some dog leashes and collars which were

nicely retro-reflective, in a Safety-Orange color.


They were available in variety of sizes,

and ( i seem to recall ) had the "Remington" brand-name.


Saw 'em at a "discount" type store, and were priced Very Low !



Very nicely made, too !


Hope this is helpful.

Good Luck in yer' dog-walks.

:thumbsup:
_

I tried the reflective leash a few years ago and after a while the reflective material rotted out and literally fell off. I also had a leash with little LED's spaced on both sides of the strap. It too failed permanently after a few months.

I just may go with my original thought, the Ledtronics 1D xenon strobe. Today will be a day of decission again.

More news at 10!:thinking:

Those "retro-reflective" gizmos are a crapshoot. Like I mentioned before, they're neither good at reflecting, nor at illuminating. I agree that they're better than nothing, but they're still subpar, IMO.

If you get some type of reflective material, make sure it's 3M-branded. My 3M reflective stuff is still like new after several years of EDC/biking, and it's been abused considerably - even gone through washer/drier cycles no prob.