cheapskates's helmet light

In article said:

I ride a little over 10 miles to work. It takes 35 to 50 min depending on the wind and how I hit
the lights. The purpose of the light is primarily to be seen since most of the route is lighted
with streetlights.

The best solution I have come up with is to use a 13 watt emergency lighting sealed flood powered
by an electric drill battery (all available at Home Depot). The flood is about 4.5" in dia, all
plastic (light), and throws enough light to see obstructions at 20+ mph (it throws a bright
horizontal bar with a wide flood). More importantly, it's big enough so motorists (so far) have
not ignored it. It's glued with gloop to a formed hunk of aluminum strap. The aluminum strap is
velcroed to the helmet (only need the thing during spring & fall).

I found that I could buy a 12 volt rechargeable drill cheaper than I could buy a battery and
charger. The charger is fairly light, so I carry that too if I need to run the light on the way
home. The battery can run the light for a little over an hour and the charger can charge it within
8 hours. A hunk of light cord with a wheel switch is all that is required. I just rubber band the
cord to the battery.

The total cost was in the $50 range including the drill.

I like it! Note, however, that nice lightweight bike systems start at around the same price.

I will consider this approach, as I'm looking for some good winter lighting now.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] sfu.ca~rcousineOpen ↗ President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

"john cop" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I ride a little over 10 miles to work. It takes 35 to 50 min depending on the wind and how I hit
the lights. The purpose of the light is primarily to be seen since most of the route is lighted
with streetlights.

Is summer over already?! ;^)

Mike - leaves turn, lighting systems and hanging bikes.

(john cop) said:

It's glued with gloop to a formed hunk of aluminum strap. The aluminum strap is velcroed to the
helmet (only need the thing during spring & fall).

I've always been nervous about attaching things to my helmet. I don't think that they are designed
to stop serious penetration. So something like an aluminum bar could theoretically be driven into my
skull on impact at certain angles.

Is this just paranoia on my part? It first occurred to me when one evening I clipped a blinky light
to the helmet straps right below the back of the helmet. This put the light rest next to the base of
my skull, similar spot to where you pith a frog before dissection. A bounce or two and hitting the
back of my neck on a curb and I could have a couple of batteries embedded in my brain stem. Yeah, I
know, paranoia.....

Anybody know, for example, if a 'Niterider' type of headlamp would shatter and become harmless
before being able to do any damage to a human skull?

Dan Daniel may have said:

Anybody know, for example, if a 'Niterider' type of headlamp would shatter and become harmless
before being able to do any damage to a human skull?

Why not ask the manufacturer if any crash testing's been done?

Or you could apply for a grant to do the study...

On the other hand, consider the hazard of not having the light, compared to the hazard of it being
there. Then compare either of those to a clip-mounted handlebar light. The result of this math is
subjective, of course.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

Werehatrack said:

Dan Daniel may have said:

Anybody know, for example, if a 'Niterider' type of headlamp would shatter and become harmless
before being able to do any damage to a human skull?

Why not ask the manufacturer if any crash testing's been done?

Or you could apply for a grant to do the study...

On the other hand, consider the hazard of not having the light, compared to the hazard of it being
there. Then compare either of those to a clip-mounted handlebar light. The result of this math is
subjective, of course.

Did that. Not a Niterider, but a strong flashlight strapped to the helmet. Made me aware of just how
much I move my eyes and my head when riding. The period of time that I would keep the center of the
beam aimed at, say, a driver coming into the road from the right to be certain that they saw me was
far longer than I am used to not moving my head and looking around to remain aware of other hazards.
After hitting a pothole and almost falling during one of these brief periods of getting a driver's
attention was when I gave up the helmet idea.

So now I use handlebar lights, and I assume that I am invisible and expect the worst from cars.
Subjectively, of course, I am still alive.

Trail or country road riding would seriously change the math for me.

Dan Daniel may have said:

Werehatrack said:

On the other hand, consider the hazard of not having the light, compared to the hazard of it being
there. Then compare either of those to a clip-mounted handlebar light. The result of this math is
subjective, of course.

Did that. Not a Niterider, but a strong flashlight strapped to the helmet. Made me aware of just
how much I move my eyes and my head when riding. The period of time that I would keep the center of
the beam aimed at, say, a driver coming into the road from the right to be certain that they saw me
was far longer than I am used to not moving my head and looking around to remain aware of other
hazards. After hitting a pothole and almost falling during one of these brief periods of getting a
driver's attention was when I gave up the helmet idea.

Just curious; if you had ignored trying to get the various drivers' attention, would the
helmet-mounted light have been better for picking out the pothole? I get the impression from various
posters that the helmet-mounts are a mixed bag in this area. I've sometimes run with two bar-mounted
lights so that I could have one aimed low for small obstacle avoidance, and another aimed higher for
general visibility and large obstacle spotting. Like you, I move my head around a lot, and it
strikes me that having the light's spot follow my attention might mean that there'd be no light dead
ahead when I needed it unless I combined the helmet light with a handlebar unit.

Quoted message said:

So now I use handlebar lights, and I assume that I am invisible and expect the worst from cars.

That's probably prudent anyway. Too many car drivers are able to blithely ignore other cars and even
large trucks, which are much bigger and easier to see.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

Quoted message said:

I've always been nervous about attaching things to my helmet. I don't think that they are designed
to stop serious penetration. So something like an aluminum bar could theoretically be driven into
my skull on impact at certain angles.

Its a concern. However, in this case, the aluminum strap (1/8" thick) is bent around 120 deg to
match the contour of the light and the helmet. What all this means is that, although there are no
guarantees, the odds favor (in a big way, I think) an impact would knock the light completely off
your helmet.

Quoted message said:

Is this just paranoia on my part? It first occurred to me when one evening I clipped a blinky
light to the helmet straps right below the back of the helmet. This put the light rest next to the
base of my skull, similar spot to where you pith a frog before dissection. A bounce or two and
hitting the back of my neck on a curb and I could have a couple of batteries embedded in my brain
stem. Yeah, I know, paranoia.....

I use LED blinkies on the helmet, too. They are also velcroed. My guess is that these will just
shatter and/or just get knocked off - they are just cheap plastic.

Quoted message said:

Anybody know, for example, if a 'Niterider' type of headlamp would shatter and become harmless
before being able to do any damage to a human skull?

[email hidden] (john cop) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I ride a little over 10 miles to work. It takes 35 to 50 min depending on the wind and how I hit
the lights. The purpose of the light is primarily to be seen since most of the route is lighted
with streetlights.

<cut>

I have what I think is the ultimate "be seen" setup.

Two 12V xenon strobe flashers (white front, red rear), driven by a pack of 10 NiMh batteries.
Batteries last ages (I don't run them flat so can't give a precise figure, but certainly > 4 hours
with no reduction in flash rate). Imagine a camera flash, but continuous flashes and you are on the
right track.

Cost 2x flashers £9.99 each 12 batteries (£12.99) and 65p for battery holder. All from maplin.co.uk

The xenon strobes I use are well packaged and have good side visibility too, ideal for right turns
and roundabouts.

I also whated a setup that would work in fog and, crucially, be seen by drivers just setting off in
the morning with iced up and misted windscreens (is this just a UK problem or does it happen
everywhere?).

I know they get me seen from the behaviour/reaction of drivers. My work colleagues point out that
they are almost certainly not street legal in the UK, but I put visibility above legality here.

Andrew Webster

[email hidden]

(john cop) said:

Quoted message said:

I use LED blinkies on the helmet, too. They are also velcroed. My guess is that these will just
shatter and/or just get knocked off - they are just cheap plastic.

The velcro sounds good. The blinky that was attached to the back of the helmet strap seemed a bit
*too* attached.

How does velcro work for the large light that you described in the beginning of this thread? I've
had problems with velcro having a bit of wobble in many instances, which would bother me with a
helmet light.

Werehatrack said:

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 19:27:04 -0700, Dan Daniel <[email hidden]> may have said:

Quoted message said:

Just curious; if you had ignored trying to get the various drivers' attention, would the
helmet-mounted light have been better for picking out the pothole? I get the impression from
various posters that the helmet-mounts are a mixed bag in this area.

I wasn't using a serious lamp like a NiteRider or what the OP described. So I don't think that I
am a good person to talk about this in many ways. My limited experience showed me that I am moving
my *eyes* a lot. Having a small beam on the helmet was difficult because rather than moving my
eyes at times, I had to keep my eyes 'stationary' and focus on moving the helmet to illuminate
specific spots.

Funny how something like this made me more aware of how I actually use my vision when cycling. I
found it disconcerting all in all. With time I could probably have made it work and made it seem
natural. Then again, I would have probably looked like a bobble head doll going down the road, even
in daylight, as I kept my eyes stationary and used head movements all the time....

Quoted message said:

I've sometimes run with two bar-mounted lights so that I could have one aimed low for small
obstacle avoidance, and another aimed higher for general visibility and large obstacle spotting.

That's what I did when I was commuting through some very dark suburban side roads, and it
worked well.

Quoted message said:

Like you, I move my head around a lot, and it strikes me that having the light's spot follow my
attention might mean that there'd be no light dead ahead when I needed it unless I combined the
helmet light with a handlebar unit.

I haven't done night mountain biking, but I think this is the basic setup for that- stationary and
helmet mounts.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So now I use handlebar lights, and I assume that I am invisible and expect the worst from cars.

That's probably prudent anyway. Too many car drivers are able to blithely ignore other cars and
even large trucks, which are much bigger and easier to see.

I have found that adding a blinking front light has led to fewer close calls with autos at night.
The Trek single white LED light is small, bright enough for the blinking action, and doesn't eat
batteries.

Quoted message said:

How does velcro work for the large light that you described in the beginning of this thread? I've
had problems with velcro having a bit of wobble in many instances, which would bother me with a
helmet light.

Surface area surface area - why you need the strap formed to to the helmet shape. For the big light,
I used some heavier strength velcro (I believe it comes in 3 shear strengths and I used the middle
one for this - McMaster-Carr if you have trouble finding it). There is a little wobble, but not
much. The real problem was getting the velcro to stick to the helmet.

Dan Daniel said:

Did that. Not a Niterider, but a strong flashlight strapped to the helmet. Made me aware of just
how much I move my eyes and my head when riding. The period of time that I would keep the center of
the beam aimed at, say, a driver coming into the road from the right to be certain that they saw me
was far longer than I am used to not moving my head and looking around to remain aware of other
hazards. After hitting a pothole and almost falling during one of these brief periods of getting a
driver's attention was when I gave up the helmet idea.

So now I use handlebar lights, and I assume that I am invisible and expect the worst from cars.
Subjectively, of course, I am still alive.

Why not separate the functions of illumination and visibility? If the helmet light seemed like a
good idea except for the issue of remaining visible to other drivers, then a handlebar light
(maybe just a good rear blinkie) would work for being visible, and a helmet light for seeing where
you're going.

Of course, if you've become happy with both aspects of the system you use now, no need to fool with
it; and it is indeed a good idea to assume invisibility and expect the worst, or at least prepare
for the worst.

Quoted message said:

Trail or country road riding would seriously change the math for me.

Of course; one size does not fit all.

--
Rick "Light up my life" Onanian