leg strapped lights



B

Beach Runner

Guest
YEARS back I had lights that strapped onto my theighs. They weren't
very bright but they were very visible.

Does anyone make them?
 
"Beach Runner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> YEARS back I had lights that strapped onto my theighs. They weren't very
> bright but they were very visible.
>
> Does anyone make them?


I used to have one of these, but I haven't seen them in years.

I did some Googling and found a reference here:
http://www.bhsi.org/lights.htm
"For tail lights I started with two leg lights, showing red to the rear and
white to the front. Those have the advantage of going up and down,
attracting attention and identifying the bike."
But this seems to be a guy who's rigged up a car headlight, and uses one of
those big orange barricade flashers in the rear. For all I know, maybe this
means he's surgically implanted lights into his legs.

This site says: "The days of the French Wonder Light leg lights are gone."
http://www.crw.org/CheapLights.htm
and maybe they are. Certainly I no longer see the Wonder headlights
anywhere, unless my old ones are hiding somewhere in the basement. The
Wonder headlights had those odd-sized batteries you could only buy at bike
shops (in the U.S.). Another bad idea gone by the wayside. The Wonder leg
lights at least used standard batteries.

There's also this nostalgic comment at http://www.uscoles.com/bike1980.htm
"our standard lighting in these days [1980] was a leg light, a single-bulbed
light powered by two C cells which you strapped on your lower left leg. The
bulb had a yellow lens in front and a red one behind and it didn't light up
****, but it did wave around a lot as you pedalled and presumably made you
more visible. They were always getting knocked "on", so our standard
practice was to remove the top, reverse one battery, and put the top back
on."

Here's one on Ebay. Bidding starts at 99 cents plus $5 shipping, and there
are no bids -- which tells you something right there. Auction ends in 3
days.
<<http://cgi.ebay.com/Bicycle-Arm-Leg-Light-Vintage-NOS-Lamp_W0QQitemZ7182527580QQcategoryZ42319QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem>>
 
I remember the Wonder lights only too well. The weight of 2 alkaline "C"
cells would compress the contact spring at the bottom of the light, so that
the + terminal of the battery wouldn't quite reach the upper contact. After
I learned to shim up the contact spring I was all right until some other
part of that cheap piece of **** decided to give up on me.

A long, long time ago I got a fix-it ticket from an Oakland, CA motorcycle
cop because my Wonder light was attached to me instead of my bike. He also
cited me for rolling a stop sign (right turn, deserted residential
neighborhood). I'm not sure if they cut off his credit at the doughnut shop
that night, or if I just looked like an easier target than the typical North
Oakland resident of those days. Got a few points on my driver's license for
that one, which I didn't bother fighting because I didn't own a car at the
time.
--
mark
 
I missed the auction.

Mike Kruger wrote:
> "Beach Runner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>YEARS back I had lights that strapped onto my theighs. They weren't very
>>bright but they were very visible.
>>
>>Does anyone make them?

>
>
> I used to have one of these, but I haven't seen them in years.
>
> I did some Googling and found a reference here:
> http://www.bhsi.org/lights.htm
> "For tail lights I started with two leg lights, showing red to the rear and
> white to the front. Those have the advantage of going up and down,
> attracting attention and identifying the bike."
> But this seems to be a guy who's rigged up a car headlight, and uses one of
> those big orange barricade flashers in the rear. For all I know, maybe this
> means he's surgically implanted lights into his legs.
>
> This site says: "The days of the French Wonder Light leg lights are gone."
> http://www.crw.org/CheapLights.htm
> and maybe they are. Certainly I no longer see the Wonder headlights
> anywhere, unless my old ones are hiding somewhere in the basement. The
> Wonder headlights had those odd-sized batteries you could only buy at bike
> shops (in the U.S.). Another bad idea gone by the wayside. The Wonder leg
> lights at least used standard batteries.
>
> There's also this nostalgic comment at http://www.uscoles.com/bike1980.htm
> "our standard lighting in these days [1980] was a leg light, a single-bulbed
> light powered by two C cells which you strapped on your lower left leg. The
> bulb had a yellow lens in front and a red one behind and it didn't light up
> ****, but it did wave around a lot as you pedalled and presumably made you
> more visible. They were always getting knocked "on", so our standard
> practice was to remove the top, reverse one battery, and put the top back
> on."
>
> Here's one on Ebay. Bidding starts at 99 cents plus $5 shipping, and there
> are no bids -- which tells you something right there. Auction ends in 3
> days.
> <<http://cgi.ebay.com/Bicycle-Arm-Leg-Light-Vintage-NOS-Lamp_W0QQitemZ7182527580QQcategoryZ42319QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem>>
>
>
 
Couldn't you just attach a couple of very small LED lights to your leg?

============
"Beach Runner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> YEARS back I had lights that strapped onto my theighs. They weren't very
> bright but they were very visible.
>
> Does anyone make them?
 
I use reflective ankle straps on my ankles. They just wrap around your
ankle and use velcro to stay attached. I can then use a standard
flashing LED light with a belt clip to attach to the ankle strap.
 
In article <ttdYe.20007$265.15975@trndny07>,
Thomas Wentworth <[email protected]> wrote:
>Couldn't you just attach a couple of very small LED lights to your leg?


Pet stores sell LED pet collars that will probably work as leg lights.
 
"Ted" : I use reflective ankle straps on my ankles. They just wrap around
your
: ankle and use velcro to stay attached. I can then use a standard
: flashing LED light with a belt clip to attach to the ankle strap.

So, which way do you point them?
: