Safety Kit for dark rides



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"Drinky" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Apart from helmet, tail-light and front-light, what other safety gear do people use religiously
> when cycling in the dark?

Skip the lid.

F***ing big front lights and at least two bright rears. Plus enough reflective stuff to light up
Blackpool.
 
In message <lF%[email protected]>, Geoff Bowles <[email protected]> writes

>
>On the other hand one of my pet hates is cycles with just a flashing light at the rear. Perhaps
>it's just my eyes, but it's very difficult to judge the distance to a flashing light when there are
>no other clues - especially when you have to pick it out from lots of other red lights in traffic.

I'm with you on this one.

--
Chris French, Leeds
 
"Drinky" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> Apart from helmet, tail-light and front-light, what other safety gear do people use religiously
> when cycling in the dark?

I think helmets are the only items of a religious nature there, the others are used because they
have proven benefits ;-)

--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.com
 
wafflyDIRTYcatLITTERhcsBOX wrote:
>> Nips exposed in winte^^^^^ sleet? Brrrr!
>
> Never took you for a wimp, Danny ;-)
>

When are yours coming out then?

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this: Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/
 
On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 18:31:59 +0100, Zog The Undeniable wrote:

> Rear reflector, reflective Sam Browne belt and reflective leg bands. Legally I should also have
> pedal reflectors, but the SPDs can't take them - the leg bands are much brighter anyway.

Seems like reflectors for SPDs might be a good idea. Somebody recently told me that reflectors on
pedals/ankles are quite effective - following driver notices blobls of light bobbing up and down.

Is there any reflective tape which would stick on to SPDs?
 
"Mark van Gorkom" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> A headlight (AKA miners' lamp) Even a 3-LEd one is surprisingly effective; I now feel safer in the
> dark than I do in daylight.

Seconded - a Petzl headtorch is a fine thing - you can get one witha belt-loop battery pack
(less mass on the head) - I put in a connector so I can unplug the battery pack and leave the
lamp on the hat.

(cue Song of Patriotic Prejudice)

Apart from that I have reflective material everywhere - including on the bike. And at least two,
usually three, lights at each end of the bike. And reflective bands on the flagpole.

--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.com
 
> >Can you let us know which of these dots you are responsible for?
> >http://www.dark-skies.freeserve.co.uk/cfds/info/uk-night.gif
>
> :-D
>
> I work on the theory that if I get hit by a blind idiot behind the wheel
of a
> some form of motorised vehicle then when I, or my survivors sue the pr*t
for
> every sorry penny he has, his legal team will not be able to utter "contributory negligence" or
> "she couldn't be seen" without being howled
out of
> court by my legal team ;-)

Good for you! I am also going to be lit up like a christmas tree.
 
I reckon that last time I was hit after dark I was, figuratively speaking, lit up like a
christmas tree.

And as that didn't work, I wouldn't mind _really_ being lit up like a christmas tree. How much power
would it take to wrap a 100 christmas-tree lights around my bike frame and light 'em up ?
 
"Stoatboy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I reckon that last time I was hit after dark I was, figuratively speaking, lit up like a
> christmas tree.
>
> And as that didn't work, I wouldn't mind _really_ being lit up like a christmas tree. How much
> power would it take to wrap a 100 christmas-tree lights around my bike frame and light 'em up ?

Don't know -- but the wind resistance would be substantial.
 
> And as that didn't work, I wouldn't mind _really_ being lit up like a christmas tree. How much
> power would it take to wrap a 100 christmas-tree lights around my bike frame and light 'em up ?

Depending upon how far you were going, you'd need a correspondingly long electric cable to plug in.

Mark
 
Just zis Guy, you know? <[email protected]> said:
> "Mark van Gorkom" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
>
>> A headlight (AKA miners' lamp) Even a 3-LEd one is surprisingly effective; I now feel safer in
>> the dark than I do in daylight.
>
> Seconded - a Petzl headtorch is a fine thing - you can get one witha belt-loop battery pack (less
> mass on the head) - I put in a connector so I can unplug the battery pack and leave the lamp on
> the hat.

Do you use the Petzl caving helmet clips or just loop the lamp headband over your helmet? I tend to
find mine slips around on the helmet a bit and consequently I was considering buying a set of
helmet clips to attach it more firmly, however from the diagrams I've seen I'm not sure they'll fit
bike helmets.

For your cable mod, did you use a 3.5mm jack or something more robust? It's not a problem for me at
the moment but its something I may consider doing in future.

*muses*

I might even have my torch back by the end of the week; I lent it to my housemate when she went on
an archaelogical dig, not realising she'd work in a trip to Tunisia as well...

Regards,

-david
 
"John Hearns" <[email protected]>typed

> On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 18:31:59 +0100, Zog The Undeniable wrote:

> > Rear reflector, reflective Sam Browne belt and reflective leg bands. Legally I should also have
> > pedal reflectors, but the SPDs can't take them - the leg bands are much brighter anyway.

> Seems like reflectors for SPDs might be a good idea. Somebody recently told me that reflectors on
> pedals/ankles are quite effective - following driver notices blobls of light bobbing up and down.

> Is there any reflective tape which would stick on to SPDs?

I think that would be awkward. Stick reflective tape on the cranks instead/as well.

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected] Edgware.
 
"David Nutter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Do you use the Petzl caving helmet clips or just loop the lamp headband
over
> your helmet? I tend to find mine slips around on the helmet a bit and consequently I was
> considering buying a set of helmet clips to attach it more firmly, however from the diagrams I've
> seen I'm not sure they'll fit bike helmets.

I removed the Petzl headbands and I attach the lamp unit directly to the plastic hat using cheap
velcro cable ties - it works a treat!

> For your cable mod, did you use a 3.5mm jack or something more robust?

A double-pole bullet connector from my local car parts shop, but an inline jack plug & socket will
do equally well as long as it has decent retention. You could also an inline phono socket, I guess.
The Shop on the Bridge[1] is the your friend ;-)

[1] Available only in Reading. Your bridge may vary. Your shop may indeed no longer be on a bridge,
despite the name.

--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.com
 
Just zis Guy, you know? <[email protected]> said:
> "David Nutter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Do you use the Petzl caving helmet clips or just loop the lamp headband
> over
>> your helmet? I tend to find mine slips around on the helmet a bit and consequently I was
>> considering buying a set of helmet clips to attach it more firmly, however from the diagrams I've
>> seen I'm not sure they'll fit bike helmets.
>
> I removed the Petzl headbands and I attach the lamp unit directly to the plastic hat using cheap
> velcro cable ties - it works a treat!

Ah right, unlisted option 3! Unfortunately that's not really suitable for me as I use the lamp
fairly frequently when off the bike. I've e-mailed the university caving club to see if they have
any suggestions regarding the "proper" clips to use with a bike helmet.

>> For your cable mod, did you use a 3.5mm jack or something more robust?
>
> A double-pole bullet connector from my local car parts shop, but an inline jack plug & socket will
> do equally well as long as it has decent retention. You could also an inline phono socket, I
> guess. The Shop on the Bridge[1] is the your friend ;-)

*nod* I'll visit the electronics shop when I'm next in Newcastle and see what they have. I'll
probably need to go there to get the helmet clips anyway.

Regards,

-david
 
"David Nutter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >> Do you use the Petzl caving helmet clips or just loop the lamp headband
> > over
> >> your helmet? I tend to find mine slips around on the helmet a bit and consequently I was
> >> considering buying a set of helmet clips to attach
it
> >> more firmly, however from the diagrams I've seen I'm not sure they'll
fit
> >> bike helmets.
...
> Ah right, unlisted option 3! Unfortunately that's not really suitable for
me
> as I use the lamp fairly frequently when off the bike. I've e-mailed the university caving club to
> see if they have any suggestions regarding the "proper" clips to use with a bike helmet.

Caving helmets are thin things, related to climbing/mountaineering hats and probably before that
construction site hats. Bike helmets are fat expanded polystyrene. Ie no, the clips won't work on
them, as they're designed to clip onto a thin shell, not one an inch thick.

Could you use some velcro straps to hold it in place via the ventilation holes?

Personally I don't rate petzl head torches for cycling, but a little led may be useful for
seeing speedo.

cheers, clive

(hmm, would I ask a university caving club anything like that? probably not - but then I was in one
for quite a while...)
 
John Hearns wondered:
> Is there any reflective tape which would stick on to SPDs?

Halfords sell rolls of reflective tape (they'll be in the motoring section, i.e. the main part of
the shop), which you can stick to exposed bits of pedal or wrap around the pedal axle. That's what
I've got on the pedals of my seldom used upright bike. I've also got loads of the stuff elsewhere on
all of my bikes and unicycles.

--
Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny ) Recumbent cycle page:
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/ "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." -
Thomas Paine
 
"John Hearns" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:p[email protected]...
>
> Seems like reflectors for SPDs might be a good idea. Somebody recently told me that reflectors on
> pedals/ankles are quite effective - following driver notices blobls of light bobbing up and down.
>
> Is there any reflective tape which would stick on to SPDs?

Nnot that I'm aware of but when the time comes for new shoes it's worth noting that some have
reflective decorations on their backs.

Pete
 
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