On 13/03/2017 11:59 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:


Over on rec.bicycles.tech there's a long thread that consists of the
same two posts being badmintoned back and forth, each side so intent
on defeating the enemy that no communication can take place. Such
emotions are contagious; every time I read the thread, I'm tempted to
dive in and point out that the whole discussion is moot; for most
people, battery lights are available and hub dynamos don't even exist.

Thank goodness most of the combatants are in my kill file! I suppose
that I could mark the thread Ignore, but I keep hoping that somebody
will accidentally say something.

The battle reminded me of my Ed Kearney light. It held up so well
that when the bulb fell out of the housing, I was too old to go out
after dark, so I never repaired or replaced it. I had added an
emergency-in-case-of-failure red blinky when L.E.D.s came in, and that
is still on the rack. Pauses to run out to the garage. The battery
is dead. manages to pry open a case that was glued shut with at
least fifteen years of road dirt

Rotating the A cells in their sockets repaired the light. Batteries
sure ain't what they used to be! We recently found a radio that still
worked after being forgotten for twenty years, and a ninety-cent crank
flashlight that was found after being lost for a year lighted up
without being cranked. (I suspect that the flashlight had a supercap
instead of a battery.)

(For young whippersnappers: disposable batteries used to have a short
shelf life, and sometimes burst open and ruined your flashlight if
left too long.)

I can't claim youth but I try to snap whippers as often as possible.

I'm happy with the USB rechargeables that I use. I remember having to
deal with actual batteries. But I found a light a while back that had
those CR2032 batteries or whichever and even though I hadn't used it in
years, it still lit up. I was impressed.

Anyway, the important thing should be to make sure that you're visible.
Everything else is a matter of personal preference IMO.