cheapskates's helmet light

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.

In article ,
(john cop) wrote:

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, http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

"john cop" wrote in message
om...
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.

On 27 Sep 2003 06:11:03 -0700, (john cop) wrote:

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?

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 12:13:43 -0700, 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.

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 21:57:16 GMT, Werehatrack
wrote:

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 12:13:43 -0700, 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.

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 19:27:04 -0700, Dan Daniel
may have said:

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 21:57:16 GMT, Werehatrack
wrote:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

(john cop) wrote in message . com...
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

On 28 Sep 2003 08:46:32 -0700, (john cop) wrote:



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.