Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
I don't really think that just carrying a spare battery is good enough regardless of your lighting system. I want a fully independent backup. I have a MagicShine head and tail, and my backup is a P7 flashlight in a lockblock up front, and a pair of PBSFs angled out on the seat post in back. That way I'm covered even if the wiring shorts out, the actual head dies rather than just the battery running flat, etc.
This is what throws me off. If I'm going to spend money on the magicshine but still want a backup, which would use a separate battery/charger system... why not get a light setup that uses the same rechargeable batteries? I've been looking at the SST-50 LED lights like the shining beam MG-P rocket and thrower. They run on single 18650 batteries, while the MS uses 4 of them in its pack. If both of them last 1 hour on a single battery (from reading others experience), I'd get 2 hours from carrying 4 separate batteries, but I'd also get more light output so I could run them on medium power levels.