Advocacy & Safety - Throwies anyone?

This is a partial cross post from a reply to a thread on industrial design over on the commuting board. I just wanted to throw out a "what if?" kinda question:

Anyone know what a Throwie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throwie)is? Its a little doo-dad made from packing tape, a magnet, a coin cell battery and an LED. The LED lights up, and the magnet lets you chuck them and they stick to anything magnetic. With the right LED and battery combo, the LED may remain lit for a week or more.

Has anyone ever wanted to somehow label the car of an unsafe driver / bike hater (you know who I'm talking about - the ones who think its funny to swerve towards you, or try to fit their F-350 past you when you're stopped at a light). Just to let other folks on bikes know to steer clear of this one...

Not that I'm suggesting anything that might endanger another road user - thowing solid objects (no matter how small) at moving vehicles is probably unsafe, and almost certainly illegal....

Still, it would be nice, wouldn't it?

Problem is, you'd never be able to see it until they're past you.

Good idea tho', I'd participate for sure.

I wouldn't recommend that in the rural south. It might just result in some return fire.

Throw them at known robots, so everyone can tell immediately who the robots are.

Didn't the British come up with an idea like this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_bomb) before? :innocent:

Hey i have an idea... throw them at bike ninjas... if they're riding steel frames, problem solved.

Fun idea
or better yet, when a driver harasses you, you mark them then call the cops (assuming they care in your area) and tell them to look out for the car with the distinctive green LED on the trunk...


Tho rare earth magnets, LEDs, and batteries are expensive.
If I had such a device I'd rather put it on my bike (more lights on the spokes are always cool looking)

Fun idea
or better yet, when a driver harasses you, you mark them then call the cops (assuming they care in your area) and tell them to look out for the car with the distinctive green LED on the trunk...


Tho rare earth magnets, LEDs, and batteries are expensive.
If I had such a device I'd rather put it on my bike (more lights on the spokes are always cool looking)

I disagree - rare earth magnets are cheap - 7.8 cents each here (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13516). You can buy bundled throwie kits without magnets here (http://www.hebeiltd.com.cn/?p=throwies) for about 33 cents per (less if you buy in bulk...)

My favorite is this one (http://www.instructables.com/id/Police-throwie/), especially if you figure out how to stick it to the trunk hood or rear window. There's just something about having red and blue lights flashing in your rearview that makes you slow down....

Hmmmm, how about a launcher suitable for mounting on the handlebars? Or maybe just use the battery pull tab to hang a few off the stem....

great. now throwing toxic batteries around town. that will end up rotting, and releasing the
contents into the environment. some animal may ingest some of that.

oh I get it. all in the sake of 'art'

keep up the good work

Fun idea
or better yet, when a driver harasses you, you mark them then call the cops.

I've often thought about doing something like that with a paintball gun.

I've often thought about doing something like that with a real gun.

great. now throwing toxic batteries around town. that will end up rotting, and releasing the
contents into the environment. some animal may ingest some of that.

oh I get it. all in the sake of 'art'

keep up the good work

riding a bike doesn't automatically make you a tree huger, but being a tree huger does have a tendency to make you ride a bike...because you do not want to pollute...

I've often thought about doing something like that with a paintball gun.



For the sake of everyone that enjoys playing paintball (myself included), please don't ever do that.

see other thread...http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=481914

they may have solved your problem...