Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Need lighting advice

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jbpence

02-05-09, 10:19 AM

I like to tour, sometimes riding all night. Helmet mount.

I go to some very rural areas, and my next trip is to China. I'd like your recommendations for a very good battery powered light. Needs to be bright, yet not a total battery hog. something that can get 4 hours on 4 AA cells would be great. am I dreaming?

I Imagine rigging it with a plug somehow for a battery pack to plug into it. Do not want to go rechargeable route - might not be near electricity for days. I nwill be near batteries fairly often, dont mind carrying a bunch 'em.

something rechargeable that recharges via a USB calble would be ok too - or anything that likes 5 volts, and I can wire a new adapter. have a 'minty boost' for powering my garmin GPS, cell phone.

Unknown Cyclist

02-05-09, 11:39 AM

hi,

I started off with one of these:

http://www1.dealextreme.com/productimages/sku_8400_1.jpg

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8400

I chose it because it had a luxeon LED and could be easily powered from an external battery (as it is already) - also I didn't want the weight of the lamp and the battery on the front of my cycle helmet.

I then re-wired it so that all the LEDs were lit and instead of the switch being OFF- LOW - OFF - HIGH it became a simple ON/OFF for all the LEDs, giving a bit more light.

I mounted this permanently to my helmet.

I documented it here: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=448060&page=2 Post 30 onwards.

More recently I decided I would like more light so I bought two of these:

http://www1.dealextreme.com/productimages/sku_16853_2_small.jpg

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16853

These are smaller (both will fit on the front of my helmet) and they each have better light output than my first helmet light, pictures of the conversion to follow soon.

I'm not sure that you will the runtime you want by strapping a torch to your helmet, which is why I think a headlamp might be the way to go.

:)

barturtle

02-05-09, 12:09 PM

What you need is a Dyno hub and matching lights...

bryce_atx

02-05-09, 12:23 PM

I'd definitely go with a dyno over batteries. Maybe a small light with rechargeables for backup. If you want USB charging, look at the NiteRider MiniNewt. It charges via USB. A guy I ride with has it and it's a decent light. Not as powerful as a P7 or Dinotte, but it's well built and small.