Originally Posted by n4zou
Never ride at night only with reflectors! You're just begging to get killed if you do that. Blinkies are cheap and run for hundreds of hours on batteries. I use a red taillight blinkie on the rear, two amber Blinkies on the sides of my rear rack, and another amber blinkie up front in addition to a 3-watt LED Mag-Lite flashlight on my touring and commuting bike. Wal-Mart is having a sale on the 2AA Mini-Mag version for $19 and is a very worthwhile investment for a light you can actually see where you're going with. It's better than most sub $50 bicycle specific lights at the LBS. it's weight is low, runs for 2.5 hours on just 2 AA batteries, and the beam pattern is adjustable so you can navigate parking lots with the beam pattern set wide and narrow it down for use on the road. I've had cars blink their high beams at me while on the road!
For Grun: Check you local laws about what 'required' and the go beyond it. For example, the State of Colorado 'requires' that you have a white front light, reflectors that can be seen from 500 feet from the side and a rear red reflector. Personally, that's way less than anyone should have. However the required reflectors should be carried. In the case of an accident, you might not be able to recover damages, i.e. be mostly liable, if you don't have the minimum.
A word of caution about LED lights. LED's are very directional. I have a set of 3W LED (Nitehawk Emitters) that are quite bright from straight on. I usually use a more powerful halogen system but during the spring and fall when I don't want to carry all the batteries, I use the LEDs. This spring I discovered that while the halogens spill lots of light to the side, the LEDs are almost invisible! I had someone pull out in front of me like I wasn't there. I stopped and walked across the street and from about the width of an intersection, the lights are completely invisible. I couldn't see them until I was almost directly in front of them. I ride much more cautiously when I use them now.