Originally Posted by
despoke
I am sure the Blackburn product is good if you say so and is probably the best light for side visibility if that is your feeling about it.
However I doubt I will ever purchase the Blackburn light as, unlike your experience with the Super Blinky, my 2 Super Blinkys have been nothing short of superb in the area of reliability and that would include excellent weatherproofing qualities as they have endured the monsoons of Seattle where I cycle with no problemo since purchasing them over 5 years ago. They are the ultimate in low maintenance with long intervals of dependable, highly visible performance between battery charges. As far as fragile goes....of course they wouldn't survive being run over by a 16 wheeler. ( my helmet mounted Photon Freedom Fusion headlight might)
I am also wondering about price here.
Certainly, if the Blackburn is lower priced than a Super Blinky and is superior as you say perhaps I should be looking into it.
If you look at the specs of the Super Blinky vs the Mars 4 you can help to know that the Mars 4 is brighter due to it using 1 watt LED for the main bulb vs just a 1/2 watt for the Blinky. Some LBS's carry both and some will even have bats in them and you can test them for yourself. But as you say, the higher watt of 1 watt plus and additional two 1/2 watt led's puts a load on the AAA bats so they don't last as long as the Blinky; so I carry spare bats in case a set dies.
Here's a You Tube example of 3 different ones included is the Light & motion vis180, Mars 4, and Blackburn Flee:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpCAXJKz1p8
Here's another of the Mars 4 vs the Smart Super Flash which is the same as the Blinky I believe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ReR0j3fHE