Originally Posted by
hamster
I'm surprised that no one mentioned this, but I think that the rear of your helmet is a very bad place to mount Hotshot. It is so directional that it has to be mounted just exactly right or else it is wasted. Even when it's mounted on the bike, you have to tighten the screw on the mount very tightly, because, if it's not tight, the light can shift one or two notches because of vibration and that will render it useless.
Funny you should say this. Knowing that the Cygolite Hotshot is indeed, "very directional", I experimented with the lamp to see just how visible it would be when viewed completely off camber.
With the helmet/lamp pointing into the air ( about 40° upward ) I walked a good distance away to see how visible it was. Surprisingly it is still quite visible. No, it won't have the great throw that it was designed for but I pretty much knew that going in.
The Hotshot is nice, small and self-contained. Fits well on back of a helmet and is not real heavy. All things considered it still offers a good secondary point of reference for anyone approaching me from behind. In the mean time no one will miss my rear seat post lamp and if I happen to tilt my head up and swing my head around, some of the high output from the Hotshot ( on slow pulse ) might just catch some eyeball as well. Since I don't own a more visible light for the back of the helmet the hotshot will do for now.