Thanks Acroy! - that explains why some combinations work better than others.

I previously thought was just my own superstition of having the "right amount" of light. For example, once I thought it would be great to have alternating/flashing red&white lights on the front. I thought it looked a little like a police flasher and it would command attention.

After riding in traffic for about 1/2 an hour -- I decided it this was the dumbest idea ever. Cars just seemd to be magnetically attracted to me, the only benefit was on broadway in midtown where pedestrians would step aside a earlier than usual.

That said, the orange triangle is still a great cue to motorists that they should slow down and yield. It is universally recognizable. I don't use one currently but want to get one for my mess. bag.

Also, I agree about the overestimation of the planet bike superflash. I bought one instead of a cateye because of what I read here, and it is not brighter than the blackburn 3.0 that it replaced. It also only has two modes (on/blink) and the on/off button is hard to find even without gloves on.