Originally Posted by
hammond9705
I disagree that more is always better. At some point more light doesn't help, and just angers oncoming drivers and/or pedestrians and runs batteries down quickly (or needs a great big battery). I rode for a long time with a single Dinotte 200l. That is probably the bare minimum for me, but I can't see ever needing more than 600 or so. My eyes aren't that great, but unless you have no night vision I got to believe that for most people 4600 is a big overkill.
I'll agree that running 3 lamps as powerful as mine is a bit over the top. I do it because I can. However, I've used less light starting with modified flashlights, a short period with bottle generators, battery powered Cat Eyes (about 60 lumens), overvolted Niteriders (~200 lm), nominally volted Niteriders (~100 lm), multiple overvolted Niteriders (~1200 lm), LED (~100 lm) and my current set up. I much prefer more light than less. The lights I currently use put out much more light the the Niterider with the same battery packs. The heads are a little larger but not significantly heavier than the other ones.
I have no night vision problems and can navigate quite will in the dark at walking speed. But if I want to go more than walking speed, I want some light to see by. Once you flick on a light, no matter how small or weak, your night vision is shot. You are night blind. It a function of the rod cells in your eyes and their sensitivity. Just about any light source can oversaturate them and you are stumbling around in the dark. A weak light only over saturates them and leaves you night blind without enough light for the cones cells to take over.