Thanks for all the comments and information. It's been really helpful!

I don't care at all about the loose, flapping hardware store vests. I have two that I think I know the locations of. Doesn't matter...I wouldn't wear them anyway.

Vest made to ride with.

I love it more than I hate the hardware store crap. Were I standing around in a construction zone holding a stop sign I might look for the two that I have to use. But, I'd wear the Nathan vest to work.

Front and rear B&M lights, dynohub powered. Rear, wheel and pedal reflectors. Reflective triangle on trunk bag. Reflective vest if riding on country roads. Cost about $200 including dynohub.

Front LED white light. Can be set to blinking but use that mode rarely. Two rear blinkies clipped to my backpack. If I'm not wearing a backpack I'll clip one to a belt loop in the back. I don't worry too much about reflective clothing.

I regularly check the big box stores for cheapies. From time to time they have a sale on "junk" they want to get rid of. All of mine use rechargeable AAA batteries.

I don't need to ride at night really ever now, but the bike still has a $10 or so blinking LED tail light mounted on the seat post, a red rear reflector, and a fork mounted generator/light combo that cost me something like $12.

Night riding is a staple for me. living in Florida one learns to enjoy it.
I use a cygolite 500 up front on the steady pulse mode, a 2w hot shot rear in pulse mode,
I have 6 of those single spoke reflectors on each wheel, have reflectors on my pedals
and wear reflective jerseys. I believe in over kill when it comes to night time visibility.

That's about what my Cygolite does on full brightness. It's at least 5 hours too few when riding all night. ;)

I use a L&M 650....same story.

I got one of these cheapo. It runs forever, it seems. I aim the L&M down the road on medium then use the little light on high to fill in maybe 30-50 feet aimed at the road. Don't know for sure, haven't really measured. Anyway, I'm comfortable with the bright area directly in front and the Urban is fine as far as I care to see on medium.

Results in further travels 'til blackout.

I've got about $100 in lights. Nothing ground-breaking and I think they've all been mentioned already.

A bright tail light is quite valuable. The sooner a motorist sees you, the sooner they are able to prepare for avoiding you.

What I learned a while back is the value of reflectivity. Almost every bicycle tail light on the market will be washed out by a car's headlights. And this is where reflectors and reflective materials on your bike and your person become useful. I have plenty of reflectors and reflective sickers on my bicycle, but my clothes are lacking in that regard.

The reflective vests I tried all blocked access to my rear jersey pockets, so I designed a reflective harness. I wear this anytime I'll be out in darkness. I've made several of these for other cyclists, also.

The Nathan vest is long in the back, like a good bike specific jacket. It has an opening that allows access to jersey pockets. One of the reasons that I still use it.