backpack blinky
 

I ride home at night from work most days and so visibility is of concern to me. I've got the obligatory blinky red light on the rear of my bike, the standard red rear reflector, orange pedal reflectors, and now yellow ankle reflectors which double as a way of keeping my pants out of chain's way. I was going to buy one of those safety reflective vests, but decided against it as my backpack would cover most of it anyway. The backpack itself has a narrow reflective stripe down the center. That's all the lighted stuff at the rear; i've got the usual battery powered lights etc for the front. But i'm wondering if i should get another blinky light for the backpack - it comes with a hook part that allows for an attachment like that. I wonder though if it's a bit over the top - are drivers more likely to see two flashing lights compared to one?

I used to run 3 flashing lights on the rear- one mounted to the rear of my helmet, one mounted to my seatpost below my rack, and one either mounted on trunk bag/backpack/seat bag. Needless to say I now only ride with two lights becuse I have lost 3-4 lights off of the loops on the trunk bag etc. I also use the ankle bands and have been told that they are great for visibility and the movement gets drivers attention. If you feel the need for more visibility go ahead and buy the vest and wrap it around your backpack. It will be a matter of preference, My current set-up as described is quite effective even on the last 4 1/2 miles of my commute where street lights are almost non-existent (maybe every 1/2 to 3/4 miles).

I have two high powered blinkies on the bike and a small light one on my helmet.

I have a seatpost blinky and a blinky on my backpack. Like the one you mentioned it can be mounted to the bike and has a clip. The backpack is a bookbag/daypack style so I added some reflective tape down the front of it.

"Over the top"....absolutely not!. Search the forum...two front/two rear seems to be a stanard configuration. But your mileage may vary.

A portion of my commute is on a farily busy highway. A third rear blinky may be in my future...and some more reflective tape.

I have used these in the past and they work great.. They are called guardian lights.. They come with the belt clip attachment in the package.. You can buy the extra Key chain Velcro Strap & Hook attachment.. I think the yellow and white are great colors to have.. Here is a link

http://www.botac.com/novlabguar.html

A second light probably would blink slightly out of sync with the first, meaning less time when no light was on. Also, a little redundancy is nice in case one light fails, or you don't have time to pick up new batteries right away.

Last year when I commuted with a back pack, I put the orange reflector vest on it instead of me.

Just a suggestion.

More lights! More lights! I've always concluded that "active" lights are better than "passive" reflectors. With a reflector or vest, you have to wait until the car's headlights swing into the right position to reflect. Blinkies grab more attention without relying on headlights to pick you out. On second thought, just add a few more blinkies to your helmet and backpack and then add a vest and some reflective tape on your bike. Never hurts to be seen.

I wear the reflective ankle straps, as well as having 4 ankle straps on the backpack, and i just added 2 more blinkeys to the backback. I'd like to not get hit because someone didn't see me from behind. I try everything in my power to stay visible.

Those look cool. Any one use the knog 'frog' light? I just saw one in a magazine.

http://www.knogusa.com/

I also think a headlight is good to have...you might already have one on your bike?

Woops...I see you do. :o

The reflective ankle straps are great. When I don't need them to hold my pants, I wrap them around the "front pouch" of my backpack. I dont know if your bag would have a place to attach these straps, but if it does, I would pick up some extra ones.

I have seen a lot of "Backpack Blinkies" that are BARELY VISABLE!

People put them on and think they can be SEEN! WRONG... you have to check to make sure.

You see if the Backpack is empty, there can be a "fold" or flapping going on and the Blinky is in a strange positioning to be SEEN.

I have 3 Blinkies:
Helmet
Seat Post
Rear Rack

I am all about being seen in the DARK. Reflective gear is GREAT also!

The light from LEDs is very directional, so when you are leaning forward on the bike a light on the backpack may only be visible to passing aircraft. Put your lights on the bike or helmet so you can be sure of the direction they are pointing.

There is a huge range of effectiveness with red blinking taillights. From almost useless to daylight visible. In most cases attaching an LED blinker to a bag or yourself is almost useless. For an LED blinker to work it needs to be aimed horizontal and to stay that way all the time. The bag mount will move around too much. The new lights have better LED's, they also have lenses to multiply the effect, and they address side visibility properly with lights and lenses facing the side that are visible from the side and even well forward.
Put reflectors on the bag if you like and all sorts of reflective material on anything.
If you don't have a new style LED taillight, get the new Cateye TL-LD 1000, bolt it to you rack or your seat post, make sure it is aimed straight back, and go for a ride in the dark. If you are not familiar with the new lights you will be surprised.

Aim is the most important. You don't know how many people I pass and then comment to about how their lights are either aimed at the sky or ground.
I wouldn't recommend putting it on a backpack, hard to position right.
Planet bike sells a nice blinker on a mount that always self rights the blinker. Use a cable tie to attach it to your helmet.
Have the one on the bike going solid and the one on the helmet in blink.

Great idea Mooklekloon; will definitely do that when wearing shorts and don't need ankle straps.
Slvoid - good point. At the moment i just have the one rear light on blinky mode. But having another one on continuous seems sensible.

The posters talking about aim are correct. Get one that is visible from a lot of directions at the same time.
http://www.rei.com/product/47679730....HP_CYCLING_TOC

This thread got me thinking about aim on the backpack (which I thought was good). So I did a test... I had my wife stand behind me while I was on the bike in a normal cruising position. As expected the light was facing aimed toward the sky...but still visible from behind.

I rigged a clip on the bottom of the pack and attached the blinky to that. A-OK!

While I was at it (and in response to the DE laws on biking...see "Ticket This Morning Thread") I got a set of thse arm bands for even more strobe goodness

Planet Bike BRT Strap