Looking behind you w/ a helmet mounted light...
 

So I just strapped my p7 (flood) onto my helmet, mostly as a be-seen light for the daytime. Seems to work but I'm wondering if people here have experience with looking behind them when using a helmet mounted light. It seems like you'd run the risk of blinding people next to you or behind you. Is there a way to look behind you w/o doing this?

Helmet mounted mirror.

Move the P7 to your handlebar and use the right tool for the job. A flood light is to see a modest amount of visual detail to a large area in front of you. A spot light is to see higher detail in a smaller area, such as exactly where you are looking at.

If you're riding at night and looking back, you should be looking back at a set of headlights (or single light, if with a friend) and don't need a light on your head. If you need one on your head for other reasons (street signs, side views, etc) then get a spot light.

Don't worry about others unless you are riding in a group. Your safety is important..I don't think you'll blind anyone if you are by yourself commuting somewhere..Cheers

I gave up on the helmet mounted light, but maybe I just didn't have the right one. They stop working when it gets cold.

But I really liked that when I was approaching an intersection and I knew which guy was likely to cut me off, I could just look at him, and he was strobed.

I'm not sure this would work during the daylight with a flood light. Not bright or focused enough.

Now, I use a bar-mounted LED light and try to wear a super-bright jersey or crossing guard vest. Seems to work better, especially during the day.

use a different light. I've been riding with a Princeton Tec Eos or Petzle 3AAA headlamp on my helmet. I'll either have it on low intensity light to save the battery and provide some noticable light to other cars or I'll put it on strobe and have it rotated up and not shining directly in peoples eyes.


http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/head...eries/tikka-xp

this headlamp in strobe mode is VERY bright and with the diffusing lens in place it won't blind anyone. Think of it like the school buses with strobes on top.

I have a wider beam light on the bars and sometimes a spotlight on my head - when I do have a headlamp, it's a narrow beam one.

It is actually a problem...in the city where I don't need it as much I turn it off. People have said it's great at intersections, but I happen to be fortunate enough to ride most on trails. I think the best thing is to get a narrow beam, then point it just above cars when you look around - won't hit anyone in the face, but you can still see behind you.

I don't think there's a 100% solution - if there was you'd probably get better responses than you're getting here (don't worry you won't blind anyone, you'll blind everyone, it won't function, etc).

P.S. If your headlamp doesn't work in the cold, you got the wrong headlamp. Mine works *better* in the cold (with the battery pack tucked into my jacket), though it still works with the battery pack on the bars, just reduced runtime.

Thanks for the spam buddy!

I wouldn't follow those links if i were anybody else.

I followed the links, macc, lol. What's the problem again?

Although I don't use a helmet light right now, the one I have used up until summertime was a simple Energizer 6-LED headlamp. They're cheap, bright (much better than my actual bike headlamp), long-lasting and strap on nicely. The strap is adjustable and the back of the light has a nice piece of grippy foam rubber so it can't slide around on your helmet, but long-term, I can see the strap eventually fraying/wearing out. The best part is that the light will tilt down into three or four positions so that you can focus into the roadway instead of just straight ahead.

I had it zip-tied to my backpack for a few days to make use of the light's two red LEDs (minimal visibility; better than nothing), but I'll eventually design a clip mount for my helmet so I can get rid of the strap altogether.