I just put my hand over the light if someone is coming toward me on the path. Bounce the light off my palm to the ground, then resume lighting up the whole hemisphere after we pass.

+1 Easy solution

To respond to this and similar posts, who said anything about turning your lights off? I'm just asking folks to set their headlamps to solid on the MUTs, and if it's not too much trouble, aim them down so that they don't shine right in other MUT users' eyes. Or palm them when approaching someone, as mentioned by several posters.

And sure, keep your rear blinkies on. You'll be looking at my solid rear soon enough (double entendre intended).

My MUP's frequently host disco parties well into the night. Platform shoes, leisure suits, Kool and The Gang...

I feel only obliged to add some strobes.

Print your OP and post it along your commute. et voila.

You may also consider printing your OP on 8.5" x 11" in 3 by 3 poster print @ 100 pt., tape it together and then pin it to the front of your "kit" so no one will mistake your requirements for riding the same 'MUT' that you ride. :thumb:

Oh, I palm my front, but since the OP didn't bother to specify front or rear in his rant, I addressed the part that applied to me. The rear :) (Reference post #23)

Tell ya what, I'll write "STOP FLASHING YOUR LIGHTS" in big letters across my cycling jacket using reflective tape. Then, every time I meet a bright strobing light, my message will be reflected back and burned into their psyche like a subliminal message.

On the only MUT path that we have here in Miami is the M-path and at night it is dark as hell... If I am riding with a group I will turn off the SF so that the person behind me does not have a seizure lol

This is it. And really, if you are that upset by a little flashing LED you should stay inside, because I'll bet there's a long list of things that annoy you.

I save my ire for important things, like people who display unsightly armwarmer gap, or fail to rotate the labels on their tires to line up with the valve stems.

lol

Can't palm my lights. At 2000+ lumens, I'll be melting my gloves. :p

Oh come one now I run a 1,750 lumen bar light and a 1,000 lumen helmet light and on high they are only warm while moving. :P Holding them in my hand for any length of time though while standing still is another story. They are for trail use, but I usually bring both lights whenever I go night riding. 9 out of every 10 rides I do I never come across another person on the trail or MUP as it is usually after midnight so it is not an issue. I always dim way down when I see someone coming though. As far as rear blinkies I have a couple superflashes that I usually turn off on MUP, MUTs just to save batteries.

I never use them on the trail, myself. No need. Nothing comes up from behind. :P I do use my 8 billion candlepower headlamp though. The trail is unlit, wooded, and I've seen all manner of creatures (human and otherwise) lurking on it after dark.

I turn it away from oncoming humans unless they're unlit or unreflected, in which case they get full coverage so they can't surprise me. It amazes me, the people out with zero lights or reflective gear. What happens when two of them meet head-on? Especially cyclists? :eek:

You catch on quick, at least in some cases.

Mine too, and the rare person I see on the MUP at night is usually walking the dog. The only people I know of who stood a chance of being annoyed by my PBSF were trying to draft me for me front lights, and I never knew they were there until about 2 miles later.

Yeah I was just making some silly excuse to avoid palming my lights. My MG lights run really cool and so much cooler than my MS.

I do understand where the OP getting at. I haven't been on a trail or dirt trail in a while, but had been commented for bright blinking tail light out on the street. I mod my rack such that my tail light is higher than my seat at waist level. This lady takes the same train as I do and she's sometime right behind at the light when her husband drives her to the station. They like the light but noted it glares at them a lot when waiting behind me. I then tilted it down a little and they pulled up behind me in their white passenger sedan and all I saw was their white hood blinking with the reflection of my red tailight.

1000 lumen helmet light? Wow, I can use that at the dirt trail. :)

I ride with a MiNewt light on my handlebars that's quite bright and a flashing LED headlamp on my helmet. Both are within easy reach so I can use them alternately or in combination. It's handy to be able to do this as my route varies from well lit city streets to completely dark MUTS, also 2 lane highways with lots of high beams from oncoming traffic. I cannot even estimate how many times that flashing LED light on the helmet has stopped cars from pulling out in front of me.

As a ridder of the MUPs here in NOLA;

God bless you!

It is too much trouble. I refuse. So there.

There's something I'd like to see; take something like a Magicshine, and add a remote momentary pushbutton that strobes it while the button is held. No need to cycle through modes to switch back and forth, just push the button when you need to draw attention, and release to go back to normal.

MG lights, are they flashlights similar to a Magicshine's output? I bought a Magicshine headlight to lend to a friend to get them to go riding with me more often and I just ordered a similar output flashlight from dealextreme that hasn't arrived yet. I bought a Magicshine taillight several months ago too and that is really bright, but I have yet to actually use it as I find the Superflashes to be enough. I started night riding in the early 90's with a 30 halogen light and also had a couple Vistalite 15 watt and 10 watt lights. Then progressed to 2 Niterider HIDs which were nice, but the newer LED lights put those HIDs to shame now. I feel almost ashamed to say that I have two Lupine lights as their cost is ridiculous, but they have been perfectly wonderful in every way so I am happy with them.

I have the p-rocket but in the prenium and the thrower. Both flashlight has similar lumen output to the MS. If anything it seem to be brighter than the MS but that will depend on what type of throw or flood you prefer. The rocket has more flood overall without too much of an hot spot as compare to the MS. The thrower for sure has a hot spot up close but then disperse in the distant while giving off some serious light at a distant. Both light has a much more white tone of color while the MS is more greenish.

All German street legal LED bike lights have a cutoff on the beam similar to an auto headlight in low beam mode. Peter White Cycles imports quite a few including both dynamo and battery power versions. Most are more effective than their lumens or watts ratings as they put all of their light on the road rather than blasting half of it in the air above the horizontal the way LED flashlights and most available LED bike lights do.

I'm too cheap to use steady lights so I will continue to annoy riders like you with my disco lights.

What I do feel is most unsafe are those that use a flashing front light with no solid light. A light should accomplish three things - 1. make you visible, 2. make your position known, and 3. when there is a lack of other lighting, allow you to see the road. Strobes only do 1. and 1. without 2. is dangerous. Without the accompanying solid light it is harder to judge where the bike is. You may consider that an advantage because it might cause cars to give you more room but on the MUP are you really trying to get the on-coming bicycle to drive off the path?

Secondly, another thing I don't get is that modern led lights and batteries are incredibly efficient and most lights will easily last two hours or more on a charge, which is longer than most people's commute, so why the need to strobe to conserve the battery? Are people just too incompetent or lazy to charge their light between rides?

Thirdly, I frequently read posts on this forum by people who are decked out like a Christmas tree and get cut-off or hit by people who swear they didn't see them. Maybe they were mistaken for an object that wasn't moving, like those signs you see with the flashing lights. With Christmas on the way do you really want to be mistaken for a stationary Christmas decoration?

Fourthly, There is the DUI effect. I know this has been debated on the forum many times so perhaps I'm beating the dead horse (but this whole thread is probably in that category anyway) but there is some evidence that drunks get confused by flashing lights to the extent that they run into whatever is flashing.

The bottom line, is this debate will continue endlessly until there is some real empirical evidence about actual accident rates for people using different lighting schemes. Until that all we have is speculation and its close companion, anecdotal evidence, to go on. Anyway, this thread is really more of an A&S thread as you can tell by the enhanced level of incivility.