Beryl Laserlight Core headlamp
 

So yeah, I bought into the Kickstarter and now have a Beryl Laserlight Core. This is the new model of headlamp that projects a laser beam image of a bicycle on the ground out in front of the traveling cyclist.

The laser beam thing actually operates as advertised. The beam is visible even under the street lamps in my neighborhood. Pedestrians can readily see it and have commented on it to me. It's quite effective when overtaking walkers on the MUP.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...59310e52f5.png


It was designed for optimal use in packed, congested London. I have no idea if someone in a motor vehicle under the conditions here in Parts Unknown can or would see the projected image.

But still and all I’m actually impressed with the laser side of things. The headlamp function, however, is about what you’d expect from a $2.95 flashlight. There’s a small central hot spot and a huge aura, throwing light onto the front tire, well up into the trees along the street and wide enough to scan for Huns hiding in the bushes. The laser and lamp are in the same housing and can't be independently pointed, so one optimally aims the laser and takes what they get with the lamp. The LED is bright, but the simple reflector and Plano lens sends so many of the photons it creates off on meaningless journeys. Sigh.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...638502fe66.jpg


I think back on the complicated, beam shaping molded plastic lens on the British BEREC Frontguard I used 40 years ago, and I can’t believe Beryl can’t do better with the headlamp beam than they have in 2019.

Also, I suspect there’s a garden-variety 1300mAh 18650 battery non-replaceably molded into the housing. Not uncommon with cycling headlamps, but IMHO not best practice. I know some posters here have reacted negatively to this suggestion in the past, but I'd love to have the option of unscrewing an end cap and slipping in a Panasonic 3400mAh.

Kickstarter scores again! So many products hyped to the utmost. The technical specs listed at their site are mostly noteworthy for their skimpiness and use of "weasel words". Nothing about dimensions and weight. Nothing about real battery capacity in mAh. The weasel words they use are "up to". "Up to" 400 lumens white LED and "up to" 41 hours (run-time). On which setting will you get that long a run-time?. I wonder what the patent covers? Case design maybe? It can't cover having a laser image projected on the street. You can buy bike lights with this feature for well under $10 on eBay. The $99 price tag should get you a better light than a cheap flashlight. Thanks for the warning. You need to hope that the driver and peds are actually paying attention to the ground rather than straight ahead or the laser image is useless.

Let's note that this is a follow-on, improved version of a lamp that's been on the market for a couple years and has been reviewed by a number of major cycling publications.

Let's note that there's a big difference between lasering red and lasering green, and big difference in human eye sensitivity between red and green.

So what happens if you shine the light generating bike image into somebody's eyes?? Were you brave enough to try it on your own eyes?

I see these on the streets of New York City. Some of the Citi Bike fleet have that feature. I don't think it helps.

Posters who sincerely try to give answers are the easiest to troll.

CLASS 2 LASER PRODUCT
Classified to IEC 60825-1.2014
Complies with 21CFR1040.10 and 1040.11

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-laser-damage/

Not sure here what this is about. Obviously there is a tension between creating a visible image and avoiding brightness that can hurt the eyes. The beam narrows close to the source, with all intensity from the image concentrated there and intersecting the line of view from the eyes. For a laser pointer the beam diverges very little so there is far less tension between the effect one wants to achieve and the potential damage. Products of dubious origin often carry various certification symbols without ever actually being certified. I lack personal knowledge of the specific product though.