Need a new front flasher
 

I bought this combo from the local outpost of the Evil Empire. I know that they are rather weak, but I bought them back when I was riding primarily on the MUP and did not want to blind others. Now, the MUP isn't even part of the equation.

I made sure that the front light was on before hitting the road, but it had turned itself off when I went to manually shut it off after arriving at work- and that happened two days in a row. Not good, as it's only going to be darker as the year goes on...

I'm sure that there must be some lights out there that are unaffected by all of the vibrations from the road. Need something inexpensive, functions and need it quickly. Until then, I'll be relying on my stronger (yet still pathetic) flashlight as a dual purpose light. The roads around here suck, especially the ones that I use that have a very high percentage of big rigs on them.

And no sooner than I hit the submit button on the OP, another question formed in my mind- maybe I should be looking at upgrading my flashlight to something that has a strobe instead of just shopping for a safety light?

If that's the case, budget trumps delivery time, then I might be looking at what DX has to offer (never dealt with them or any other e-tailer before).

Various Cateye stuff has always served me well for commuting.

DX is probably your best bet if you need to keep the costs down.
I can't recommend something specific since I pay more for my lights and tend to stay away from them because they overstate lumens.
I don't know of any bike specific lights, but a lot of people including myself like to strap on a flashlight and works great for the most part.

I've got a 2 watt Planet Bike Blaze that I really like.

Did some poking around on Amazon, saw a Cateye, and then went to Cateye's site for a more clear description. I like that it's both a light and reflector, so that if the light fails, at least it's being productive towards keeping me safe (instead of just being dead weight).

Cateye has an interesting selection of lights, you could also get a Cateye EL320 tht puts out 1000 candle watts, use this in flash mode and it's really extreme, you can also use it as a back up light if your main should die on a ride. see: http://www.amazon.com/Cateye-HL-EL32.../dp/B000R5PJT0

I use an old, 18 year old Vista Xenon flasher that came with two lens, red and amber. I used it originally for a tail light but then brighter ones came so I took the red lens off and put the amber one on and that thing gets peoples attention. I think the newer stuff today is brighter then my flasher, but the darn thing won't break so why replace it? Beside I have a Cygolite MityCross 480 for a main, the flasher just grabs their attention.

This light. http://www.lighthound.com/Solarforce...ed_p_2629.html
This bulb. http://www.lighthound.com/Solar-Forc...In_p_3611.html
You will need batteries and a charger. You can get those at DX. The light runs about 4 or 5 hours on strobe mode.

You'd be better off with this drop-in (bulb) as it is made for the lower voltages that a single battery has. The drop-in listed about is for a two battery configuration, so it'll be dimmer with only one. For one battery you need a drop-in that's rated 0.8V-4.2V or 3v-6V for maximum brightness.

http://www.solarforce-sales.com/prod...RB&s=40&id=200 (This will draw more power as it's a much brighter LED)

Update: The need to replace my front blinky is no longer, though I do still plan on getting something else. I let my wife (6+yrs as a US Navy Electronics Tech, ITT Computer/Electronics Engineering grad, and currently building circuit boards for an outfit that primarily supplies DoD contractors) look at it. I turned it on, handed it to her, and it died as she closed her hand around it. Pronounced that it had a loose contact somewhere and promptly returned the light and went back to her book.

So, since the light was deemed defective, I decided to salvage the new batteries that I had just put in the other day. Two of the cells just fell out of the holster on their own, so in a moment of saying to myself that I'm either going to kill it or cure it, I took some pliers and pulled the springs out a bit... and now the thing seems to be working fine. I didn't get a chance to use it this morning; hopefully I'll be able to report back tomorrow.

Why not just bite the bullet and try one of these? Even with a charger and batts - under $50

I figure its at least 700 "real lumens"