Good light that can work whilst connected to a powerbank

[dim]

Are there any strong good lights that will work when connected to a powerbank?

I've been using the cheap Chinese Cree lights that use an external battery pack .... I use it as a headlight as I travel on very poor roads in pitch dark. I have the light on a headband, and I have the battery in my pocket.

The light unit is very good (for what it costs), but the battery is crap .... and the battery normally only lasts half of the winter, then I have to get another.

If these can work using a powerbank, that would be a good light to use on long Audax rides (I'm not sure if it will work, as the connection is not a normal USB type

I don't want a dynamo hub and I don't want to use torchlight batteries

[grams]

They make versions of the common Cree bike headlight with a USB plug on the end.

[dim]

thanks! .... 

I've also contacted Dinotte and Cygolite to see if they offer similar. (My Cygolite Hotshot rear light works when connected to a powerbank)

[Canardly]

5v - 12v via USB?

[dim]

5v - 12v via USB?

it must work or else they would not sell them?

this one is a stronger one:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15000LM-SolarStorm-3-x-CREE-XM-L-T6-LED-4-Modes-USB-Bike-Bicycle-Light-Headlamp/282480476127?hash=item41c525ffdf:g:0YsAAOSwYlRZGs8Y



says it's good for a 5V powerbank

[Frank9755]

They do work with a powerbank; I've got one.

[dim]

They do work with a powerbank; I've got one.

thanks .... I've ordered one .... shipped from China, so it will take a while to get here. Pity it does not have a gopro mount though

[Kim]

5v - 12v via USB?

They've taken a light with an input range of 5-12V and stuck a USB plug on it, no problem.

Using USB connectors for voltages other than 5V (except in accordance to the USB3 Power Delivery spec) is of course a Mk1 Bad Idea.

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

Please don't wear permanently on blinding lamps    (ie those capable of lighting your way) on your head when on roads. I suppose you could use it as a main beam auxiliary to an
'approved' dipped lamp as long as you remember to never look behind you.... because a white lamp  to the rear is illegal.....


NB Blinding other road users is illegal.

[dim]

Please don't wear permanently on blinding lamps    (ie those capable of lighting your way) on your head when on roads. I suppose you could use it as a main beam auxiliary to an
'approved' dipped lamp as long as you remember to never look behind you.... because a white lamp  to the rear is illegal.....


NB Blinding other road users is illegal.

where I live, and with the crappy pothole roads I travel, many use strong lights because they have to... it's dark, it's cold, it's raining, we are tired and we have a far way to travel to get home and we want to get there quick ....

it's dog eat dog .... someone approaches with a strong light .... look to the side ...  I have my strong light on a headband on my head, so I do the same so as not to blind them ....

thats the law of the jungle here in Cambridge when you cycle on the dark cycle paths 

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

I don't  see a  reason to not do what a driver must legally do:
have a good dipped beam* for use against oncoming traffic (may of course require slowing to fit within range), and use main beam when no such traffic. I don't see any reason for cyclists behaving differently given they now have access to a similar amount of lumens. 

Dipping ones head does't seem very precise and one would only need to briefly forget and ouch to the oncomer....

*eg a good Stzvo battery lamp on handlebars mounted so as brightest part beam dipped a few degrees below horizontal, just like a car dipped headlamp.

[dim]

I don't  see a  reason to not do what a driver must legally do:
have a good dipped beam* for use against oncoming traffic (may of course require slowing to fit within range), and use main beam when no such traffic. I don't see any reason for cyclists behaving differently given they now have access to a similar amount of lumens. 

Dipping ones head does't seem very precise and one would only need to briefly forget and ouch to the oncomer....

*eg a good Stzvo battery lamp on handlebars mounted so as brightest part beam dipped a few degrees below horizontal, just like a car dipped headlamp.

you sound like a taxi driver

[Kim]

An StVZO light on the bike with a head mounted conical 'main beam' that can be turned on when needed and quickly turned away from oncoming traffic without removing your hands from the brakes is an excellent approach.  This thread was about options for the latter which could be USB powered...

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

....with a head mounted conical 'main beam' that can be turned on when needed and quickly turned away from oncoming traffic without removing your hands from the brakes is an excellent approach.  This thread was about options for the latter which could be USB powered...

The OP made no mention of a remote easy access off switch. And I doubt simply your  turning head away is good enough (its not very precise for a start, plus you still need to see where you are going)  (plus what if turning away aims it at someone else like, (1) to the side (eg junction/pedestrian) or (2) behind if you hear something behind and turn to look automatically .

Plus such lamps are probably a horrible blue-white colour so even more dazzling. And probably has an unshielded emitter too. Plus I don't see how you can avoid the impulse to turn your head if you hear something etc.... So 'dipping'  only by switching off seems a perfectly reasonable expectation for road use.

Perhaps one or more wireless remote switch(es) on handlebars etc, just like a motorbike has one bar switch. Or a sensor to detect tapping your head/helmet the lamp. etc etc


[dim]:
I don't think wishing to avoid eye melting blinding by 1000ish lumen  main beams is limited to taxi drivers. Should I be offended by comparison to a taxi driver?
 

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=84727&p=762787&hilit=helmet+lamp#p762787
Ignore Bit about use as main lamp https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=82831&p=752933&hilit=helmet+light#p752933

[Kim]

And I doubt simply your  turning head away is good enough (its not very precise for a start, plus you still need to see where you are going)

Have you ever used a head torch?

[Samuel D]

I haven’t used a head torch on a bicycle, but I encountered several of them while driving at night in the south of England last Christmas (I’d never seen them in France). The first encounter was memorable: I came around a bend in light fog and saw a cyclist with a head lamp and a bicycle lamp. Well, I didn’t see the cyclist, only the lamps in a strange and dancing configuration, and for a moment I had no idea what I was looking at, where it was on the road, or how I should react. Of course both lamps were dazzlingly bright as they usually are with the sort of cyclist who imagines more light to be safer, so neither could I see much of the road.

To me as a driver it’s inconceivable that this arrangement is safer than a single, non-dazzling (i.e. shaped-beam) lamp on the bicycle. I have not once nearly hit a cyclist because they were hard to spot. Even with bad lamps or none at all, cyclists are among the most noticeable of all road users. The problem is not of invisibility.

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

And I doubt simply your  turning head away is good enough (its not very precise for a start, plus you still need to see where you are going)

Have you ever used a head torch?

I use low power  head torches as torches off the bike: I wouldn't use what is essentially a car /motorcycle  level of mainbeam* (but a smaller source ) as a mainbeam helmet mounted headlamp on my bike unless it was easily switched off upon oncoming traffic as I described, for the reasons given. I can't hold my head in an exact fixed position when cycling as I am not a robot, I need to move it, it will move unintentionally a bit, look behind me to the side, will get jolted by bumps, look elsewhere if I hear something etc.   I meet unswitched oncoming mega-headlamp cyclists on river paths ..... I have no desire to copy them.

Motorcyclists not wear their main beam on their head and dip it by looking down.... I bet other motorised road users would not be keen on that idea and the UN_ECE would not even consider it.


*International regulation ECE R37 specifies the luminous flux of the H4 bulb: 1650/1000 lumens ±15% (the larger left hand value is the main driving beam value)


The other reason I would   avoid such  a helmet lamp is that large chunk of metal/plastic lamp is probably going to be a bad thing in a crash: especially if attached firmly enough not to move around which would be necessary if hoping to rely on neck position for dipping surely?

[Kim]

To me as a driver it’s inconceivable that this arrangement is safer than a single, non-dazzling (i.e. shaped-beam) lamp on the bicycle. I have not once nearly hit a cyclist because they were hard to spot. Even with bad lamps or none at all, cyclists are among the most noticeable of all road users. The problem is not of invisibility.

At risk of playing grumpy devil's advocate, because I'm in pain from losing a fight with some leaf chutney:

It's safer because the most common (if not most serious) threat to a cyclist's safety isn't other road users; it's road surface hazards.  If having fuckloads of lighting helps you avoid them - without actively *increasing* the risk from dazzled motorists - then it's likely to be a net safety benefit, even if it is antisocial and illegal.


Not that I don't think it's possible to light the road adequately without dazzling other road users, and personally my preferred approach is for primary lights to be on the bike, with head-mounted lighting as a supplementary thing for reading signs and fixing mechanicals etc. that only gets cranked up to full power for technical off-road.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I've only once used a head torch on a bike, when my main light failed about 10 miles from home. It certainly wasn't ideal but nobody reacted as if they were dazzled, even on dark country lanes. But on Sunday I saw one or two cyclists using head torches. One of them had a light on the bars as well. One of the others had pedal reflectors and so was instantly identifiable as a cyclist. But I also saw several pedestrians (walking dogs and so on) using head torches and on first sighting them it was easy to think they were cyclists. And vice versa I suppose, depending probably on what is uppermost in your mind and also on the context (surroundings). I also saw a pedestrian wearing a hi-viz waistcoat whose (horizontal) reflective stripes were extremely attention grabbing. Once again, they weren't instantly identifiable as a walker rather than a cyclist, though in the circumstances that probably didn't matter.

[mattc]

...  and for a moment I had no idea what I was looking at, where it was on the road, or how I should react. Of course both lamps were dazzlingly bright as they usually are with the sort of cyclist who imagines more light to be safer, so neither could I see much of the road.

To me as a driver it’s inconceivable that this arrangement is safer than a single, non-dazzling (i.e. shaped-beam) lamp on the bicycle. I have not once nearly hit a cyclist because they were hard to spot. Even with bad lamps or none at all, cyclists are among the most noticeable of all road users. The problem is not of invisibility.

At risk of playing grumpy devil's advocate, because I'm in pain from losing a fight with some leaf chutney:

It's safer because the most common (if not most serious) threat to a cyclist's safety isn't other road users; it's road surface hazards.  If having fuckloads of lighting helps you avoid them - without actively *increasing* the risk from dazzled motorists - then it's likely to be a net safety benefit, even if it is antisocial and illegal.

Playing happy neutral arbiter ( !) I felt I should add back in the relevant bit of Samule's post that you omitted.[in bold]


mmmkay?!

[Kim]

...  and for a moment I had no idea what I was looking at, where it was on the road, or how I should react. Of course both lamps were dazzlingly bright as they usually are with the sort of cyclist who imagines more light to be safer, so neither could I see much of the road.

To me as a driver it’s inconceivable that this arrangement is safer than a single, non-dazzling (i.e. shaped-beam) lamp on the bicycle. I have not once nearly hit a cyclist because they were hard to spot. Even with bad lamps or none at all, cyclists are among the most noticeable of all road users. The problem is not of invisibility.

At risk of playing grumpy devil's advocate, because I'm in pain from losing a fight with some leaf chutney:

It's safer because the most common (if not most serious) threat to a cyclist's safety isn't other road users; it's road surface hazards.  If having fuckloads of lighting helps you avoid them - without actively *increasing* the risk from dazzled motorists - then it's likely to be a net safety benefit, even if it is antisocial and illegal.

Playing happy neutral arbiter ( !) I felt I should add back in the relevant bit of Samule's post that you omitted.[in bold]


mmmkay?!

Sure, doesn't change my point.  Confusing a driver is usually a bad idea, but it doesn't necessarily make the behave more dangerously.

[sojournermike]

A year or so ago I was faced with a group of cyclists on the road, all equipped with high power bar and head lamps. I stopped my car as I couldn't see the road, the edge of the road or even really where their edges were. I had to wait a few minutes after for my eyes to recover. Of course, this may not be what the OP intended, but I think a little consideration goes a long way, and it's probably sense to acknowledge that experience suggests that many car drivers would continue without seeing rather than stop.

[Kim]

A year or so ago I was faced with a group of cyclists on the road, all equipped with high power bar and head lamps. I stopped my car as I couldn't see the road, the edge of the road or even really where their edges were. I had to wait a few minutes after for my eyes to recover. Of course, this may not be what the OP intended, but I think a little consideration goes a long way, and it's probably sense to acknowledge that experience suggests that many car drivers would continue without seeing rather than stop.

And that is the point where it's adding danger to the situation.  Which is why it's a bad idea.

Where the balance of risk changes is of course impossible to determine without large, unethical studies.  But it doesn't stop there being a safety benefit from spewing loads of light all over the place, and in the absence of actually being splatted by dazzled driver, it's understandable that people choose to take that approach.

Which sums up everything that's wrong with our approach to road safety in a microcosm:  People will do what they find they can usually get away with.   

[Polar Bear]

I was blinded by a total cock of a cyclist with his Chinese ray of deth on a local well-used cyclepath recently.   I had to stop but the arrogant cock just pressed on riding too fast as well as with the ray of deth.  No doubt he thought that either I had stopped to let his shittiness pass, or that I was a wimp who doesn't cope with the contraflow.

Afterwards it occurred to me that I should have simply blocked the path and forced him to either stop or go out into the road.

[dim]

All sorted guys ... so no more arguing 

I've ordered the Chinese light that works with a powerbank, so thanks for the link, thats exactly what I was looking for

As mentioned, I cycle on very dark crappy roads /cyclepaths daily ... Many hazards, including potholes and pedestrians or cyclists that have no lights and who travel with you on very narrow cyclelanes (I travel daily between Shelford and Cambridge on the cyclepath)

I start a new job on friday and I have to leave home at 04h50 so as to get to work on time, so I will be cycling in cold bad dark weather for the next several months

These Chinese Cree lights are best that I have used so far .... fitted to a headband, I angle the unit down when I'm cycling in fairly lit areas .... In the very dark, I adjust the headband so that  the light shines more forward, and I can see more of the road ... approching cyclist then look to the left ... I use it on the lowest setting and it illuminates the whole road

and saying that, this may be a good backup light for audaxes (or for those who dont use dynamo, and who wanta decent powered bright light for cheap .... runs off a powerbank, so if you have a decent sized powerbank, you have strong light for several nights without having to recharge?

and even if you are using dynamo lights, there may/will be a time when you are riding on very dark crappy pothole roads, and an extra strong headlight will come in handy

So .... Buy One .... its cheap