Head Torches: Yes or No?

[Zoiders]

No response from the OP since this post ...

Shamed?

He was pootling along at about 5mph and was passing under a road bridge.

Which is probably as fast as he could manage not being able to see beyond 3 feet in front of him, I was a bit titsed off as I got his head torch full in the eyes as I joined the path. If he switched it off he would have been able to see a bit further.

It's not so much the use of a head torch but the type of head torch used - the one he had being a flat board with about 20 or more LED's set into it, they just dont do much for cycling in the black.

 

[Matthew_T]

I can understand it in a city enviromnent where you are close to other cars but I wouldnt need it where I live even though I mostly go out in the evenings, in the middle of a small city (if you would call Rhyl that), in the dark. If you know you are going to need it for that reason then go for it but I cannot see it being of much use to someone in the middle of the countryside.

 

[Zoiders]

I can understand it in a city enviromnent where you are close to other cars but I wouldnt need it where I live even though I mostly go out in the evenings, in the middle of a small city (if you would call Rhyl that), in the dark. If you know you are going to need it for that reason then go for it but I cannot see it being of much use to someone in the middle of the countryside.

They are excellent in all locations.

They re-enforce eye contact with drivers forcefuly if needed which removes the "I didn't see you" defence, at junctions the problem is almost always coming at you from 90 degrees so a head torch lets you face in two directions at once with a light source.

In the sticks they put a light up above fences, hedge rows, road signs and dips in the road, they also light road signs and dead badgers up a treat.

 

[Nebulous]

Well I tried it tonight and it was pretty good. I have an uphill drag with cars parked on the opposite side of the road from me. Quite often vehicles coming down keep coming, overtaking the parked vehicles and making me slow down. Tonight two of them pulled in and waited. I gave them a cheery wave and carried on unimpeded. The worst bit of my commute is a roundabout with cars often pulling out in front of me, but tonight there weren't any cars at the worst opening so I don't know if it will make a difference there or not.

 

[Norm]

I can understand it in a city enviromnent where you are close to other cars but I wouldnt need it where I live even though I mostly go out in the evenings, in the middle of a small city (if you would call Rhyl that), in the dark. If you know you are going to need it for that reason then go for it but I cannot see it being of much use to someone in the middle of the countryside.

You are wrong there too, Matthew.

As well as all the good stuff that Zoiders mentions, lighting up road signs etc, you get to see a whole load of stuff that you wouldn't see without one. All the wildlife (lighting up owls in trees and deer across fields), low-hanging branches which bar-mounted lights don't show at all, reinforcing your presence to car drivers who don't dip their lights, looking round corners before your bike is lined up on the straight and identifying stuff that your bar lights only partially catch...

If you can't see any use for a head torch, all I can think is that you haven't tried using one. I wouldn't ride without one.

It's not so much the use of a head torch but the type of head torch used - the one he had being a flat board with about 20 or more LED's set into it, they just dont do much for cycling in the black.

It's not often that I'd wish to see something stuffed up another cyclist's arse but that sounds a ripe candidate for insertion.

 

[andrew_s]

Head/helmet torches should be kept in the saddle bag and limited to puncture mending duties.
a) The flat light and lack of shadows makes it much harder to spot potholes, dead badgers etc than with a low level light (fork crown, or thereabouts).
b) To be useful, a head torch will be aimed where you are looking. If you meet an oncoming cyclist on a towpath, you will inevitably look at them and dazzle them. How else are you to know whether to keep to the left or the right?
c) Head torches are useless for seeing by in the fog, in addition to which, most of your riding in the dark will be during winter. You will be frequently breathing out your very own personal fog bank
d) If you fall off, the last thing you want between your head and the road is a small, hard lump. It doesn't make much difference whether it's on a helmet or an elastic strap.
e) beaming the errant driver may work on some occasions (rare, if you have proper bike lights and proper road positioning), but it does encourage an unsafe mindset. "I'll beam the bugger and carry on. Oh sod! he's not seen me - too late to take evasive action now".

I'll allow head/helmet torches for supplementary "seeing round the corner" duties on proper off road, or if your main bike light is frame mounted rather than steering mounted (eg recumbents).

 

[Matthew_T]

You are wrong there too, Matthew.

I am just going to shut up now then. I might have a go at it but I will have to find a torch light enough first.

 

[sddpc]

I tend to cycle 30 miles every other evening purely for fitness, sometimes skipping an evenings ride if its raining. Anyway, after lots of experimentation of various lights over many miles at night i have settled for the following:

A 10lux led light on handlebars aimed 6-8 feet in front, giving a beam spread 8 feet wide by 4 feet ahead (this is the silver one from halfords with a squashed beam pattern).

A 35lux led light on handlebars aimed 30-40 feet in front, giving a beam spread 10 feet wide by 15 feet (halfords dearest).

Head torch from china, attached to helmet ... lens 25mm wide, focusable from whole lane flood to a *very* sharp edged square. Totally and utterly blows both the other lights out the water. Ideal for flashing the occasional person about to pull out in front.

All my lights are kept at a position so they do not dazzle other road users, with me simply lifting my head if i need to alert others that *their* full beam 1/2 mile away is dazzling me.

I fully agree with others about switching lights off if another cyclist coming towards you on a towpath has inferior lighting and can barely see.

I have a new cree xml 1600 and found it to be inferior to
my cree 600lm xpg 5 watt ... purely down to the quality of the focusing arrangement
which just goes to prove that you cannot go by the numbers given by the manufacturer.
I've no idea on the lux rating of the 5 watt headtorch ... you can see the pool of light
from it in the pool of light from most cars headlights though.

 

[Zoiders]

I have just started wearing a head torch for my evening commute, I only switch it on for two junctions on my way home where I have had problems in the past with people pulling out in front of me. I can flicker it across drivers faces and it is very bright. In the first two weeks of use no one has pulled out and it gives me more confidence that I have been seen. I do have a front light on the bike too, and also wear hi-viz stuff with lots of reflective strips.

This ^...is the type of head torch the OP was using.

On it's own as his only light source on the towpath, he couldnt see beyond 2 feet in front of his bike and it was blinding every other bugger as it's nearly impossible not to see the LEDs full on unless you are beyond 90 degrees to the light source.

 

[sddpc]

That monster headlight would be better mounted on a fork aimed low! A single high power led mounted inside an adjustable (non dimpled) reflector is the way to go. If the reflector is dimpled it means the light will scatter = inferior!

 

[TheDoctor]

As I discovered a while back, if you get a puncture on the way to the pub, your friend can use a headtorch to help you see to fix it.
If you get one on the way back from the pub, he'll bugger about for ten minutes pretending to be a Dalek.
Back OT, a headtorch makes a great second light, but I'd want a light on the bike itself too.

 

[vernon]

That reads as if you don't have a light on your bike. If so and your only light is the head torch, I would question how bright it is and I'm not sure that is legal.

Generally, though, head torches do illuminate the way and only blind people if you look at them, so I'll keep wearing mine.

But I wouldn't use it as my only front light.

The sole light sources, front and rear, if I recall correctly have to be fixed to the frame/forks of the bike. It's difficult for a wearer of a head torch to percieve how they are seen by oncoming pedestrians and cyclists.

Take as an example the HID headlights used in cars. They are adjusted to point in the direction of the road yet how many of them cause dazzling?

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 1627766, member: 45"]As I understand it you must have approved lights fixed to your bike, but you can do whatever you like with additional lights on bags, body, head etc.[/quote]

If as implied, the OP has only one front light, then he should have it fixed to the frame.

The issue of dazzling still needs to be addressed whether or not the head torch is the sole or secondary light source.

 

[Zoiders]

That monster headlight would be better mounted on a fork aimed low! A single high power led mounted inside an adjustable (non dimpled) reflector is the way to go. If the reflector is dimpled it means the light will scatter = inferior!

Not quite the case with LED light sources.

If it's a single emitter with a parabolic reflector assembly it does indeed work better with a "dimpled" finish or as it's more commonly known a multifaceted reflector.

The parabolic reflector it's self controls the spread of the light, the orange peel or dimpled finish simply makes the wash of light within the cone of light more even to look at with less hot spots or rings to it.

 

[Smut Pedaller]

I generally find most battery bike lights quite blinding once they get up to a certain brightness. I have ay ups myself as well as various B+M dynamo setups. The dynamo setups have properly designed reflectors etc to meet StVO (german) road rules and have a proper vertical cutoff to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. Head mounted ay ups are irritating, by the time someone wearing them turns their head to stop dazzling, my night vision is already gone. It actually makes it difficult to perceive the distance of the wearer because you just get dazzled. Mind you this is all in a city riding context, not off road.