Portland Design Works Danger Zone Tail Light

I've been riding with this light nearly daily since 2012, with a pair of Eneloop AAAs inside.The batteries last for many weeks (at 5+ hours of usage per week), longer than I've bothered to track. I just recharge them roughly monthly, but I've never had them run out or have the light get really dim.The light is bright, and I like its various blinky modes — I feel like they increase provide a better riding time/visibility tradeoff than "steady" or "regular blinking".I also appreciate the tactile design of the button — I find it easy to turn it on/off by touch when it's on the back of my helmet.The physical design is nice too: the light is lightweight, the o-ring + mount design has kept water out of the light in all my rain riding, and the diffuser provides a little bit of side visibility.I also love the customer service. About 4 years into my ownership, one of the wings on the black mounting bracket broke off while changing batteries. I was able to "fix" it with duct-tape, but I also e-mailed customer service — they were helpful, polite, and a week later, I had a new bracket in the mail.I highly recommend this light, the price-performance is the best I've seen among the dozens of lights I've owned. Consider using quality NiMH batteries if you ride a lot — it's easier on the environment, and saves you shopping for batteries.

I do a lot of cycling - about 5000 miles a year. A lot of that is at night because I do a lot of very long rides that take more than 12 hours to complete. I may be a little paranoid, but I really don't want to get hit by a car so my tail light is a critical piece of equipment. Whenever I see a cyclist with a really great tail light I ask them who made it and where they got it. Last November I saw my first cyclist with this tail light and I was so impressed I had to get one. Up until now my best tail light has been an eclipse which I still use as a backup. I would rather have a Dinotte but they're way too expensive for me.So what's good about this light? Well it's very bright and has two 0.5 Watt LEDs which is the same total brightness as some headlights and this is better than one 1 Watt LED because you can have more flash patterns which is very important. I have a theory that motorists pay more attention to a group of cyclists than to a single cyclist. At night, a motorist that sees complex flash patterns assumes that they are approaching a group. This light has complex flash patterns all on it's own - therefore I think it's a safer tail light. It's also easily visible at half a mile which gives motorists time to zone in and drive approriately.The light takes 2 AAA batteries (I prefer AA but you can't have everything). Even with AAA batteries the run time is an acceptable 50 hours (depending on the flash pattern you chose). The light is a bit chunky but fortunately there are a number of mounting options including seat post, seat stays, and saddle bag. You should have no problems mounting even if you ride a small frame.Turning the light on and off and selecting flash pattern is fairly easy with a pressure switch on the top of the light. I've had some feedback from cyclists behind me in the pack - they hate the flashing because it's so bright - no problem I say, just come around me and pull for a while :-)Twelve Month update: This light has developed some bizarre issues...1. When I set it to solid mode it will flip to flashing mode a few minutes later for no apparent reason. Not cool when there is someone trying to draft you.2. Turns on too easily. Many times I've put it away and I come back next week and the damn thing is weakly flashing. I know it was off when I stashed it.3. Yesterday it would not turn off. Whenever I hit the switch it just toggled from fast flash to slow flash mode and back again. Had to remove the batteries, then leave it for 10 minutes, then put the batteries back in.All these issues indicate a faulty switch. I might try contacting the manufacturer.

The media could not be loaded. On the left is this product, and on the right is the Planet Bike Superflash.The Planet Bike Blinky Super Flash Tail Light has been the gold standard for many years. It had a single half watt LED and two additional less bright LEDs that flash using a flash-pop arrangement that keeps at least one lamp lit almost all the time so that drivers of cars can always see it. Off axis visibility was good, so that it didn't have to be aimed directly at the driver. It was waterproof and you could drop it repeatedly without breakage. I own several of them and have been very happy with them.But they suffer from a few shortcomings. First, they have a short repeat sequence. Drunk and high-on-drugs drivers can get mesmerized by such a sequence and will run right into a light like this like a moth to a flame. So I've been using the superflash on the sides, not the back. Second, they are very bright up close, but from a distance, with lots of other distracting lights, they get lost in the crowd. A half watt isn't very bright when there are many other 12 volt sources of light. So in a big city, they are less effective.Enter the Portland Design Works Danger Zone. It has two half watt LED that punch through the clutter of other lights in a city, and a longer repeat pattern making a drunk driver less likely to hit you with one of them. You can see from the video that it seems much brighter, though if you stop the video right at the end, both lights have a single half watt LED on at the same time and you can see that, at least at that moment, they are both identical. Otherwise, it seems well built, waterproof and off axis visibility is just as good, just like the superflash. Clip and mounting capabilities are almost identical. It's a little bigger than the superflash.However, the brightness comes with some drawbacks. First, the battery life will go down. Second it's more expensive.However, I think for a rear light, it's worth it. For a side light (I use one on each side for drivers exiting driveways and parking lots, and cross traffic), I'd stick with the superflash, due to cost and battery life issues.

I bought my PDW Danger Zone light back in 2013 and am writing an update in 2020 to let people know it's still working! This thing has been through years of rain, snow, sunlight, road grime, and all sorts of impacts/drops. Got a few dings around the edges, but the lenses are still nice and clear without any major scratches ... the recessed design is the secret, it's what makes this product so rugged and survivable. The water seal still works fine. The casing and clip are still in great condition, and the rubber button cover is still like new. Good materials selection on the part of PDW makes for awesome endurance.

Perfectas para la noche pero de día no son eficientes. Más allá de los 50 mts no se distinguen cuando circulas de día. Pero no te prometen capacidad diurna así que no hay engaño.

Recently started biking after 2 yrs break.This is a 2nd light i bought, for my wife.1st one works well and bought maybe 5 yrs ago. The battery is good and after my 2 yrs break it still light up. Bought a rechargeable one and have to charge after 2 rides.My main rear light to go. Very bright, unique light pattern and long battery.Highly recommended!

La mejor luz trasera de bicicleta que he comprado jamás.En la bici, que nos vean bien los automóviles y otros vehículos a motor es primordial para nuestra seguridad, y esta luz llama mucho la atención, por lo que el conductor debería estar ciego para no ser vistos.Este piloto es sencillamente ¡Impresionante!Tiene una potencia de destello muy buena y desde que la llevo, los coches y pasan mas retirados al adelantar, eso da mucha seguridad cuando uno va en bicicleta. La llevo siempre cuando salgo por algún camino o carretera que pasen vehículos, incluso de día.Por el precio que tiene no es para pensarselo, ¿cuanto vale tu vida?.

This light is stunningly bright. I wear it clipped to the back of my helmet. It clips on to the helmet adjuster perfectly.The light is blinding - so watch out for complaints from car drivers who get caught behind you and are being blinded.It really is that bright!!