1200 Lumens Blaze

"WOW!"I have caught myself saying "wow" to myself at least THREE separate times now since purchasing this headlight last July. Let me explain.1.) The first "wow" came when the light arrived. After charging the battery per manufacturer's recommendations, I plugged it in and tested it out in my living room - it felt like a car had pulled into my house!! Unbelievably bright for such a small light. Yes, the external battery pack is a bit clunky (I would have preferred it all to be one unit), but now that I see the light output, I can see why it needs a dedicated battery. This thing is BRIGHT!!! I bike to work every day (as well as biking to run errands around town), and cars *consistently* hesitate to pull out in front of me - I think most of them think I am a motorcycle at first glance, due to the surprisingly bright light. For $40, I consider this a great value.Over the past 6 months, I have biked in cold weather (down to the teens in degF), hot weather, pouring rain, driving wind, heavy fog, you name it - this light has handled it all like a champ. I always use the high setting (to be ultra conservative), and I've never had any trouble seeing what's in front of me on the road or feeling like others can see me. Compared to the old "two AA's" puny headlight I used to have, this thing provides WAY more light and makes me feel much safer. I love it.2.) The second "wow" came when I first emailed customer support. Unfortunately, I was hit by a truck *the day before* this light arrived in the mail (if only I had bought it sooner! Might have helped prevent the accident, who knows). Thus I didn't get around to really using it until 4 months later, after Thanksgiving, once I healed from the wreck. At that time, I saw that a new battery holder had been developed, so I emailed Don asking if there was any way I could get the new one. He emailed me back 17 minutes later confirming that he would ship me a new battery holder that very day - for free! Sure enough, it arrived promptly and was an improvement over the previous version. Wow!3.) The third "wow" came today, and is what prompted me to finally write this review. I have been using this light daily since Thanksgiving (so right at 6 months), and have been VERY happy with it. The only disappointment is that sometimes the battery would die sooner than I expected (i.e., after about 1.5 hours on high versus the advertised 3 hours). I charge the battery religiously every night when I park my bike, so I was certain that the battery was dying prematurely (I wasn't just forgetting to charge it). I emailed Don about it and he emailed me back 16 MINUTES LATER apologizing for the inconvenience, promising to send me a brand new battery for free right away (said I can keep the old one as a backup), and clarifying a few details about the battery performance. He pointed out that all of their advertising is careful to list the battery life as "up to" 3 hours, since there is some variation in battery manufacturing; anything from 2 to 3 hours on high is normal. But since mine was lasting less than 2 hours, it was considered a defect and covered by the 1-year warranty. Keep in mind that this is after 6 months of daily use, so who knows whether the battery decrease is really a defect or just normal wear and tear. Either way, Don didn't hesitate to send me a new one for free - all I had to do was send him one email asking nicely! :)Now, I realize that with such a glowing review, you may wonder about my motives. For the record, I paid full price for this light (after doing much research) and have not received any compensation beyond the replacement parts that I described above (and access to a really great headlight!). My only motivation for writing this is out of gratitude for the excellent product and excellent customer service provided by Don. I tend to be someone who reads lots of reviews but never takes the time to write them; Don has gone out of his way to earn a positive review from me, so here it is. :)While I'm writing, let me also mention that the red blinky taillight that comes with this headlight is also very good (I use it as my primary taillight). It uses *two* CR 2032 Lithium 3V coin batteries stacked on top of each other. To replace these batteries, you just wrangle the white plastic LED housing out of the red silicone band, and then pop off the back plastic cap (doesn't require any tools, just a fingernail). Replace the two batteries, then put everything back together. Very easy. In my experience, the blinky light gets dim after a couple months of consistent use, so I replace the batteries every month or two to keep them bright.One final note: at first I had trouble with the headlight slipping down when I went over bumps. At Don's suggestion, I wrapped some electrical tape around the handlebars and turned the last strip over (so the sticky side faced outward), then reattached the light. This has helped the light stay firmly in place for a few months now.TLDR: This light is awesome. The company is legit. Customer service is unparalleled. I'm a very happy customer. :) Thanks, Don!

I have had a number of bike lights over my 60 years of riding. None have been anywhere near perfect, but this light comes very close. Retired in Florida, during the summer I tend to go out for long rides, late at night. The sun is just to hot and oppressive here during summer days.I'm a retired electrical engineer and have “home brewed,” a number of lights to solve the problem of never having enough light. Lately I've been experimenting with LED MR11C bulbs, using a 12 volt battery. The battery is a sealed lead-acid affair and on the heavy side. Until recently, this was my best solution.Then came the Bright Eyes Bike Light. This light is amazing! I mounted it on my helmet, keeping my MR11C light on the handlebars for comparison. The MR11C uses about 4 watts of power, which is much better than the quartz halogen lights that preceded it, they used 10 and 20 watts.The Bright Eyes, data (my unit, with replacement battery):Setting Power Volts/Amps TimeHigh 7.6 watts 8.18 @ 0.93 2 Hr 31 min.Medium 2.37 watts 8.18 @ 0.29 7 Hr 41 min.Low Not tested N/A N/AThe Bright Eyes, when first turned on, is in the high power setting. Hitting the power button a second time puts it in the medium setting. Hitting it a third time puts it in the flashing setting. If one holds the power button down for a few seconds, there are two other modes: Low power and then S.O.S. I didn't bother with either of these.The promotional information states that the unit will operate “almost three hours,” on high. When I first received my unit, I tested it on high and it only went one hour and thirty-one minutes, hardly “three hours.” I wrote the vendor and they immediately offered to send me a replacement 8.4 V battery, suspecting that was the problem. Two days later, the replacement did arrive, and it was somewhat different from the original. It was encased in a rubber jacket and appeared more hardy. The original battery, once charged, measured 8.42 volts after a charge and a rest period. The newer unit measured 8.18 after a charge and rest. I was skeptical the newer battery would perform as well as the original, but the above data shows good performance.As tested, my unit does indeed run almost three hours, two hours and thirty-one minutes is closer to three hours than two, but it is a stretch. I would prefer it were promoted as a 2.5 hour light on high, that would be closer to the truth. However, the “almost” eight hours on medium is quite good. Medium still makes for a VERY bight light.The amazing thing is how much light this unit has on high. It is blinding! I can easily read signs 1000 feet (333 meters) away. This light qualifies as a Darth Vader light saber. I use caution when looking towards oncoming traffic, for fear of blinding them. Almost every night that I go out I have surprises. The first night, I had some folks in a pickup truck, stopped at an oncoming traffic light yelling questions about where I got such a light. The second night, I had an oncoming bicyclist pull over, he thought I was some sort of emergency vehicle or police vehicle. High beam, truly is.I've found that for normal riding, the medium setting is perfect. It has long battery life and is nearly as bright as the high setting.Things I would like to see changed:The light runs until the sensing unit in the battery shuts it down. In other words, there is no warning when the battery is finished, it just turns the light off. If the rider knows how long the battery can run before this happens, no problem, but if the state of charge isn't known, it could be a surprise. It would be especially dangerous if one were mountain biking and careening down a hill and the light decided it was finished. I've spent years racing mountain bikes and would be concerned this could be an issue in a 24 hour race, where racers go all night. I would have liked to have it at least go into flash mode for a few minutes before just shutting off.The charger has a quirk. Normally, it charges just fine. However, if one lets the battery run until it shuts down the charger will fail to sense when the charge cycle is complete. Usually, the battery recharges quickly enough, but doesn't seem to know when it has finished IF the battery was allowed to shut down. When this happens, I unplug the charger from the wall and the battery and then reconnect it and, shortly, it shows the charging cycle has finished. I don't believe there is any harm, the charger stays cool and it seems to be just an indicator problem, but it is a bit odd.Summary.Would I purchase another Bright Eyes? Yes, absolutely. In fact, I plan to, for my wife's bike. It is a fantastic light, certainly one of the brightest in it's price class. It gives off an impressive light and is far better than anything I've used in all my years of cycling.The vendor support is also without compare. I was impressed with the customer support and look forward to other products that may come along.