Bike Helmet Rubber Band Flashlight Hack

A few weeks back we featured a bike helmet light mount hack that caused concern amongst a few readers.  The concern was that if one were to fall on the mount, damage might occur to ones skull thus defeating the purpose of the helmet. 

Reader John also wanted to attach lights to his helmet, in this case flashlights, and he sent along the following text and pictures documenting the use of rubber bands to get the job done. 

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I don’t commute a great distance, 4 ½ miles round trip, but the terrain varies widely. I start out at 6:00 AM, so in the fall, winter and spring it’s usually dark. Depending upon the clouds, weather and moon phase the lighting conditions vary quite a bit too.

My ride consists of residential streets, suburban roads, a park with a glass strewn sidewalk, a couple parking lots and occasionally some woods. All with there own unique hazards. So proper and adequate lighting is a must for me to successfully navigate. I take for granted that I am not seen by others despite the various reflectors and blinkies with which I decorate my bike. I ride defensively and in doing so have come to the conclusion that not all hazards are directly visible where your handlebars are pointed.

A single headlight is good, so two must be better, right? Also, the ability to focus the beam adds to the equation.
 

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Comments

[anniebikes]

L like how simple and ingenious this is. No need for specialized bike lights. I'm going to use this one.

[coventry recycled cycles]

I do the same thing mounting my front lights on the handlebars, quick, cheap and really useful hack

[Stefano]

I added two little torch, more little than these, but I used velcro for a better fixing. Nice job !

[James Kingston]

For my helmet light I used a standard $15 bike light, which has a sort of rail that slides into the bike mount. I drilled a hole through the rail then zip-tied it to the helmet. Very easy.

[john]

@ Stefano I tried that too, but couldn't get them to stay, maybe these lights were too big or the velcro I used was too light-weight. It was my first choice because of easy on/off. =)

[___Danno]

Brilliant in its simplicity. Bravo!

[nwt_kidd]

Wow - could have used this on the Hiawatha Trail in Idaho last summer...

[J.D. Kravis]

This hack was super useful. I commute daily (and nightly), and after getting scared sh*tless a couple times by bad drivers, tried this out. Super awesome, super cheap, and pretty dang safe. Thanks for the idea Matt... Oh and I was able to find glow in the dark flashlights (pack of 2) for $4 at CVS. Bomb deal if you ask me.