Veglo Commuter X4

The Veglo Commuter X4 is a unique, wearable safety light designed to accommodate rucksacks up to 35 litres. Reckoned to give other road users a much better gauge of rider speed and distance, it was conceived following a nasty accident and I for one am suitably impressed by its design and output.

The system is essentially an adjustable harness impregnated with 3M reflectives and fibre optics, which feed from a big central hub containing a single LED, lithium polymer cell, charge port and switchgear. LED life expectancy is a claimed 10,000 hours, while Veglo say the battery will give 500 charges at full capacity, whereupon it drops to 70%, so even with daily use you should get several years out of one.

Unlike traditional lights, this doesn't employ a reflector in the literal sense, rather it's integral to the three tier polycarbonate lens. A concave dome amplifies the LED, while diffuser and outer components project light at 45 degrees, theoretically eliminating blind spots.

Ours was one of the first 120 and the charge port flap proved a little tricky to access and charge initially but this has been rectified on production models. Aside from introducing a pea sized blob of silicone, it's never missed a beat during several, very wet rides. There are two rubberised switches sit either side, safely out of harm's way. One commands the LED, its counterpart the fibre optics.

The switches are positive enough that accidental engagement's a moot point, though they're trickier than some to locate in gloved hands. Pressing for two seconds gives a choice of six settings.

There's no doubt all are extremely effective and steady modes induce a glow reminiscent of those 1970s Ready Brek TV adverts. Perhaps unsurprisingly, running flashing LED and fibre optics simultaneously reaps best rewards both in terms of impact and run times.

All six modes live up to Veglo's smarter not brighter mantra, not only in my experience nailing driver attention from 400 metres (nearer 300 in town) but 180-degree visibility means you'll stay firmly on their radar when negotiating roundabouts and other turns. Anecdotally, it seems to improve driver perception of wearer speed and distance too, reflected in more generous overtaking distances and this has obvious benefits for road runners and motorcyclists too.

I found the pulsing and sequential flashing modes most effective through sticks and suburbs respectively but the ability to switch between steady, pulsing, flashing combinations ensure you'll never worry about going unnoticed. Indeed, for the last word in retina tickling, try coupling it with a day glow rucksack.

Run times are pretty favourable too, returning 3hrs 47 minutes in 70 lumens constant (compared with four quoted) while flashing/pulsing combinations all returned 5hrs 52. Strict compliance with the law requires a secondary bike mounted light in any case, so serious nocturnal mile munchers could always switch to fibre optic only and get 19hrs 51 from a full charge.

Putting it on yourself or luggage is plain sailing. I've honed it to thirty seconds having watched their online video and I've easily been able to get it over a 30 litre rucksack.

Speaking of which, there's no need for its removal when accessing pockets/sections; simply uncouple one side and dive in as normal. Alternating between this and lightweight shell jackets, I've barely noticed it when turning or glancing over my shoulder and the straps' webbed texture means they double as decent blinky mounts for the ultimate 'Christmas tree gone berserk' effect.

Verdict

Incredibly effective, yet unobtrusive wearable safety device but you'll still need front and rear lights to be legal