Knog Blinder

Knog was one of the first on the scene with soft-bodied blinkie lights, and have been pushing USB rechargeable lights since the technology first came out. Their latest product is the $45 Knog Blinder, a USB rechargeable LED light featuring an anodized aluminum body, single button switch and quick release mount. The pictured Blinder 4 has four LEDs housed in an aluminum and polycarbonate body, with a silicone strap compatible with 22-35 mm bars or seatposts. Hidden under the strap is a fold out USB plug for recharging.

In use the Blinder is quite bright—Knog claims 80 Lumens of front white output and 44 Lumens from the rear red LED set. The rear is too bright to comfortably ride behind at night, a good thing as far as I’m concerned for being seen riding solo in traffic. I wouldn’t say you can see on a dark trail with the front or anything, but I may be guilty of doing some urban exploring with the Blinder as my guide though it is certainly a “be seen” type of light. The light itself is fully waterproof—I let mine blink through a complete charge submerged in a glass of water—and gets a claimed 3 hours of runtime on steady, with up to 40 hours blinking. Even for daily use, most people will find recharging it once or twice per week plenty.

The switch requires a two second press to turn on, preventing finding it blinking in the bottom of your bag. You can click through a few different blink modes, and turn off the light my holding the button for another two seconds. The Blinder even remembers the blink mode you left on, a minor but mentionable nicety. The button also has a small LED indicator—red when the battery is low or charging, green when fully charged. When it comes to charging, just flip out the USB plug and insert into an open computer or charging port. I found that in some circumstances I needed a USB extension cord to easily plug the light in either due to the shape next to a laptop, or because it blocked the USB port next to it.

Color me impressed, the Blinder is my latest go-to blinkie. It’s initially pricey at $45, but add a year or two worth of batteries to a $30 light and you’re at the same final place. See the whole line of Blinder lights at www.knog.com.au

Kenda