bright but less directional rear light?

flashbob

sorry to dredge up "lights" again, but I can't find any posts that discuss the directionality of the current crop of very bright rear lights.
I bought a CatEye TL LD1100, and while it is definitely bright, to a large extent this is directed in a fairly narrow beam. If you catch this beam it's dazzling (I want to be seen, not dazzle and annoy other road users, including the cyclists I leave in my wake (as they bump into lampposts having been temporarily blinded)). Off beam it's much less remarkable.
It seems to me that the ideal would be a more even distribution of bright spots across a much wider angle.

1 - can anyone suggest a light that fits this ideal? The Blackburn Mars 3 and the Smart 7 LED look like candidates, but it's impossible to tell without seeing them... The Mars 4 appears to be very directional.

2 - Am I missing some good reason for this directionality?

thanks all.

cougie

Just buy two Smart Superflash LEDs. About £20 in total and mount them on the seatpost at slightly different angles.

Far brighter than my TL LD1100, and far cheaper - never rely on one light behind you cos you cant see if it fails.

flashbob

yes, I was planning to have a second backup light, but as a backup, not part of the main setup if that makes sense.

Aren't those smarts very directional to? The pics of them look like they have a main LED possibly with a lens on it, and no refracting/fresnel type of thing to create multiple small beams?

soveda

flashbob wrote:

yes, I was planning to have a second backup light, but as a backup, not part of the main setup if that makes sense.

Aren't those smarts very directional too? The pics of them look like they have a main LED possibly with a lens on it, and no refracting/fresnel type of thing to create multiple small beams?

The Smart lights are pretty directional, I use a smart 0.5W and one of these.
Pricy but not directional!

flashbob

soveda wrote:

and one of these.
Pricy but not directional!

Thanks for pointing me at that, those fibre flares are really good - bright but not dazzling.
The mounting hasn't been thought out being very fiddly, but it's worth fiddling with (I'll probably make a more easily fitted-and-removed mount for it).

Shezzer

flashbob wrote:

The Mars 4 appears to be very directional.

Yes, it's very bright but very directional.

giant_man

cougie wrote:

Just buy two Smart Superflash LEDs. About £20 in total and mount them on the seatpost at slightly different angles.

Far brighter than my TL LD1100, and far cheaper - never rely on one light behind you cos you cant see if it fails.

+ 1 - three years on and mine are still the brightest back light out there for this price

rake

hella rear led light. cheap . built in reflector. 0.5w bright led with wide angle.mine bright to 45 degree each side and visible from the side.i would put a picture but dont have a camera.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Have you considered the new Crops rear lights at Planet-X? They offer brilliant visibility.

Got mine as part of their commuting bundle a couple of weeks back...
2x MX-1 Crops rear lights
1x NRX35 Crops front light
1x Cateye hi-vis LED over-vest
1x Vapextech basic AA/AAA recharger
4x Vapextech 2700 mAh AA batteries

for 60 squids!