I very often use my bicycle when I am looking for places to paint around my local area of Edmonton and Enfield and I had a request on my blog for information on my illuminated cycle helmet idea. I will give you all the information you may need if you intend to make your own. It is a really COOL bit of cycling kit and the reaction I have had so far has been favourable.

Cycling in London is no joke. You should be as visible as possible, especially at night.

A Little bit of background information.

I was looking around for a lighting system for my bike and was surprised at the prices. Also, I had a helmet which is made by a company called "Spiky Jack" which looked an ideal testbed for some sort of lightweight lighting system. I haven't tried to use any other helmet but I'm sure they would all be adaptable in one way or other.

An important Word of Warning.

Most cycling helmets are made from some form of plastic. It is important that you DO NOT stick any transfers or paint designs onto your helmet, otherwise you could severely weaken it. Many paints and transfer adhesives contain chemicals which will react with the plastic and effectively eat into it.

What do you need?.

Apart from the helmet itself, I found a superb little "Headlight" with an elasticated band which was ideal for the job. The "Headlight" is made by a company named "Blackspur". I believe it is a Chinese company, who make a complete range of things for the DIY industry. I have seen their products at markets and in the large DIY warehouse type sales outlets. I bought mine from a UK retail outlet called "The Range". They sell all sorts of bits and pieces for the leisure and crafting industry. Anyway, the light has five very bright LED type bulbs which you can get to flash as a running light e.g. one LED at a time, or for all the LED's to flash together, or for all the LED's to be on constantly. Being LED's (Light Emitting Diodes), they do not have a filament, therefore, they will last an inordinate length of time, plus they do not consume much power. This means the battery size can be small and will last a long time. Bingo! Just what we want. The light uses 3 AAA size batteries and you can adjust the angle of the beam. Another word of caution here. I don't think for a minute that this light will be waterproof, so be careful in the rain. Oh! and before I forget, the Blackspur Headlight cost a grand total of just £1.99.

Here is a front view of the illuminated helmet. You can see how neat and small the light is. it doesn't look at all out of place. You can also make out the five LED's which provides the very bright white light which can be seen for miles. It looks like something out of Star Wars, doesn't it? Really futuristic.

From the side you can see that the headlight does not protrude too far. Also you will see the rear light that I also attach to the elastic from the headlight. The rear red light is one of a pair that I bought from our UK cycle store "Halfords". It has a clip which can be attached to either a clamp on a cycle or to clothing. The other light can be placed on the right side of the helmet, which would be useful particularly when turning right so that oncoming traffic can see you.. For my American and Canadian readers the left side would be more appropriate for turning left.

The rear view shows the rear red LED light better. This light can also flash in three modes and uses two AAA batteries and as you can see is very compact and lightweight.

This is the main light that I use on my bike. I attach it to the handlebars with a length of catapult elastic. For a sense of scale, the length of this torch is 5.25 inches and makes a comfortable handfull.

As you may have noticed, this is also made by Blackspur. It has three very high intensity White LED bulbs. You can choose to use it at full power with all three LED's on, or in the powersaving mode with just one LED on. Even with just one LED on, it provides a lot of lighting power although you can't focus the light like you could with the old types of torches.

This shot shows you the integral handle that you use to recharge the internal batteries. Just one minute of winding will recharge the batteries sufficient for half an hours full power use. What a fantastic little device. This is real environmental friendliness at its best. Once again, you may be surprised by the price. It retails for just £5.95. Excellent value for free light for a lifetime.

Well there you go. That's another fortune I've given away. I must be mad. I have all these good ideas and just show you how to make it yourself rather than charge you a fortune for my intellectual property.

I hope you've enjoyed this little diversion and that the information may be useful to you. If you make your own or you have any ideas you'd like to share, e-mail an image and I'll post it here.

My next project will be a small windmill which I can fit on the top of my helmet which will produce enough power to recharge the batteries as I cycle along. I've got all the bits and pieces for that, all I need now is time to build it and then the courage to wear it.