Hi all, I just took my new DS-500 taillight out for its maiden voyage.

I'm a bit of a lighting nerd and typically run an Ay-Up helmet mounted light at all times (flashing during the day to help me be seen, steady when dark so that I can see). My touring rig has a SON dynopowered Supernova E3 Triple that I never turn off. I've never been satisfied with my rear facing lighting, however, and have run a hodgepodge of different lights that "work", but don't really do the job justice. Certainly nothing that can compare with what I have pointed forward (though after seeing the DS-500, I'm tempted to see what a DS-1300 looks like up front!)

It was a bright, sunny, cloudless day - ideal test conditions. I set the light to steady 5 and rolled out. Within minutes of having left the house a car rolled up to me at a red light and wound down the window. I was ready for a verbal barrage as I was taking the lane, but instead the guy said to me: "That is the best bike light I've ever seen! I could see you from WAY back! It's fantastic!" He then went on to ask what it was, what I was running up front, etc. Throughout the duration of my ride (some 90min) I had two other drivers roll up to me at red lights to ask about the light, and had several others stick their arms out the window to give me a thumbs up. I even got one from the cops!

Stephen, thank you for making an incredible light that makes me feel much safer when I'm out on the roads. Having a light that instead of "making one more visible" but rather makes it impossible for anyone NOT to see me is a massive improvement over anything that's currently available at any price. The fact that it does so in a manner that's not offensive to other road users is so much the better. As I said to a friend of mine when discussing being blinded at night by high-powered flashing oncoming (forward facing, white) lights: "An oncoming driver that's blinded by your light is probably more likely to hit you than one that didn't see you at all". Five power levels and a variety of flash patterns makes it easy to tailor the output to the situation.

Thank you, once again - this little light is one fantastic piece of kit that I'll be running for a very long time.