The nights are drawing in and I’m needing lights on my commutes again. I am already being reminded that my Exposure Flash and Flare lights irritate me.

I like the form factor and they produce enough light for “being seen” duties but controlling the on/off/flashing modes by screwing the head in and out, their tendencies to change mode by themselves while being used (including from flashing to off) and having to disassemble them (risking damaging the polycarbonate thread that screws into the metal body) to charge their batteries all wind me up.

Are there any good alternatives to the Flash and Flare in the small/bright commuting light category, ideally which address the moans I’ve outlined above?

Exposure Trace & TraceR.

blaze for rear

ditto, blaze for the rear, the battery life is brilliant.

I was mostly hoping for non-Exposure alternatives, it’s a bit disappointing if no other company’s managed to equal Exposure’s plus points while eliminating some of the things that annoy me about them. Though it looks like the Trace, TraceR and Blaze at least have real buttons and don’t have to be disassembled for charging.

Trace and TraceR +1. All the benefits of the Flash/Flare and none of the downsides.

The SeeSense Icon is by far the best rear light I have ever used. They do a front light too.

Not sure if they’ll meet your form factor requirements though.

Link on helmet, TraceR rear

Sizewise the Flash and Flare are a big improvement over the 4xAA powered Cat Eyes that they replaced, it doesn’t look like the Icons are much bulkier. They look interesting but they also cost almost twice as much as Exposure’s current offerings. How much of that is probably down to the light being better and how much is down to all the fancy features that I probably won’t end up using?

red eye and strada

How about the cateye volt series? Really bright and useful front and rear lights

Or a COB style LED light