Either through the very tight clip or the magic of the magnet, the Knog Wearable Boomer presents an exciting range of mounting opportunities.
The bike light, which costs a couple of clicks under £20, was sent to me by Knog to test out. And test I did. I clipped it on my bag, my belt, my pocket and through my clothes. I almost felt a little violated by it. This innovative bike light is something a little bit special.
However, before praising it as the most innovative thing since hybrid bread (is it white? is it brown bread? – I just don’t know) we should look at the limitations. Namely, the magnet. Whilst the magnet provides hours of amusement for my simple mind as I move it closer and wait to see if it snaps together giggling wildly when it does, in a practical cycling world it just doesn’t work.
When you are cycling and you come across a pothole or bump over a manhole cover, the force is enough to dislodge the magnet. That is despite the two very strong magnetic points in the Knog Wearable Boomer. Unless, and there is always an unless, you are wearing a supremely thin garment.
For those of us with normal thickness clothing we are therefore left with the clip. Fortunately the clip works incredibly well. It allows you to mount the Knog Wearable Boomer to your belt or back pocket. Which creates a rather funny look of a red beam emanating from your posterior. Great for when you are doing those hilarious red bottom baboon impersonations.
The bike light is powered by two AAA batteries which feed enough energy into the LED light to output 20 lumens of light. Which in human terms, let’s just say you wouldn’t want to stare into it for too long. The Knog Wearable Boomer compares favourably with a standard Cateye rear light and a Knog Skink.
Fortunately the brightness of the light doesn’t impact the battery life. Knog claims the Wearable Boomer can achieve approximately 12 hours of continuous light or in flashing mode up to 36 hours. There are three different flashing modes and each one really attracts your eye to the light.
Whilst I’ve yet to test the light in heavy rain, in the light rain it hasn’t faltered.
Review
In my final review of the Knog Wearable Boomer I’ll say this. It’s a very powerful light, that comes with a great range of mounting options. As long as you test that where you’ve chosen to mount the Boomer is capable of holding the light by wiggling it around you should be fine. I feel safer riding around with it and more certain that I can be seen. A solid addition to anyone’s bike light arsenal.
See also my review of other Knog lights and the Knog Kabana bike lock.
Will have to get this one… I’m terrible at losing bike lights but maybe a clip-on one will work better for me!
I have been a cyclist for over 5 years now. I think that bike lights really are very important. I think that the best way to have one is the clip on type since magnets might loose polarities during a hard bump. But magnets also do work on when you are walking at night.
Edgar from Manteau enfant