Blackburn’s Dayblazer 65 is a usefully bright, submersible but lightweight twin LED flasher that works particularly well on bags and clothes day and night. Battery life is short though, and we’d like a more positive switch feel.
Pros
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Bright from behind
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Bombproof and waterproof
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Great strap/bag clip
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Universal seat post/tube mount
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Potentially great value
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Lots of bundle options
Cons
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Short battery life
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Incidental side visibility
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Limited mode options
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Hard to feel button
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Blackburn’s Dayblazer 65 rear is a very powerful rear bike light for its weight and price and reliability is excellent as usual. It’s also available in various front and rear sets to make it even better value.
How does it stack up against the best bike lights on the market though? We've been spending some time with it to find out, rating it for its ease of use, battery life, sideways visibility and all-round durability. Read on for what we think.
Design and performance
The business end of the light is relatively simple, with a top and bottom LED behind refracting lenses and the opaque silicone power button in between them. Flanges down the edge help disperse some light to the flanks but side visibility is definitely incidental rather than obviously directed. While there’s no sense of the whole light illuminating like a COB strip LED light, the two LEDs of the Dayblazer are usefully visible from behind, especially if you use ‘Blitz’ — the second of two flashing modes — which is kind of a progressive gallop before a pause in power that’s really eye-catching, even in busy traffic.
Featuring only three modes helps to keep things nice and simple too, but we’d definitely like a more positive button feel as you only get a definite click if you dig a bare fingernail into the silicone switch. There’s certainly no tactility if you’ve pressed the button in gloves or with cold hands, so you’ll need to check visually to be sure. The small battery also means it soon runs out in the more conspicuous modes, so if long overnight runs or powerful all-day visibility is what you’re after, then look elsewhere.
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Blackburn’s Dayblazer 65 rear is a very powerful flasher(Image credit: Guy Kesteven)
It's good to see recycled cardboard packaging.(Image credit: Guy Kesteven)
The metal clip on the back of the light is a highlight though, particularly if you want a light to mount on bag straps, a saddle pack or even your trouser back pocket for nipping into town at night. The big rubber foot that fits over the back for bike mounting is flanged to work with all sorts of seat post and tube shapes, and the O-ring is super thick so it should last for ages. The foot also completely buries the Mini-USB recharge port, which already has a tight rubber flap, helping to give the Dayblazer 65 a fully submersible IP67 waterproof rating. The plastic construction keeps it light without compromising durability, so it’s a great choice for clumsy riders who don’t stop however bad the weather gets.
It’s a great price as a standalone and even better value in any of the bundles that package it with the Dayblazer 1500 ($125 / £119.99), 1100 ($123 / £109.99), 1000 ($95 / £89.99), 800 ($93 / £84.99), 550 ($65 / £64.99) or 400 ($60 / £59.99) front lights. It's good to see recycled cardboard packaging, too.
Verdict
The Dayblazer 65 isn’t the best choice for all-round visibility, the button is hard to feel and run times are very short. It’s powerfully eye-catching from the rear though, with bombproof, waterproof reliability and a solidly secure cloth/strap clip or O-ring attachment. If the performance fits your needs, it’s great value too.
Tech Specs: Blackburn Dayblazer 65 rear light
Price: $33.00 / £29.99
Weight: 48g
Power: 65 lumens max flash
Battery: 2Wh Li-Ion
Run time: 1hr 38mins max 50 lumen steady (averaged from 3 runs)
