Hi Tony!
I think that's a terrific light for daytime conspicuity. While I generally prefer something with more surface area at night so car drivers can better judge their distance from me, I think point-source illumination may have it all for daytime visibility. Against bright sunlight, point-source cuts through where more diffuse options just fade away. It can be surprisingly difficult to get a good taillight bright enough for daytime/cloudy/rainy day use, but I think you've found one, Tony.
My home in Eugene, Oregon is at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, so trips "out" are over very tall hills and then mountains on three sides (E, W, S) and the Valley opens up wide and flat going North. There's great cycling in almost any direction. Unfortunately, I sometimes have to pass through very heavy commute traffic. I also have get past four freeway on- and off-ramps and two of the area's most dangerous intersections if I go North.
When I pull up beside drivers at traffic lights I'm always surprised at how much they're doing *besides* driving -- watching television on their sun visor monitors, buying things on eBay or texting on their phones, reading the newspaper or books, applying makeup, shaving, and so forth. I feel I have to really stand out to be seen at all.
For those occasions, I want to show up as much as possible in these areas, daytime, dusk, or dark. This means *lots* of high-viz neon yellow in daytime and loads of reflective stuff at night and lights galore. Drivers here seem to recognize high-viz yellow-green = Daytime Cyclist and blinking lights = Nighttime Cyclist. I've outfitted the blue rando bike and the Nomad with Planet Bike 2-watt Blaze2 white blinkys (I think of them as light cannons) and the Cyos. The rear of each bike has a Toplight Line Plus and at least one PDW Radbot 1000 1-watt LED blinky. The rando bike has two plus the Topight Line Plus. I supplement these with as many as two more Blackburn Mars 4.0 red blinkys. I've got the 3M spoke reflectors and pedal reflectors as well as the reflective spots and trim on my clothing and shoes. In cold weather I wear a Sugoi high-viz helmet cover and I think that helps as my head is above most car roofs and inline with most drivers in pickup trucks and SUVs.
When I got the bike, I pondered the beautiful yellow, as you have. After a lot of thought, I decided to go with black as I had on Sherpa. I figured the surface area of the frame was a fraction that of my clothing, so decided I would adjust my visibility using a combination of clothing, lights, and reflectors.
While I love desert camping, I do have to use care when camping well off-road, as a favorite nighttime pursuit of "desert runners" in trucks is to head out cross-country at breakneck speed, sometimes chasing jackrabbits and coyotes. I'm hoping on those occasions, my reflectors will help me be seen before I get flattened. For stealth camping near roads, the Nomad's matte black is ideal for keeping me hidden if I use care to hide the reflectors or park the bike off-axis to passing car headlights.
By the way, the "real" Refexite is sure a lot more reflective than similar appearing products. Take a look at the photos below for a quick comparison of seemingly identical safety triangles.
All the best,
Dan.
