The importance of a rear dust light in the southwest.

[craig333]

Why anyone would want to ride in a dust cloud is beyond me. Just the same, I think I'll get the magnetic base light just for those rare occasions I'm in those conditions. I like being able to move it from the truck to the Jeep.

 

[slick rock steve]

WOW!
Biggest stupid jerk idea you can come up with. Just because you want to play "Rickey Racer", and the PUBLIC trails are being used by those who appreciate the scenery, respect the land, and do not want to crush those protected tortoise, lizards, birds, and even kit fox, and reptiles. As I read this, I see a jerk trying to bash his way along, at UNSAFE speed, and UNSAFE behavior off road. I have been going off road since I could drive in 1963, and have a little RESPECT for my fellow off roader, and RESPECT for the conditions and environment of the desert communities.
If you MUST scream across the desert, move to Saudi Arabia, or maybe the Gobi Desert!

 

[Clutch]

Why anyone would want to ride in a dust cloud is beyond me. Just the same, I think I'll get the magnetic base light just for those rare occasions I'm in those conditions. I like being able to move it from the truck to the Jeep.

Think I'll just grab one from the tractor supply.

http://www.ruralking.com/24-led-amb...qT5j6PIeE-X_KTcoHW4hyS7ZLWexZoohvDxoC5s7w_wcB

 

[shenrie]

^^^ cheap enough too. Good find.

Something like that would be good for dust storms and thick fog on the highway too. Not to mention our wonderful inversions.

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

20+ vehicles headed down a two lane gravel road to a trail head in the middle of a dry summer with a 20mph limit. Within less than a minute the radio starts screaming for everyone to turn on the their lights. Not for forward visibility but so the guy behind you could identify how close he was. Complete white/gray/lime out. Unable to see any vehicles but the red tail lights enabled everyone to make it to the trail head safely.

Something more than the basic tail light would have made for better visibility and less white knuckled drivers. White/Amber/Red steady or strobe. Not necessarily brighter but something with a better beam pattern to cut the dust.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Can debate the relative merits of what color a rear facing light should be, but in the Desert SW the color most often used is amber. Right or wrong it is the color that those expecting to see a light at all are expecting to see. That it could be or is different in other regions of the country or world is expected and I would suggest using the color most likely to be encountered in the region where you are driving.

For those who want a rear facing light, but don't want it permanently attached I found a solution a long time ago when chasing a desert race with my old dune buggy. I mounted an amber fog light on an old magnetic CB antenna base. There's an Aspect Ratio of sorts to pay attention to here, either a really low mass light or a very serious magnet, or both, is the way to go. I used zip-cord for the power/ground wire and plugged it into the cig... er, "Power Point."

I have driven a truck on paved roads with a rear facing amber light permanently mounted in the rear bumper for over 100k miles. Obviously rarely turned on. I have been stopped for other things. I have NEVER been questioned by any of the PRK's Finest about that light.

It is fine with me if people want to drive slow. It is fine with me if people want to drive fast. What isn't fine with me is either of those people failling to consider those around them, even when there aren't any others to be seen around them. Stopping in the middle of the road, if there can be found a reasonable place to pull off, is inconsiderate at best. Flying around a blind corner at light speed is inconsiderate at the least.

FWIW some of the desert racing sanctioning bodies require a BLUE light in addition to the amber light. These are required of the slower classes precisely so that the faster moving classes DO NOT NERF them accidentally. Legal considerations of having a blue light on a vehicle aside, ideally a slow moving vehicle would have both colors facing to the rear. However, that is not prevalent across all of desert racing in the SW, so not everyone within even the desert racing sub-community will understand the meaning of a rear facing blue light.

This (above) is probably the best post of this overly long thread.

WOW!
Biggest stupid jerk idea you can come up with. Just because you want to play "Rickey Racer", and the PUBLIC trails are being used by those who appreciate the scenery, respect the land, and do not want to crush those protected tortoise, lizards, birds, and even kit fox, and reptiles. As I read this, I see a jerk trying to bash his way along, at UNSAFE speed, and UNSAFE behavior off road. I have been going off road since I could drive in 1963, and have a little RESPECT for my fellow off roader, and RESPECT for the conditions and environment of the desert communities.
If you MUST scream across the desert, move to Saudi Arabia, or maybe the Gobi Desert!

I respect your off road experience and understand your feelings about "jerks" running unsafely but there are plenty of places to safely "SCREAM" across the desert without having to move to KSA or the Gobi. And if you want to save every animal please be sure to spend your time fighting all the destruction of the desert by the miles square solar installations and other destructive installations blessed by the government that keeps us from using our lands.

 

[Clutch]

^^^ cheap enough too. Good find.

Something like that would be good for dust storms and thick fog on the highway too. Not to mention our wonderful inversions.

The fog was thicker than pea soup yesterday!

Betcha D&B has something similar...be a good excuse to go to D&B...not like I need an excuse to go to D&B.

 

[jschmidt]

Yeah. I get the idea, but around here we just hang back behind the dust cloud. And when we do pass someone, we try to minimize our own dust for them.

 

[craig333]

As for nerfing, when I was a corner worker for the Vorra races at prairie city nerfing did happen. It was also considered bad form and could get you black flag and or a fight in the pits.

 

[mobob]

I ran the Snoball500 last year which was a winter Raptor event in the UP in January covering 800 miles of off-road trails, logging roads and forest roads. Rear facing driving lights were a requirement to participate. In Blizzard conditions you can come up on the truck in front of you pretty fast, even with plenty of space between vehicles. Every truck is white and matches the surroundings after an hour or so playing in the snow and the brake lights are typically worthless once the back of the truck is covered. These lights saved many accidents and were absolutely necessary for safety. They didn't require them the first year or two of the event and the decrease in the number of accidents once the requirement was put in place shows their effectiveness. I use mine anytime the visibility from Snow is challenging and people tend to give you more space when they are on. They also work well in the dust, but that is just a bonus.

 

[draganof]

I am a little confused why you must purchase an addition rear running light. My 1998 Cherokee sport has a switch that turns on my lights even during the day light. It's called head lights and tail lights and they are standard equipment on all vehicles. Way to much drama on this subject here.

 

[Robert Bills]

Regular red tail lights are often difficult to see in the powder dust of the Southwest deserts until you are almost on top of the rig in front of you. An amber light of equal lumens is visible to the human eye from a greater distance, which is why the race sanctioning bodies specify amber for chase lights and why the general offroading population frequenting the Southwest deserts is starting to adopt rear facing amber lights as "dust lights." No drama at all.

 

[Pilat]

Regular red tail lights are often difficult to see in the powder dust of the Southwest deserts until you are almost on top of the rig in front of you. An amber light of equal lumens is visible to the human eye from a greater distance, which is why the race sanctioning bodies specify amber for chase lights and why the general offroading population frequenting the Southwest deserts is starting to adopt rear facing amber lights as "dust lights." No drama at all.

Fair enough if you're the one who want a dust light for yourself and your car. It's a totally different ball park to demand it of others. On public roads, it's your job not to shunt others and drive according to the conditions. That means driving slow enough that you won't shunt someone because you think that everyone should be having their "dust light" installed and turned on.

 

[verdesardog]

Outside of a sanctioned, controlled race a person should not drive into a dust cloud at a speed that they cannot see far enough ahead of them to prevent "nerfing" someone in said cloud. Hardley ever will there be such a dust cloud that you can't wait for a bit of a clearing due to wind or terrain to safely pass....... It is NEVER safe or legal to drive past the point that you can see. Have fun but don't be a ********-head. What if it's just a kid on a 4 wheeler...and you don't see it till it's too late???

 

[armymgdude]

I have read this entire thread as the OP did the Mojave road the same weekend I did. I guess I got old and don't like to break stuff because I was going slow enough to not kick up a huge dust cloud. I use these shiny things attached to my doors to see if people are coming up behind me at a faster speed, and then I pull over. I don't play well with others so group travelling is rare for me. And if I overtake a dust cloud, I don't drive in blind. I was passed by a few people that weekend who seemed to think the MR was a race instead of a historical trail that needs to be preserved. And yes, I have a lot of experience in dust in convoys. Try following 3 Strykers in Iraq or Afghanistan (I was the platoon Sergeant so I have eaten my share of dust). I understand the helpfulness of rear facing dust lights, but here is an idea: try slowing down so you can actually enjoy the scenery.

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