LED strip embedded on Bike Messenger Bag

Last month we covered HALO, a San Francisco startup that makes LED safety belts for bikers. A new push this month, the company has partnered with fellow Bay Area bike brand Rickshaw Bagworks to build a glow-in-the-dark messenger bag.

Called the HALO ZERO LED bag, the product is currently in funding stage on Kickstarter. It’s made in the USA as a standard messenger design — though with the visibility upgrade of an embedded band of LED.

The HALO light works via a “custom patented LED thermoplastic polyurethane fiber optic strip,” the company cites. In our test, it glowed solidly for hours to provide extra visibility on a bike ride through the city.

For the current project, HALO has attached its belt with Velcro to the Rickshaw messenger bag. The light is powered by two CR2025 batteries and will flash for up to 75 hours on a fresh set.

Red, green, blue, and yellow light options will be available. While riding, you can put it on strobe, flash, or solid LED shine modes.

The bag will retail for about $150. Special pricing is available if you jump in on the Kickstarter campaign, which runs through March and aims to raise $23,000 for production of this unique glowing bag.

—Stephen Regenold