Review: Knog Skinks

Knog has been producing a wide assortment of innovative bike accessories for a few years now, including messenger bags, gloves, and their trademark one-piece lights. The original Knog light, the Frog, featured a single LED and a button-cell battery. Although it was remarkably tiny (at one point I had one strapped around my front hub), it didn’t provide nearly enough light to see where you were going, and the button cell battery was a pain to replace. Now, Knog has released a set of new lights that are almost as portable as the Frog, but make up for their larger size with higher light output and a standard-sized battery.

The Skinks, as they are called, feature four LED lights powered by two AAA batteries. The four LED’s are set against a reflective backing that makes their output seem higher than normal for such a compact light. The front light puts out just enough light for you to see oncoming objects, like rocks and potholes, but it would be risky to try a fast-paced night ride or descent with one of these.

One concern I had with Knog lights is their lack of adjustability- once the light is strapped on, you can’t really point it to the left or right. I looked at my bike, and wasn’t able to find a surface that would be completely parallel to the ground ahead of me. Knog took this into consideration, however, and angled the LED’s just enough to create a perfectly straight beam of light. The rear LED lights are also angled upwards, albeit more dramatically than the front light, in order to direct the light source towards oncoming cars instead of the ground behind you.

The front light has three settings- continuous on, rapid flashing, and slow flashing. The rear light has six modes- continuous, rapid, slow, scrolling up and down, and ultra-fast blinking. That’s a few too many, in my opinion. I really only use the continuous on and rapid blinking, so turning off the lights takes a bit longer than necessary. That said, the settings are certainly fun to play around with.

Replacing the battery is easy- just squeeze the hard interior out of its rubber enclosure, and pop in a set of AAA’s. Removing the light assembly takes some practice, due to the tightness of the rubber housing, but it certainly isn’t as hard as replacing the batteries on a traditional light.

The Skinks represent the ultimate cross between portability and functionality- they’re bright enough to get you to the grocery store at night, but you don’t have to risk leaving the light attached to your bike while you’re shopping. The Skinks retail for $30 and are available now.