Solar LED Bike Bag

Step 7 Hacking the Headlamp

Do just what the title says. Open up the cheapo headlamp and disconnect the whole battery section. All you need is the contacts it led into. Wire them into the box, and solder across the Load section of the control circuit.

And now the promised note on threading wire through the strap. If you look closely in the picture, there are several places I've made small slits in the surface fabric of the strap, on the edge of the padding where it meets the edging. With the Xacto blade, make two such slits - one where you want the wires poking out, and one where the enter. Take the wire hanger and cut out a nice, long straight section of it. This will be your "needle". Push it down the length between the two holes, in the space opened up between the padding and the edge. It'll give back a bit, especially if your strap curves, but eventually, it will poke out the other side. Duct tape the wire you want to insert to one end of the coat-hanger wire, and pull it through the hole till it comes out the other side. Voila! Done!

Next, drill holes in the corners of the casing of the headlamp if possible, and sew them down to the strap, but in a way that won't preclude other wires from getting through, if you so wish them to.