I live in the middle of darkness around here, and high beam comes in very handy on remote roads.
I'll also add that the importance of a HM for me is not only for being seen by other drivers but by animals. Deer respond to two things... noise and FLASHING light. I can recall multiple personal experiences where the HM was a significant factor; they are grazing roadside, hear the sound of the bike, look up to see the flashing light, then move away from it... or they don't hear the bike but pick up the flashing light and move away from it. Add to this scenerio my other must-have (Stebel air horn) and I feel I'm as armed as I can be for whitetail Bambi and for Bambi in her SUV who is grazing on a burger, screaming at kids, yada yada yada....
As an aside, does anyone know which units are capable of modulating on high AND low beams independently? (meaning you can run the HM solely on low beam or select only high beam). Thanks
AGirl