Headlamps?

[Fievel]

I live outside the main city, in a little township. It's a great area to run in, as it's quiet, and I have a nice trail that goes through the wood and another along the highway near my home. However, none of these streets have streetlights, and because it's a township, we don't have sidewalks to run on, forcing me to run out on the roads. I would love to be able to ditch the treadmill when I want to run after work (I work 2p-10p). However, in order to do that, I need a headlamp....which will also come in handy when the sun starts setting earlier in the day.

Any suggestions? I usually wear a visor when I run, as it keeps the sweat out of my eyes.

Thanks!

 

[lukacseven]

I live outside the main city, in a little township. It's a great area to run in, as it's quiet, and I have a nice trail that goes through the wood and another along the highway near my home. However, none of these streets have streetlights, and because it's a township, we don't have sidewalks to run on, forcing me to run out on the roads. I would love to be able to ditch the treadmill when I want to run after work (I work 2p-10p). However, in order to do that, I need a headlamp....which will also come in handy when the sun starts setting earlier in the day.

Any suggestions? I usually wear a visor when I run, as it keeps the sweat out of my eyes.

Thanks!

There are many different brands and styles - I personally like PETZL. I would definitely recommend an LED light (not sure if they even make non-led ones anymore). There are also clip-on style lights for the brim of a hat or visor. I have a tiny USB rechargeable light I got with a pair of saucony gloves that can be clipped on and is surprisingly bright for the size. http://www.saucony.com/store/SiteController/saucony/productdetails?productId=4-105490

 

[Mad Stitch]

Are you asking about a light for the purpose of you seeing the road, or others (vehicles) seeing you?

 

[Fievel]

Mostly so I can see....but I guess something so that vehicles can see me would be helpful as well.

 

[Mad Stitch]

That's what I thought, but heck if it's that dark outside I'd be more worried about vehicles seeing me.

 

[dreamfinder]

Petzl makes good headlamps, I also have one from LL Bean (I think its like a co-branded Princeton lamp). For the most part, I'd look at the features over the brand. Almost any brand sold at a reputable outdoors store (EMS, REI, Moosejaw, etc) will be more than suitable. Ideally I would say you want a few brightness settings, but also a blink feature. When running at dusk I tend to use the blink feature as I don't need the light to see the road, but the blink alerts the cars more than just a static light would. And the different brightness settings do come in handy obviously as it gets darker when running in the dark. Some people prefer the ones with the top strap, I'm good with just the headband type strap. For just running on the side of the road, sometime like the Petzl Tikka should be more than suitable. However if you are going to be running on trails, off road, or anyplace with tougher terrain, you may want something with a bit more throw

You should also have some sort of reflective on, be it a full vest, or at least crossing guard stripes. Some of the vests will come with built in red blinkers on the back side, but I've heard mixed things about the quality of the wiring. I would suggest just getting a red blinker like the Firefly from RoadID. That you can just clip onto anything (I normally go on the back of my FuelBelt) and blink away merrily.

Personally, I think the hats with the LEDs in the visor are more gimmic than useful.