May be slightly off topic here, But running in the Dark with a head lamp gives me two problems , first of all, totally destroys my night vision. The second is derived from that - as the lamp only lights up 6-7 feet ahead, I’ve had several head on collisions with pedestrians out for a morning stroll. Any good solutions for that?

A decent light will give you a lot more than 6-7ft (are you perhaps exaggerating?). But you also want a good light dispersion without "hot spots". This will minimise the amount of "night vision" loss for a given amount of environment feedback.

I use the Black Diamond Sprinter and find it pretty good.
I think its about 200 lumens at max and has a pretty effective diffuser. The manufacturer says max 50m range. That's probably slightly optimistic but only slightly.

If your light is too bright it's going to dazzle anyone coming the other way, so don't go overboard, but I think the Sprinter is about right. You can see well enough to run safely and comfortably at a fair speed without having to squint to see beyond the field of illumination (at least in good conditions). In the wet, the road surface has a habit of reflecting much of the light from whatever you use and there's not much you can do without just getting excessive on power.


Edit: A headlight like the Sprinter is also very practical around the house, shed, attic and garden.

May be slightly off topic here, But running in the Dark with a head lamp gives me two problems , first of all, totally destroys my night vision. The second is derived from that - as the lamp only lights up 6-7 feet ahead, I’ve had several head on collisions with pedestrians out for a morning stroll. Any good solutions for that?

Regardless of which light you choose, get enough lumens. I've run with a 175 and 300lm headlamps and while it's workable, having 800lm is such a better experience. You can easily see the ground 10m ahead and can focus on running vs. trying to make out any ruts/cracks/holes/debris.

800 lumens is ridiculous for any type of running or walking (OPs intended use is walking), that's about the same lumens as a cars headlight. 200 lumens is plenty and it won't blind everyone you cross paths with.

Actually, 800 lumens I find the ideal light power IF I'm running all by myself in the darkness with few other pedestrians around. For me, that's like a 4 or 5AM run where almost nobody is out.

With 800 lumens, you can see far, and well. Sprints, everything, no problem, even all-out. It also makes running a lot less creepy!

Obviously, 800 though is not required and just makes things better running at night. I'd say anything over 350 is good enough for pretty much all running, even technical trails, as well as all-out sprints. I used to run all the time with Fenix 220 lumen lamps (which are a legit 220) and they work, but at least for me, I'd call that a very subpar experience, especially when you crank the speeds up and are dealing with sporading car light washing out your night vision. (At 800 lumens, you don't need to worry one bit about night vision washout.)

And of course, 800 lumens is downright rude if there is anyone on your side of the street, and if there are oncoming cars, consider turning it down to 200 or at least aim it way away from them when you run by. At 800 you do have to use discretion if there are others around, but trust me - its SO much of a better night running experience compared to 200, or even 400!

(I've actually tried a 1000+ lumen bike light mounted on my head with battery in a backpack to see if it would get even better, but it was actually TOO bright. Anything that could reflect was literally blinding, which is pretty much all signs, street reflective paint, etc.)

On the night vision problem: maybe a chest lamp like the one below (sold by Decathlon in Europe) can be part of the solution. I had a related, but maybe slightly different problem: with a headlamp, the light beam originates directly above your eyes, and whenever it's even slightly foggy or misty, light is reflected directly back straight into your eyes with a blinding effect. The chest lamp sits much lower (same principle as fog lights on a car), so the angle of the light is much better for me (also outlines rocks or sticks on the trail much better in my experience). Plus the battery pack that sits on the straps on your back between your shoulder blades is a bit beefier (thus more capacity) while being barely noticeable.