With the time change coming, what lights do you use for your night time runs for road and trails? I’m thinking of getting the Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp. Anybody have one? What are the pros and cons?
Rex
No lights. Just some reflective gear and whatever Mother Nature provides.
For road running, basic Petzel hiking headlamps (white), a hand-held white LED*, and a back red flasher… obviously plenty of reflective gear. Nathan vests and ankle straps. Trail running still wear the headlamp, but rarely use it if it’s a big moon night.
*Saucony makes an awesome glove/mitten that has a super tiny led clipped to the back of the right hand… just provides an extra eye-catcher for drivers and keeps your hands free.
Petzel Zipka 2. Look no further.
Red blinking light on rear of reflective vest.
I’m not a fan of headlamps on the road. I carry a small flashlight with a push button switch on the back and a lanyard. I use it when cars are approaching to reach out and let them know I am on the edge of the road. I prefer to use the ambiant light when there is no traffic.
On the trails, a headlamp is nice/required. I’ve got a Princeton Tec Remix Headlamp that really illuminates the rocky trails around here well, small and easily to replace AAA batteries.
I am interested in the Knucklelights, but have not tried them yet. Anyone have any experience with them?
I’m still surprised that people run with the Petzl Zipkas or other 3 x AAA lights. I’d go walking with them, but they’re way too puny for running for me and I’m not even that fast in training (like 8min/mile on average.)
I love my Fenix flashlight + fenix headstrap. Yes it burns 2 x AA batteries in 1 hour, but that’s GOOD - it means it’s throwing out tons of light. It’s literally 5x brighter than the Zipkas, and makes an annoyingly dim running experience as close to daylight running as you can probably get. You will have zero problems seeing the road and zero heebie jeebies even in totally unlit areas since this thing throws out enough light to give you a very good view of the road and all the dark spots around it. It’s actually bright enough for riding a bike, but not so big and clunky that you can’t run with it. Doesn’t get hot, either. Changing batteries is a snap if you’re going long - takes literally 15 seconds to unscrew the cap and swap the batts. Use rechargeables and you’re all set.
I’m still amazed with how little light people use for running. I’ve actually tried over 5 headlamps similar to the Zipka in the past, and it wasn’t any better than just going without any lights at all, particular if there is any car traffic en route which will wash out your vision sensitivity to the headlamp lights at that low intensity when they pass.
For safety, the only two lights to consider really are the Planet Bike Superflash and Mars 4.0 lights. They’re the gold standard for rear blinkies, and clip easily to your hat. I will not run outside without this since it’s the best way approaching rear cars will see you. It’s extremely bright, and has very, very good battery life (easily over a month of daily use, but I still prefer to run them on fresh batts as the brightness is highest then.)
Same light I have. It’s decent, lightweight and reasonably bright. I live in a rural area, so no ambient light other than the moon and it does okay. Probably would get something brighter for trails.
I’ve got a Black Diamond Sprinter and I love it. I don’t have experience with other ones so I can’t offer a comparison, but it’s light, illuminates things well, and I like the rechargeable battery. I’ve used it to run on rough trails in the dead of night and not had any trouble.
Petzl has a new headtorch called the NAO that was being put through the paces at several mountain ultras this past year. The biggest feature is a sensor combined with “intelligent circuitry” that they call “reactive lighting”, which purports to eliminate the glaring bright spot most torches throw when looking at a map or other close-up object. Not sure if it helps with not blinding your friends though. 
Likely overkill for most who just want to extend their training as the sun goes down earlier, but a very cool option nonetheless…
http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/
They custom made a light for me, and not sell them for road cycling and mt biking. LOVE it. I look like a car coming down the road. I have a Niterider Flight and this blows that one away. I want to say the one I have is 1900 lumens. And the cyclops is 1/2 the p[rice and they custom build them there so can fix them too, not that I have any problems.
I’ve been using the Ultrafire UH-F1. It’s basically a Chinese knock off of a Zebralight. It’s led is rated (max) at 230 lumens and is quite light weight. It has a nice flood, has a dimming switch, and takes one 123a battery. I use rechargeable li-ion’s so cost to run is low. For about $30, I’m very happy with it.
I don’t see any need for a headlamp while running on the road. You’ll find you see much better without one, and that goes for urban, suburban, rural, and most farm roads.
Others have good suggestions for trails.
I use a Petzl Tikka Plus headlamp.
I run on an urban parkway with trails, service roads, bicycles, and urban light pollution. No cars. Works for me. I’m only looking for obstacles like glass or rocks.
I use this, I was nicknamed ‘The Lighthouse’ by my run group. It is also programmable (easily) so that you can allocate different levels of brightness (and therefore burn time) to one of the three modes. It has a spot and wide angle ‘flick down’ lens. On wide angle it is pretty much like running in broad daylight. If you run trails the wide angle is great because your eyes are not necessarily always looking straight ahead so those with narrow beams find they are head turning to see things.
I’ve not seen any stronger other than the bike lights with separate heavy power pack.
Another cool feature is the fact that instead of just getting gradually darker it uses the power a bit more intelligently to maintain brightness for longer before fading faster at the end.
It takes rechargeable batteries too, some don’t.
Stellar head torch. http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/headlamps/performance/myo-rxp
Energizer Trail Finder Cap Light. Can’t be beat. Very light so it can sit on the brim of your running cap. Fairly bright for the size. Easy enough to clip on your shorts when not using it. Cheap too.
I run with Knuckle lights. They are great to if you use one to illuminate the ground in front of you and have the other to “point” in the direction you are moving. I find they get sweaty after about 4 miles ( typically run at night here in Northern California ).
Very happy with the visibility to cars , other people and the ability to illuminate.
PM me if you want to know more.
I just went through the same question and after much study and research on other sites across the great interweb, I ended up with the Black Diamond Sprinter. I really like it. Lightweight, 75 Lumens seems to be plenty, red flashing light on the rear, USB rechargeable. Good headlamp all around.
I use a Petzl Tikka Plus headlamp.
I run on an urban parkway with trails, service roads, bicycles, and urban light pollution. No cars. Works for me. I’m only looking for obstacles like glass or rocks.
I use the same model. Usually provides plenty enough illumination. The only times when I wish I had more “firing power” are in the fall in the rain, when the ground is covered with wet leaves that swallow a lot of light. Otherwise no problems.
Cheers,
malte
For road running, basic Petzel hiking headlamps (white), a hand-held white LED*, and a back red flasher… obviously plenty of reflective gear. Nathan vests and ankle straps. Trail running still wear the headlamp, but rarely use it if it’s a big moon night.
*Saucony makes an awesome glove/mitten that has a super tiny led clipped to the back of the right hand… just provides an extra eye-catcher for drivers and keeps your hands free.
Anything Petzel is good. That with a rear red light and vest are mandatory for any night running in Ragnar relays. You can get some pretty minimal yet effective running vests.
John