Does anyone have any recommendations for a head torch to use for running off road? Must be some good kit out there these days?
Needs to be be lightweight, comfortable and have a good bright beam. Its actually for the GF so she can run off road with me..
alpkit for my money
+1 Alpkit gamma, cheap works fine, I've used one for a few years easily bright enough and has a low power option for when you forget to replace/recharge your batteries. Doh.
Blimey, i never even new alpkit did them so i'll check them out, but would love some other ideas for comparison.
Fennix HP10 for brightness, or Alpkit gamma for great value.
OP. You don't mention your budget or the kid of performance level of you require
I have a Petzl Tikka xp2 which is pretty good. Better than an Alpkit Gamma (got one of those too), but 4x better, probably not.
EDIT - Sorry, better is meaningless. Brighter, and more comfortable (batteries behind lamp so no leads).
+1 Alpkit
that alpkit gamma is well cheap.. £12.50 so i'll order for me tonight.
I only really need the light to last about 1hr or so and as light/bright and wide as possible so if the gamma is a little underpowered i might want more.
Dont have a budget as such, if its amazing light i might splash out as we would also use it for camping.
currently using a fenix and a bastid light on the mtb which is enough light for me if that helps
Use the Hope Vision One Adventure for night running on Cannock Chase. Works well for running, nice and bright.
I have a couple of older Petzl Tikkas from pre LED arms race days so brightness won't be as good, but both have survived several accidental wash cycles without letting a drop in. Used to use them as a get home light when 2x10w halogen was the norm for night riding.
Silva does a couple of running-specific head torches with a mix of main and peripheral LEDs to give a wider spread of light for running. They're more expensive than the small Petzls or the Gamma, but work pretty well ime. But to be honest, I'd try the Gamma first and see if that's enough light for you/her.
If you're super loaded, google the Petzl Ultra, which is designed for night orienteering and gives a huge pool of bright light at a correspondingly huge price.
LED Lenser H7R ...mega bright flood to spot and rechargeable £45 at Play.com
I've got a Fenix HP10 like above^, super bright, but has a battery pack to power the brightness. Purely for running, I'd probably buy an Alpkit Gamma (if price is an issue), or a Petzl Tikka XP2 (if price isn't an issue).
Surprised nobody else has suggested Magicshine - which you can get with a headstrap. Well up towards the premium end of things, but still a lot cheaper than a Petzl Ultra.
Personally I'm not that big a fan of running off-road with the low powered LEDs, as you inevitably have to slow down a bit on anything at all tricky.
Well i have gone and ordered the alpkit gamma, no brainer at this price.
If its not bright enough for the missus then i think i might try out the H7R lensor, seems to get good reviews, 170 lumens and is lighter than the Fenix HP10 which is brighter but heavier, magic shine would be too heavy and bulky for running imo.
You won't go far wrong with the Gamma, definitely for the price. I'm just starting to see the limitations of mine on more technical ground and faster downhills. And running with people who are starting to get better lights. If I'm on a longer run, I can feel my eyes straining a bit. I'd love to see what Alpkit could do for 40 or 50 quid.
http://furiouscycling.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html
i've had an alpkit gamma for a couple of years now, they're very well made, and cheap, and brighter than most.
it's ok for running on road / pavements where there are no streetlights, but i've got rubbish eyesight, and i do struggle a bit when trying to run along anything technical.
so i bought a Hope adventure - wow.
seriously, wow.
£100 for torch + batteries + charger, but it means i can now run off-road in the dark, without a guaranteed twisted ankle that came with the gamma/anything else i've tried.
obviously i'll keep the gamma for camping, and running on easy stuff.
Slightly different approach. I run 3 times a week cross country in the dark so ground is pretty uneven. I use a Black Diamond Spot which can throw a beam 65m+ so plenty powerful - the battery life is reasonable too at around 50 hours (3xAAA). The problem is that bright LED's tend to "flatten" out the ground and you lose shadows - this means you lose perspective of rocks and tussocks and trip up alot. To solve it I also carry a small Maglite and turn it on on when the ground is really bad. Using the two at once means you get shadows and a bit more perspective.
it's not the LED's that flatten out the shadows - it's placing the light source near your eyes, ie, on your forehead.
the shadows are still there of course, but you can't see them because they're 'behind' the bump.
but yes, 2 lights are better than 1, especially if one of them is lower than your eyes - so you can see the shadows it casts.
magic shine would be too heavy and bulky for running imo
You don't get any better shadows with something brighter, but the fact you can see everything so much better goes a long way to making up for that in technical terrain. I can run pretty much the same speed as in daylight using my DIY ~800lm headtorch - and that's running completely off track on much rougher terrain than most of you are on. Of course if you're budget doesn't stretch that far, fair enough, but don't dismiss the idea on a technical basis.
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