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Been running at night after work recently using a Alpkit Gamma, its ok on the flat but when i go offroad its not really bright enough to pick out pesky unseen tree roots etc. Is there anything out there which is of similar value, as the Alpkit is bargaintastic, but a bit brighter? Looking at about £30ish.
carrots???! I find my gamma fine for off road running.
All the Petzl stuff which are brighter is FAR more expensive.
I have a Gamma, and also a Petzl Tikka xp2 which someone got me for Christmas. The Tikka is better than the Gamma - more comfortable (no over the head strap and no wires), brighter, and with a better spread of light - but not sure it's 3x better. If you can get one for a good price maybe worth it if the Gamma isn't quite doing the job for you.
I bought a Petzl 4-5 years ago for running at night. Reviews and specs said it was excellent, however, in reality I could barely even get away with walking at pace. Absolute rubbish for £40. Would only use it camping, etc. Far too dangerous for running.
I have a Gamma, and also a Petzl Tikka xp2 which someone got me for Christmas. The Tikka is better than the Gamma - more comfortable (no over the head strap and no wires), brighter, and with a better spread of light - but not sure it's 3x better. If you can get one for a good price maybe worth it if the Gamma isn't quite doing the job for you.
I have a Gamma, and also a Petzl Tikka xp2 which someone got me for Christmas. The Tikka is better than the Gamma - more comfortable (no over the head strap and no wires), brighter, and with a better spread of light - but not sure it's 3x better. If you can get one for a good price maybe worth it if the Gamma isn't quite doing the job for you.
really trying to make a point there 😉
It appears so! I'll be quiet now.
This one.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16092
Batteries, charger and helmet mount available on same site.
You wear a helmet for running? 😀
I've been running 3-4 times a week offroad and use a hand held torch from DX. once you get used to it it's fine. The tracks round me are pretty smooth though.
Hmmm, brighter than a Gamma you say? Twice the price of a Gamma you say?
Two Gammas?
I reckon you could fit two on your head and the extra weight would help with your fitness. Or rig one up round your waist and one on yer 'ead. My try this myself later, if I can find where the missus keeps hers.
Ayup make a headband for their lights and the 3 hour battery is VERY light,.
Fraid it'll cost you more than £30 though.
Anyone used a [url= http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/myo-series/myo-xp ]Petzl Myo XP?[/url] Can get one for £44, same price as the Tikka 2 XP, and looks like fit might fit the bill. Worried it might be a bit heavy as its 50g more than the Gamma.
I wish Alpkit would spec something around 40 quid with their sourcing and direct sales model. That would rock.
I use a gamma and it's the brightest in our little group. Could use more light on more technical ground or when you start to get tired. Fortunately the bloke with the Hope 4 doesn't turn up often - it'd get messy if we got into a lighting arms race 🙂
Fenix HP10 - a bit over budget, but worth it.
http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches/fenix-hp10-headlamp.html
I picked mine up for just over £40 on e-bay (from Hong Kong). Excellent piece of kit.
I also have a Fenix HP10, very very bright (using the latest technology) and ideal for more applications, but it's more like a traditional headtorch with separate battery pack on the head strap, so a bit more weight on your head. For the price of £50, it's probably the brightest of the traditional style headtorches (Petzl do a brighter one for a massive £250, but that's 7 LEDs as opposed to the Fenix HP10s 1 one). You can angle the beam to your desired angle requirements for running/walking/climbing/MTB. It comes as a spot headtorch, but you can buy a defuser on ebay for £4 to give you a more spread flood beam (which is on a hinge, so you can flip up/down to easily give you spot or flood on the fly). It also has a flashing mode with 3 settings.
myo xp - brilliant
I think i may pull the trigger on a Myo XP....going to go for one last run now with the Gamma to make certain as i am wondering whether the Myo can be worth £30 more (well £40 at RRP) than the Gamma.
I vote for myo xp... v bright, light and you can even run off road in the flashing mode..
Petzl Myo-xp (£50 - £65 rrp)= 150 lumens on brightest setting.
Fenix HP10 (£50) = 225 lumens on brightest setting.
Petzl, Suunto, Black Diamond = Expensive Western headtorch brands made in China.
Fenix = Chinese headtorch brand made in China.
The Fenix weighs nearly 300g tho Eve. That does put me off a little.
Edit: 230g sorry.
mttm - Premier Member
Fenix HP10 - a bit over budget, but worth it.http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches/fenix-hp10-headlamp.html
I picked mine up for just over £40 on e-bay (from Hong Kong). Excellent piece of kit.
Is it this one?
[url= http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fenix-HP10-Headlamp-225-lumens_W0QQitemZ180414739515QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2a018e743b#ht_2094wt_941 ]Ebay clicky[/url]
Petzl Myo-xp (£50 - £65 rrp)= 150 lumens on brightest setting.
Fenix HP10 (£50) = 225 lumens on brightest setting.
...on boost mode. Personally I'd compare their highest standard settings, but the Fenix still wins with 120 vs 85. Worth remembering if comparing with something with higher steady output (eg Hope 1) though.
Yes, it (HP10) has a 4xAA battery pack a opposed to a 1xAA battery pack of the others (I think, generalisation, I haven't checked each one of the equally priced competitors). I use mine for running/MTB and more so climbing/mountaineering. It's very bright, brighter than anything else in it's price range, but you have to weigh up the pros and cons of that extra weight v battery long-gevity v brightness.
I should point out that a friend has the Alpkit Gamma and, although it is nowhere near as bright as my Fenix HP10, I was 'blown away' by how bright it was for £15.
All the others (Petzl, Suunto, Black Diamond) are more marketing, product placement and branding than they are latest technology IMO.
i ran at the night fell race at iroc last year using a petzl e-lite - that was foolish wont do that again ...never ran at night before that
now i run with my joystick in my hand - its good as it allows me to change the angle relevent to my eyes to gain depth rather than fixed relevent to my eyes like on the head
True, Petzl do seem to be a pretty lazy company when it comes to keeping up to date with technology compared to Fenix. I have had a look at the HP10 and i reckon for just running at distances 7-10ish miles it going to be too heavy. Currently looking at the [url= http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches/fenix-hl20.html ]HL20[/url] as an alternative.
....or might just keep the Gamma and wait till the nights get lighter 😉
As I understand it, the issues lay around the quality of the materials surrounding the LED. The lastest technology LEDs burn brighter and hotter, but don't cost much more than older technology LED.
Petzl, Suunto and Black Diamond use poorer quality plastics, but hold the monopoly on supply chains into the general outdoors market, so they don't need to bother reacting to new technology advances so quickly, or something like that.
They consentrate more on product placement, advertising, PR, packaging, life cycles and distribution channels.
i use an alpkit headtorch, and a hand held fenix l2d, i'm surprised how little i notice the inconvenience of having to aim the fenix.
and it's a lot like night-riding, i see more with 2 light sources than just 1 really bright one at head height.
(but i'd love to try a hope single vision head torch)
Done a few fell races (sorry....timed training runs) using a myo xp. It suffices for what I needed.
Only issues was when someone ran behind me with a hope headtorch. Then I was just running in my shadow and generally had to let people pass so I could see my feet again.
Ran with a tikka and found that sufficient but not as good as a myo xp. Now got a hope 2 led for the bike so I could use it as a headtorch as well.
I use an alpkit head light and a cheap and small deal extreme hand held and just turn the hand held on for rooty sections or running downhill at speed. As mentioned above a light source at waist level shows up shadows of lumps and bumps in a way that a head torch on its own however bright never will.
I've got a Myo and an XP, mainly used for mountaineering (Alpine starts <sigh>.
I'd probably opt for the new XP2. The Myo is a bit big and heavy in comparison and the halogen light is not that much better.
I have two Q5 torches from DX (tiny little CR123 things) with a fenix head band. About 500lmns if I had them both on full blast. Which would be fairly over kill - use it for off road running at night (obviously). The torches are mounted at the side of your head so very stable. Probably cost 30 quid all in (head band was most expensive bit)