Lights for running at night - FENIX!

I've been doing a lot of night running lately since I'm marathon training, and running 80-100 mpw. I've been pretty frustrated with the wimpiness of headlamps in general. I don't have the luxury of running on pitch-black solitary streets, so I have to deal with traffic washing out my vision and a good deal of cars.I tried MANY headlamps. Tikka Plus, XP, MyoXp, Black Diamond Icon and others. (I returned most of them.) My old setup was a Tikka Plus on the head and one on the waist. Good for pitch-black roads, but terrible when cars wash out your vision, and I was frustrated since I couldn't see more than 6-8 feet ahead even with fresh batteries. Made it VERY hard to do tempo work at sub7 minutes per mile.

On the suggestion of a bike commuter, I tried the FENIX L2D flashlight with a headstrap. The FENIX is a tiny 2 x AA LED flashlight, that's about the length of your hand, and about 150g with batteries.This thing ROCKED THE HOUSE for light. I could finally see CLEARLY 20-30 feet ahead. And if you flash this thing into a car, it stops 'em COLD. That never, ever happened with the Tikkas, which were too weak to get their attention from a distance. Bikers claim to be able to ride 25mph easily with this as their only light, and I would have to agree. Even though we runners are slower than bikers, I've found that close & far range lighting is nearly equally critical for us since we're much more susceptible to roots and other things that tires would roll right over. Especially running fast.

The Fenix puts out 140 lumens, versus a paltry 40 for the Tikka plus. Even the MyoXP hits only 80 lumens. (lumens are additive, so it's about 3-4 Tikka Pluses.) Furthermore, the diffusion system of the Fenix is ideal, with a central hotspot and a wide diffused ring for peripheral vision. I could see the entire road for the first time! Runtime's pretty good as well - on rechargeable NiMH AAs x 2, it runs for 2 hour on turbo mode(140 lumens), and for days at low levels (10 lumens) with gradations in between. It didn't even get warm to the touch when I ran it for 90 minutes on my head in 45 degree temps.

Tikka XP. This is a GENEROUS picture (see comparison below for a much more realistic shot) - the floorspot is nowhere near this bright. (My budget digital camera doesn't do fixed exposures.) Note how small the beamspot is, with poor spill. Still, this is one of the most commonly used headlamps for running, and actually works very well in the absence of traffic glare.



A realistic shot of the FENIX torch. It really is that dramatic compared to the Tikka - like night and day.




This shot of both the FENIX + TIKKA PLUS on together best illustrates the difference between the Tikka and the FENIX. Note the little groundsplash of light that the Tikka puts out compared to the huge flood of the FENIX. You will literally wash out the Tikka if you aim it into the periphery of the FENIX.

Here's shots of my night running gear as well:

THE GEAR:
Illuminite hat
Brooks Element Reflective Jacket
Adventure strap light on sternal strap
North Face Hydration Pack with added reflectors
MARS 3.0 bike reflector attached onto the hydration pack
Brooks Adrenaline sneakers
FENIX P2LD on a NiteEyes Headstrap (will be replaced by a Jakstrap soon)
Tikka Plus on my waist for any needed close-range feet lighting
I add Illuminite gloves when it's colder out.






Here's with the lights ON. I'm pretty sure this will get attention in traffic!