Headlamps?

Thats what I was thinking until I saw $175.

Vamp does that light adjusting mode really work?
Yah, it's close to prohibitive. Amazon has it for 163 but still, that's a lot of cash for extra light. I'll try the one I have first of course, and see if it's still adequate in the winter. I've already pretty much stopped using it in the summer. I'm teaching myself to embrace the occasional sharp rock or acorn shrapnel.
Why? you're not going to be out that early wintertime anyways-you'll see:coldfeet:
Probably not, but I did start delivering papers on January 1st, at 5am, when I was 11 years old, so I know I can hack it if I really want to keep running in the mornings and don't mind running shod most of the time.
 
Yeah the reactive lighting really works. If you look at a photo of the light head, what looks like x3 LEDs, one of these is actually a sensor which picks up ambient/reflected light. If you're in a house with the lights on and you turn on the Nao, it'll be really dim as the ambient light is bright, if you put your finger over the sensor the brightness ramps right up.

When I start my runs I'm in a built up area with streetlights, so the Nao is pretty dim when I turn it on, until I reach the edge of the houses about .5km away and then I'm into dark country lanes. The Nao ramps the power up as soon as I pass the last streetlight (and vice versa when I come home again). :)

The only slight downside I've found. If you're running on a pavement alongside a road, every time a car comes past with its headlights on, the Nao will dim right down as it sees the car headlights as "reflected ambient light". But you can easily fix this by flipping the Nao over to a "constant" mode if you're running near cars, so it will work with whatever light output you select - no reactive control (like a normal headlamp).
 
Forget nao, there are more compact reactive lightning (also rechargeable) models available, either pretty soon or already - tikka rxp and tikka r+. Here's tikka rxp:
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-news/just-in---petzl-tikka-rxp-headtorch/11162.html

It's up to 215 lumens and about $60 cheaper than nao..

R+ seems to be little cheaper version with same size and less lightning power but little longer burn time...


Kinda sucks since I really got to buy that, and I already have two quite good headlamps...
 
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Forget nao, there are more compact reactive lightning (also rechargeable) models available, either pretty soon or already - tikka rxp and tikka r+. Here's tikka rxp:
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-news/just-in---petzl-tikka-rxp-headtorch/11162.html

It's up to 215 lumens and about $60 cheaper than nao..

R+ seems to be little cheaper version with same size and less lightning power but little longer burn time...


Kinda sucks since I really got to buy that, and I already have two quite good headlamps...
I wannit, I wannit, I wannit.
 
It also looks 50% smaller and 70% more comfortable and 80% more usable.. ;) At petzl's webpage it says that R+ is up to 135 lumens and RXP up to 180 lumens, so it seems that RXP is about 50% less powerful than nao (350 lumens). I didn't use nao on full power reactive lightning mode anyways so it should be easily enough with up to 180 lumens.
 
It also looks 50% smaller and 70% more comfortable and 80% more usable.. ;) At petzl's webpage it says that R+ is up to 135 lumens and RXP up to 180 lumens, so it seems that RXP is about 50% less powerful than nao (350 lumens). I didn't use nao on full power reactive lightning mode anyways so it should be easily enough with up to 180 lumens.
Wow, for double what I paid for my Tikka 2 Core headlamp ($45), the RXP gives you a little more than five times the lumens (35 versus 180). I got it backordered on LLBean, with a $10 gift card.
 
I use this one:
http://www.zebralight.com/H51-Headlamp-AA-200Lm_p_37.html

with eneloop rechargeable battery..

I like lamp to be small use to carry in the pocket when I don't need it. Petzl nao with it's reactive lighting was also kinda cool, but it was way too big to put on pocket and as it has two solid pieces it also made some noise in there. First I had petzl tikka xp2 with rechargeable battery, but it didn't have enough brightness. I also have zebralight h600, but as I don't really need any more brightness than h51 has it's kinda useless..

Zebralights rock but they arent mainstream department store brands, so most people havent heard of them. I have an H51w and H502d myself, and thinking about upgrading since the H52w is out now... 280 lumens with a single AA, and li-ion support - which gives it a wopping 500 lumens from a single Li-ion AA (if only for a minute before thermal cutback to 280, still impressive for something so tiny and light!).

For me lights arent about lumens vs price. I'm more interested in emitter tint (neutral or high cri), form factor, size & weight, battery config, and UI (user interface). I hate most LED lights that are cool blue tinted, and they cause more glare with less color rendition. I also like the Zebralights form factor, which is very small and converts to 'handheld' easily. I use it more as an everyday carry in my pocket with the pocket clip than as a headlamp. I have it with me now as I almost always do. I like the user interface too, though some find it a bit awkward. Most lights you have to cycle through all the modes (sometimes including the strobes, so annoying), or have multiple buttons, with Zebra you can easily go from off to sub lumen (great for not ruining your night vision) or to high, or sort of to medium too, all with one button (or cycle through by holding it down).

I like AA's too, very common, and available in good rechargeable nimh like Eneloops and in Lithium too for ultimate power/weight and cold weather performance, and 14500 Li-ion support on the new ones if your into those. And a single AA in the zebralight design is so easy to swap, I've done it in the dark, with one hand, with it still on my head while running! Try doing that with a typical 3xAAA plastic headlamp!

Single AA's are limited in runtime though (for the higher power levels), but atleast you can carry the extra cells in your pocket instead of on your head.

I've found on the road the medium settings of 25-50 lumens are fine, but on the trail ~100 or more is needed depending on how technical it is and how fast your going.
 
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The Nao is a MUCH better lamp, yes its more expensive but IMO totally worth it. At max power it throws a huge amount of light, at lower levels (but still brighter than the Tikka) it has a long burn time. It auto-adjusts to ambient light levels, run down a street with lights and it dims right down and saves the battery, come into a dark forest and it ramps the power back up, look at a map/signpost/person and it dims again. You can connect it to a PC/MAC and custom tune the light levels in various modes.

For me it was worth every penny. As trail runner nation said when they renewed it, ok it's expensive but what price do you put on being able to run through the dark in safety, what price on a broken wrist if you trip over a tree root or rock?


I run really really dark roads and trails. No light pollution here: we're hundreds of miles from an urban centre. I splurged on the Nao last year and it transformed my running life. Balance is perfect, brightness is astonishing in the darkest of condition, but never too bright elsewhere thanks to the responsive lighting. Yes, the responsive (auto-adjusting) lighting really, really works. I honestly haven't found the computer-based tweaking of the responsiveness levels to be terribly important, because the basic responsiveness works really well. I use it back-country camping as well, and because it's rechargeable via USB there are lots of gizmos available for keeping the battery charged on extended trips. My favourite is the Biolite cookstove that generates electricity via thermal differentials while you're cooking.

Anyway, the Nao would probably be a needless luxury if you're only ever running suburban or urban streets and trails; for that the Black Diamond Sprinter would be a great choice, in particular because of the flashing rear-facing light. (I bought a $5 clip-on red flasher for the back of my Nao for when I am running on the road.)

Miranda