hello, can you recommend a headlamp for running at night in the forest, it must be light with good autonomy 
I use a Zebralight H53 for road running early in the morning. M1 level is enough light for those conditions and plenty of runtime. I also dim it when there is oncoming traffic to not blind anyone. I haven’t done trail running so I’m not sure if you would need more light. Definitely get the band with the top strap to keep the light from bouncing around, which is very annoying.
What do you use now and what do you want more of? More throw, wider beam, better color temperature, etc. Other than weight. Guess what, if you want more light and longer run times then what you’ve got now it’s going to be heavier.
I use a Sunblesa H11 similar to the Nitecore Nu25, the color of the LED gives bad reflections on the ground, on grass for example the relief is bad
When you say forest, I think the type of running that I do. But I also think forest running requires the polar opposite of the small headlamps that you are looking at. For example orienteering runners are the epitome of forest running. They are really in the woods and not even on the trails most of the time. They use really bright, sometimes really big, expensive lights that can sustain 1,000-5,000+ lumens. I’d say look at runtime graphs and at minimum look for sustained 400+ lumens for the duration of your runs in brighter night conditions. If you run in all weather, look for as many sustained lumens as you can get because you’ll probably want 1000+ lumens in darker wet conditions. So on the small end, I’d want at least a 18500 or 18650 size battery on an efficient headlamp that can hold a sustained 400+ lumens for. . . how long do you run? An hour or two?
A lot of runners get by with small lights because they haven’t seen better and worry about weight and haven’t seen what runners with access to better lights use. Do you want to be able to run fast (need more light), or are you OK with running slowly? Your age also matters. People lose pupil size as they age, and by 60, need 3x the light for indoor reading. . . and outdoor running. I’m in my 50s, so if you are young, I might need 2x the light you need.
The lights designed for running that are bigger run well despite weight because the headstrap system is more stable, and/or the battery is in the back for balance or remote on the body. Headlamps not specifically designed for running should be stable up to 18650 battery size in the front with a headstrap that has an over-the-head strap. Some headstraps are more comfortable than others. You can modify them for more comfort if necessary.
I’ll give a critic of a headlamp that is popular here, and I think would make good running headlamp but for one major issue from a runner’s perspective. Look at a runtime graph from zeroair’s review of the Skilhunt H300.
zeroair-reviews-skilhunt-h300r-xhp50-hi-73.png (2560×1919)
The good: It can do about 650 lumens continuously for over 90 minutes, and 400 lumens continuously for over 3 hours - both useful light levels for a runner using this size light - If I were using this, it would be very straight forward: I’d set it at 650 lumens for runs less than 1.5 hours, and 400 lumens for runs between 1.5 and 3 hours. The bad: I don’t think there’s a way to set it to 650 lumens without sitting through 1.5 minutes of 2000 lumens turbo. That’s kind of a deal breaker for an otherwise nice looking, general purpose headlamp (maybe aim it up high for 1.5 minutes before lowering it?). From a runner’s perspective, I don’t want turbo modes that can’t be sustained for the duration of a run. It’s also decreasing the runtime at 650 lumens by being excessive for 1.5 minutes - any additional runtime at 650 lumens (maybe it could get 1:45+ runtime instead of 1:34) is more valuable than the negatively useful turbo. If it could somehow hold a steady 2000 lumens (like many bigger orienteering lights), great, I’d take that over 650 lumens. But I don’t want to make my pupils small for 1.5 minutes before I get to the actual working 650 lumens mode that this headlamp should be capable of. I consider how long my run is, and generally set it at the highest brightness that can be sustained for that duration and leave it there until the run is over, expecting the light to remain at that level the entire time like a car headlight.
Some reviews have outdoor photos of beam patterns that I like to see, particularly those on fields or pointed up trails. For running, you ideally want both flood and distance punch at the same time, with a equal-lux carpet of light from just in front of your feet on into the distance. The flood is important to not have tunnel vision and light the ground so you don’t trip up. The punch is important for navigation, to see where you are going (and see potentially dangerous animals with adequate warning like bears, moose, porcupine (I have a dog) where I live). This can be accomplished with TIRs (often a wide combined with a narrow or multiple narrows in orienteering lights) as well as reflectors, so seeing how the beam lights up the ground is important. You a headlamp capable of a carpet of light, not a bright burning spot on the ground.
I like high CRI lights, and neutral to warm color, but lumens matters the most in the forest if the light is reasonable pleasant.
It’s not budget except in comparison to it’s orienteering headlamp competition (LEDX, Lupine, Silva. . .), but I’d say look at the Czech brand Lucifer lights, since that’s probably where my next headlamp will come from. Basically, everything from Lucifer (or LEDX) is designed for forest running, so even if you don’t buy, looking at those product lines can give you a sense of how they differ in design and intent from general-use headlamps.
There also lights from the outdoor brands, the most popular being Petzl. My girlfriend likes her Petzls (Actik Core and a Nao+) reasonably well, preferring the smaller one. My main critique is the ugly beam color, but she doesn’t notice or care. The Swift RL, Nao RL (newer version of Nao+), and Iko Core have their fans among runners, and maybe their reactive tech is what you are meaning when you say autonomy? The Swift RL would probably be my pick out of those based on reviews from runners. I would say they would definitely be an upgrade from your current headlamp and you can probably find them where you live, though I’d go Lucifer at the higher price points. Compared to the brands that BLF talks about, Petzl has more engineering/thought put into the headstrap (more or less successfully depending on model - see reviews) and balance, and battery saving reactive tech, while having no consideration to light spectrum.
2 Thanks
!!!réponse complète, merci. Jes vais y regarder.
Isnt the headlamp gonna bounce around causing huge discomfort. I mean any headlamp will bounce around. I imagine that wont be comfortable.
Et armytek c1? Ce que j’aime avec les lampes coudé c’est la polyvalence edc/running / travail…
It doesn’t bounce, if you use hard holder.
For my runs i use acebeam h40, it can throw 200 lumens for almost 2 hours. If i need more light and time, i use 18650 light.
Some don’t bounce. If it’s a headlamp you can center on your head and it’s weight is balanced and its on a half decent headband with a top strap it’s not an issue. The flashlight(s) in my pockets are though lol. I’ve bounced a light out of a pocket but havent bounced a headlamp off my head. But only because you know right away if you can run with a particular headlamp or not. Either it bounces or it doesn’t. To be fair I’m not running in tight spandex shorts, just regular pockets
But ya, definitely most headlamps are going to bounce. All right angle headlamps I’ve tried are pretty bouncy, but I haven’t tried all of them yet.
I have had headlamps get hooked off by a branch before tho lol
1 Thank
Merci pour vos réponses, pour un petit budget je vais regarder les armytek elf c2 ou c1 en warm sont elle recommandable par rapport a la wizard pour courir 2h?
No. Here’s me about to drop a 4:46 downhill trail mile in the dark during a 50-mile race. I was using a Gemini Duo with a 2x18650 battery pack in the back. Around that time, I was also busting downhill Strava records on longish downhill trails (2+ mile downhills) running well under 5-minutes per mile average. A small light doesn’t cut it when running 13 mph in the dark on trails.
I changed the lighthead to a cheap (but popular among mountain bikers) neutral white Yinding when the Gemini failed (both look the same, both imitating the Lupine Piko from way back), and the Yinding eventually failed too after a couple years. Here’s how I had the headstrap modified when I was last using it. Though 232g as shown (still with a 2x18650 battery pack), it’s actually my most comfortable headlamp to run in. Really - it’s more comfortable than all the small headlamps I’ve ever owned going down even to the 3xAAA types from 20 years ago. I orientated the battery pack vertical to fit flat on the flat part of the lower back of my head, a bit off center to avoid the ridge on the back of my skull to avoid any pressure points, so I don’t even feel the battery pack. The lighthead is only 59g including the cable, so super light compared to almost any headlamp (lighter than the 3xAAAs). The mount for the lighthead is rigid and has a wide enough base to not move at all, so there’s no flopping, and I paid attention to padding the back of that mount with strap material - much better than floppy silicone types. Overall, it feels no different than wearing a knit ski hat - I don’t feel the weight or any flop at all no matter the activity.
The top orienteers use much bigger lights than I do, mostly old LEDX Cobras in this screenshot. (I also raced and won local night orienteering meets back in the day). Notice how high the lights are being worn, both me above and these dudes. I like that to avoid flash back when its snowing, raining, or foggy:
2 Thanks
You sure are an exceptional athlete. The world record for the marathon (26.22ml) is about 2 hour in absolute perfect circumstances (billiard flat, no wind, pace setter). You are able to achieve the same speed in the dark, in the woods, over twice the distance. Hats off.
Where did I say twice the distance? 2+ miles means 2.2 or 2.3 or 2.4, so more like 1/12th the marathon distance and downhill. The downhill makes a big difference. That was when I was 46-47 years old too, so old and slower. When I was young, I was much faster on flat over 2 miles (under 9 minutes) than when I was old and going downhill (more like 9:30 - 9:54), so yes, I was a good athlete.
edit: Looked up one of my faster night trail downhills on Strava in 2016. I hit peak pace of 4:08 per mile (14.5 mph), averaged 4:57 per mile for 2.3 mile downhill trail segment in the dark with the Gemini Duo headlamp running 1200 lumen (mtbr tested at 1208 lumen in their integrating sphere) as part of an 11.32 mile training run trail loop when age 47.
Je ne suis pas certain mais j’ai cru voir une photo de David goggins terminer une course aves une Petzl sur la tête
I understand this view and have experienced it when walking around with a handheld floody light (Convoy S2+ with 25deg TIR). When I’ve played around with different heights, I usually find that waist high is too low for me, making the shadows too strong (there are 3"/7cm roots on portions of the trail out my back yard) and hiding what’s behind in a shadow. Chest to neck high might be “ideal” for me in terms of not too much shadow, not too little.
However, running at brighter settings, 400-1200 lumens, I’ve just not had an issue with depth perception. I’ve been running brighter headlamps (bike lights on headstraps) since the first Magicshine came out in 2009. I use a headlamp pretty much nightly for 2 hours for a large chunk of the year because I live at 60 degrees north latitude. I don’t even think about it, the light is just comfortable when I have enough lumens in a good beam pattern. And I haven’t see the elite orienteers use handheld lights to supplement their even brighter headlamps either, and they are running natural terrain in the woods.
Maybe the difference is that a brighter headlamp can be pointed up the trail (slight angle below parallel to the ground) instead of pointed more directly at the ground like people have to do with dimmer headlamps. I just went outside now, where it’s night still, and the ground is very lumpy refrozen snow or more subtle waves of drifted snow on the untrampled parts of my yard. I see all the depth with my headlamps. Trying to reproduce the loss of depth sensation, I can only kind of get that when I point the light down at the ground instead up looking more forward. I had a hard time reproducing the lack of depth perception sensation otherwise. I’ll have to try that again in dry dirt conditions because I’m not really seeing it tonight.
Not saying you need to do anything different, just trying to understand the issue and why it happens or doesn’t happen.
There are plenty of daytime situations with zero shadow too, such as an overcast day, where people don’t have trouble with depth perception, so it’s not always a given that shadow=depth perception.
Don’t know about Goggins, but Kilian Jornet is now using an orienteering/bike style Moonlight headlamp. The beam looks too narrow, but maybe because he’s using it on a low setting and pointing it at the ground in the woods sequence.
Encore merci pour vos reponse, pas mal moonlight! Mais j’ai oublié de préciser que j’ai un petit budget de 70€/$ .
The Olight Perun 2 mini in neutral white is an okay running light. It is small and the headband places it very stable on the forehead. It holds 250 lumens for 1.5 hours. For 9.5 minute trail miles, 250 lumens is fine. Especially with a throwier light. The light is far from high CRI, but at high level its not that green.
I like my running headlamp to be a little throwy.
If I had to go any larger for running, I would try to find a light decoupled from the battery. Battery in the back kinda thing.
Those moonlight lights look rad. What emitters do they use in them?