Night Running Safety

I'd recommend buying a headlamp ($20-30 from REI). It's hard to miss the if you are driving and is good to see footing otherwise. Yes, it looks dorky.

I also put a little blinker on my elbow so I can be seen from behind since I am unsure if you could see a headlamp from behind.

I use a headlamp with a brimmed (baseball style) cap to keep the light from getting in my eyes, and a Noxgear reflective light vest for visibility. The Noxgear vest is light and doesn't bounce around, but the light-up wires/strings are a little stiff, so sometimes they feel like they interfere with my arm swing a little bit.

This is the best combo I've been able to come up with for my purposes.

https://www.noxgear.com/

FlyingScotsman wrote:

I'd recommend buying a headlamp ($20-30 from REI). It's hard to miss the if you are driving and is good to see footing otherwise. Yes, it looks dorky.

I also put a little blinker on my elbow so I can be seen from behind since I am unsure if you could see a headlamp from behind.

When I had that kind of setup, I would clip the blinking light to the back of the headlamp's headband.

How do you affix it to your elbow?

I have this little guy. Headlamp on the front. Red blinker on the back. They see me coming and going.

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/headlamps-and-lanterns/sprinter-headlamp-BD620630SBLUALL1.html

Do you think reflective gear is enough by itself or do I need some sort of illumination method as well? Do you put more importance on being seen or being able to see? Thanks for the help!

RunnerJohn92 wrote:

Do you think reflective gear is enough by itself or do I need some sort of illumination method as well? Do you put more importance on being seen or being able to see? Thanks for the help!

Reflective gear is not enough because if there is no light, reflective gear does nothing.

I often go with no special gear but I only have a 1/3 mile to get to miles of paved trails. If my kids go we load up on blinky lights, etc. I only use a headlamp on hiking type trails.

On the safety side I always prefer morning dark to evening dark. If I were a regular night runner I would give more thought to that.

I do about 90% of my runs at night: I have this reflective running vest I wear, then I have this light up slap band that I wear on my arm.... and then as if that wasn't enough, two reflective bands (one on the oppose arm of the light up band & then around my ankle).

I run on rail trails with these: https://knucklelights.com/

RunnerJohn92 wrote:

Do you think reflective gear is enough by itself or do I need some sort of illumination method as well? Do you put more importance on being seen or being able to see? Thanks for the help!

You need a light, apparently. I had a coworker scream my head off because he thought he was going to kill me. He was speeding down the road at 45 mph (35 mph limit) when I was running on the berm. Everyone who drove passed me that morning was well over 3 ft away and I didn't think anything about it.

I eventually drove passed a bike rider the same way; he had no lights, and I see my coworkers point. 3 ft looks like a lot when you are jogging, doesn't look like a lot in a car at 45 mph.

A thing of pepper spray is a little easier to manage than a gun. Plus, I've never had the cops called on me when I used pepper spray.

Diyamonds wrote:

I have this little guy. Headlamp on the front. Red blinker on the back. They see me coming and going.

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/headlamps-and-lanterns/sprinter-headlamp-BD620630SBLUALL1.html

I do basically the same thing, but I always keep the headlamp turned on to the red light. Most streets i run have streetlights, and even the ones that don't, i can generally see potholes and bumps well enough to avoid them. I don't like having to run in the light cast from my headlamp, so i keep it on red instead, which just allows me to be seen rather than casting light to see with.

Then i always wear a reflective runner's vest and running clothing with reflective accents.

In general, i feel safer running at night because i can see anything approaching even from behind me because of the light cast from the vehicle's headlights. At night, i will run in the street through my neighborhood, but doing the same route during the day, i have to run on the sidewalks.

I take about 10km of cord and attach it to a strand of Christmas lights, which I wrap around my body and run with