Do any of you run at night with a head lamp?

I run in the early am so yes I use a head lamp. Plus I use reflective vest. All the time I see runners out wearing all black clothing with no reflective gear on.

I run on a sidewalk for one of my routes which is old and even. Absolutely paranoid I will trip and fall so the head lamp helps.

More peaceful in the dark, if it's not cloudy you usually get enough light from the moon and stars. If you are running around cars though it's better to be safe and wear the headlamp/vest.

Almost asked this question myself. I'm stuck with night running due to my schedule, and while the moon and occasional ambient lighting is enough, I'm constantly blinded by the headlights from oncoming traffic. I actually broke my fibula because of it. Does a headlamp help or are you still temporarily unable to see anything when all the oncoming traffic is using high-beams. They must think it'll keep them from hitting deer in my area...I love running and don't want to break my freaking leg again.

Yes, more to be seen than to see. Though at least once it illuminated someone running toward me on a path. We would have collided without my light. Other dude had dark clothes and no light.

Yup. Mostly mornings, but sometimes at night. If you live in the north and work a normal full time job, the only way to run outside during the week is to do it in the dark.

And I don't mind it. Agree with others who say it can be extra peaceful. I also find that depending on where I'm at, I'll turn my light off or adjust brightness levels to fit with whatever ambient light I have around me.

I run in the mornings with a headlamp. get up at 5, still dark when the run is done at 6:30. I use a reaktiv + lamp, a little bulky but a lot of light.

I run on a MUP in my town, lots of sections with no lamps at all, not sure how people run on certain parts wthout a headlamp.

Clewds wrote:

Almost asked this question myself. I'm stuck with night running due to my schedule, and while the moon and occasional ambient lighting is enough, I'm constantly blinded by the headlights from oncoming traffic. I actually broke my fibula because of it. Does a headlamp help or are you still temporarily unable to see anything when all the oncoming traffic is using high-beams. They must think it'll keep them from hitting deer in my area...I love running and don't want to break my freaking leg again.

I run at night, and i wear a running cap. By tilting my head down slightly, I can shield my eyes from an oncoming car's headlights with the visor of the cap, and allowing me to watch the ground in front of me. But i would do an occassional check to make sure the car is not headed straight for me.

That said, i don't really cross much oncoming traffic on my residential route, and when i do, i always jump up onto the sidewalks.

For a light, i just use a red headlamp, more for being seen than seeing anything. Sometimes i get onto sidestreets without streetlights and i have to be more attentive so i pick out hard to see potholes and the like, but it's doable and my eyes adjust well enough. In my residential neighborhood, that's about all i need or want.

Back in the day when I was doing two a days, my morning run was always around 6:15 or 6:30am. Pretty dark out. I never wore a headlamp or any other lighting mechanism. At that time of day there were very few people out. Your eyes would adjust to the darkness plus there were streetlights. When it was clear the moon light off the snow made it very light out. I rarely saw anyone else except occasionally near the university campus. I know I scared the crap out of a couple of girls sometimes as I came up behind them. Wasn't meaning to do that!

Jump forward a good 30 years and I have run a few times in the evening and used a headlamp. I was running in a park so there were no car issues to worry about. The light lets you see very well out to about 15 yards or so. Beyond that or off to the sides you can't see anything as your eyes have become dependent on the light.

Using a headlamp on a running path is a damn nuisance to runner's who don't when they pass you and can't see where they're going.

If you're a creature of the night, act like one! Batman, ninjas and vampires wouldn't use a headlamp.

I run with my headlamp during the DAY. Never been one to follow the rest of the sheeple.

Amphipod Versa Light Plus

Bad Wigins wrote:

Using a headlamp on a running path is a damn nuisance to runner's who don't when they pass you and can't see where they're going.

If you're a creature of the night, act like one! Batman, ninjas and vampires wouldn't use a headlamp.

I ran at night without a headlamp all summer with no problem but I owe at least some of that to sheer luck.Theres plenty of things I've just barely missed stepping on like a chunk of broken asphalt or something that you wouldnt see at night without a light. Now that its fall and theres sticks and leaves everywhere it would be stupid to not wear a headlight, luck only goes so far.

This hobby jogger runs at night with a headlamp. Due to busy work schedule, I go out with it and I have fewer cars and no other runners out. I’d rather go out earlier and not wear one, but I fi what I need to do. Started after nearly getting run over on sidewalk by a couple of kids on bikes and stepping on a snake in dark.

Someone suggested a head lamp to me the other day, this thread is helpful too.

A few years back I moved to a really pretty, peaceful area with a great mix of dirt and paved roads that I love to run on. However, there are no sidewalks and no street lamps in the area and the first 3-4 minutes of any run from my house heads down a dangerous, winding road with aggressive drivers at 50-60 mph, with hi-beams. It is not a relaxing way to start out my morning runs. The rest of the run is peaceful but really dark and you lose night vision from passing cars.

I think a head lamp will be really helpful, I have used them on relays like Hood to Coast, RTB, etc. I am just wondering if bad drivers will see the head lamp and start swerving if it looks too strange; most drivers have probably never experienced a runner with head lamp coming at them.

Wear a reflective vest as well and you will stand out more readily as a human. Drivers are used to seeing reflective vests like on utility workers or flaggers. I also wear a blinking red light on the back of my hat to be sen from behind.

Old Hobby Joggers wrote:

This hobby jogger runs at night with a headlamp. Due to busy work schedule, I go out with it and I have fewer cars and no other runners out. I’d rather go out earlier and not wear one, but I fi what I need to do. Started after nearly getting run over on sidewalk by a couple of kids on bikes and stepping on a snake in dark.

I was almost smoked by some kids on bikes too on the sidewalk.. It's amazing how disrespectful some people are, even in the day time I'll be running on the sidewalk at times and have had a bikers come at me on the sidewalk and they don't budge they expect me to move off into the grass for them even though it's not a busy road and they could easily have moved off onto the corner of the road. The only time I bike on the sidewalk is if it's night and I for some reason don't have very visible clothing/light or if I'm riding on a very busy road and the sidewalk isn't occupied.

I run shirtless at night with only my shorts and shoes. Just make sure the area has little to no traffic at night.

Even though I'm nearsighted, I run perfectly fine without glasses at night and have fairly good night vision.