See and be seen are the two most important principles of night running. Over the winter, moreover runners withdrew from the woods on bicycle paths, therefore they must reckon with other road users than deer and hares. We looked at how to outwit jogging in the dark.
Reflective elements
Reflective material elements visible from all directions are the very basis for anyone after dark issues into operation. In purely cross-country brands even created a special series, which boasts an extremely high amount of reflective surfaces. If your clothes still missing reflective clothes, do not be sad. Flexible reflective tapes can be bought for a few cents literally a visibility problem is that very easily solved. To resolve the presence of reflective surfaces elegant way, there are also self-adhesive or iron-on reflective stripes, which can easily enhance any piece of sportswear.
However, if you get when running on the unlit space, you’ll need something better.
Headlights
Headlamps are the best friend the night approaching kilometers. You not only because of them you will see the feet on uneven surfaces, but also about themselves you know all runners and cyclists in the opposite direction.
The basic parameter for selecting the headlamps is its performance. Among the cheapest flimsy lamps include a relatively weak performance, with around one hundred lumens. They are most suited to running on the road and smooth bike paths where you only need a weak beam and more than exploring the terrain is important for you to draw attention to their presence nearby.
Choosing headlamp role lumens, control and power
If you run regularly along broken roads or paved rural and forest trails, look around rather to stronger with power from two to four hundred lumens. You will no longer strong enough to comfortably illuminate the terrain a few meters in front of you, allowing you to run over rough surfaces without the risk ankle.
For lovers of difficult terrain, there are then the most powerful (and expensive) headlamps with power from 500 to 1000 lumens. That’s quite a glow that turns night into day, but also a gaping hole burned into the retinas of runners in the opposite direction. Remember, therefore, on busy roads spotlight adequately mute.
What illuminate the area in front of you is concerned; looking headlamps competition is very difficult. Your back remains unlit, and especially the weaker headlamp beam of light can be seen from the rear until relatively late.
Therefore, it is good to combine headlamp with something that will take care of it, so you could see not only the front but also behind.
This role is played to perfection variety blink and lights, which can be clipped to the body. Runners most sought reflective tape with red LEDs that can be on the ankle or arm. In addition to the bands worth mentioning even blink or snap clips that can easily be clipped to a backpack or bottom edge of the jacket.
The big advantage of such opportunity is turning your bike into any side so that their LEDs shine exactly the direction that you need. Most often, you may encounter a red light, but also newly emerging blue and green flashing light that can attract the attention of an unusual color even slightly better than the traditional red color. To run unlit passages can, however, their shine will not be enough.
Reflective safety vests
The final safety feature designed for running in the dark as reflective vests with integrated LEDs. These to some extent combine the advantages of the preceding variants. Vests are usually made from lightweight mesh neon bright colors and are thickly dotted with large reflective surfaces. For the better then missing two strips of LEDs on the chest and back, which can be separately controlled?
Diodes significantly increase the efficiency of reflective vests and enable its use also on unlit places. Leading white LEDs will never be able to have such power to replace the headlamp, but for occasional overrun unlit section that should be enough. Practically unusable, however, vest provided that run with a backpack.
My solution
Personally, I prefer a combination headlamp and snap blink (reflective elements on a backpack and clothes are commonplace). I choose a headlamp with high performance that pleasantly and dense fog, which is typical for winter Brno. Another advantage is the fact that the maximum intensity of the light can be used instead of a short flash of the bell, alert and my presence pedestrian and dog-friendly, which I pass on the cycle path.
Snap-flashing clip suits me because it is very easy to attach to a backpack that I am back in the evening running from work almost every day. Due to running with a backpack unfortunately out of the game use a reflective vest.