I'm a lifelong torch nerd. I don't collect them and keep them in glass cases, I just like torches and I'm always on the lookout for something that will work better for me. At last count I had something like twenty five torches around the house. Training in the winter pretty much requires a lot of night running, and through the night ultras add to that.
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| Silva, Petzl, ZL H53, Olight, ZL H600 |
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| Petzl Nao2 (575ln model) |
In about 2014 I splashed out with christmas money on a Petzl Nao 575 - at the time the best thing going. It's still pretty good, it's the most comfortable light to wear that I own, with excellent light spread. I've replaced the battery (with a higher capacity one that because of the way the electronics works probably won't be that much of a benefit). The reactive lighting is nice for night map reading, and probably adds quite a bit to the battery life. The thing I dislike the most about it is simply the spare battery setup - Petzl charge a lot of money for a spare battery module, when in fact at it's heart it's just an 18650. If they'd designed it to take a simple 18650 and put the extra circuitry in the battery case instead of the battery module it would be near perfect. Even if they used consistent batteries between iterations it would help - newer batteries are plug incompatible with older lights. Newer models have never addressed this limitation, which seems driven by exploitative marketing on the part of Petzl. There are other design flaws in the battery handling, like the fact that replacing the original module with a higher capacity has, for design reasons, no impact.
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| Zebralight H600f |
I've experimented with a few other torches more recently in the search for a 'one true light'. The Zebralight H600fw is my favourite general purpose light. Unfortunately the head strap is uncomfortable, and the user interface is so complex that I've often ended up struggling right through the night with low light levels only to discover I had loads of power in reserve.
Recently I've had an LED Lenser Neo10r. It's served me through a couple of night races, including the TP100. It's comfortable enough and has a reasonable light spread, although not a patch on the Petzl. The battery is unfortunately a customised 18650 a bit like the Petzl - a massive fail on the part of LED Lenser and one that would have been a deal breaker if I'd known up front. The strap fits OK on my big head, especially if I wear a hat under it. It comes loose when Claire wears it though. The focus ring doesn't seem that useful. It provides good light with a reasonable spread and a tint that's slightly cool for my taste, the UI is nice and simple (high, medium, low) and the battery life is excellent. I used it on the TP100 and it provided good strong light right through the night.
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| Silva Cross Trail 5R |
My latest and current favourite is a Silva Cross Trail 5R. I bought it cheap on an OMM competitors discount. It has light quality and spread roughly equal to the Petzl, good spare battery support (including a whole range of [rather pricey] different capacity backup batteries). The battery it ships with is a fairly low capacity 2000mAh, which doesn't last as long as I'd need for a through the night race except at the height of summer. Interface is similar to the Lenser: H/M/L, and hold to switch off (a very useful feature, the Petzl annoys me that it has to be switched all the way off to get from low to high).
The latest sponsor for Runfurther.com is Moonlight. They make a range of high powered headlamps that look very tempting indeed. Lightweight, strongly built, powerful and powered by an off the shelf 21700 battery. Sadly I'm nowhere near a good enough runner to be in the running for one as a prize, but I might get chance to have a look at one and if it's as good as they look I might get tempted later in the year.
Reasonable quality running lights are not cheap - the market leaders are all round about 130 quid (although Petzl peaked at about 180 a year or two back). For a light to be comfortable it needs to be well balanced and light, which means separating the battery pack and emitter (introducing cables into the mix) and using lightweight materials (which can feel a bit flimsy). The Zebralight is famously bombproof, but not ideal as a running light.
Since I do a lot of solo training at night, I need a good running light. For safety I also carry a high quality but less comfortable general purpose light like the Zebralight (or it's single AA sibling the H53)
or a Skilhunt H04 mini as a backup. That way I have the bombproof light in case things go wrong, and the comfort of a running specific light.
I also often carry an Olight i3e as a backup. These are tiny lights that run off a single AAA (I use an eneloop) and provide an hours light - enough to get down off the moor at a pinch).
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| Zebralight H52 & Olight i3e |
On the basis of what I've used so far my current recommendation would be the Silva Cross trail. It has good light spread, is good off the shelf value, and has extremely flexible battery and accessory options. It's also very comfortable. I've had some dealings with Silva UK and they're really quick and responsive to customers. On the negative side, the batteries are quite expensive and proprietary. The Moonlight does look like it might be the best of all worlds, but until I can justify the expense of getting my hands on one it's difficult to say.
The market leader is of course Petzl, but I'd hesitate to recommend them. Mine has been a fantastic piece of kit but the spindly cable/cord designs Petzl favour are a pain to carry in a pocket. They seem to bring out a new model every five minutes, don't provide support for older models, and seem to favour obsolescence to drive sales.
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