Running at Night

I wear a reflective vest my best friend got me for xmas last year haha. works great! I also wear a light on my head or hat. works fine! havent had any problems with cars not seeing me. 

Vest and light helps.

First light I used was headlight type light which is heavy and hard to run with. I found clip on lights work much better and are very light weight.

Here is one..swiveling helps have the light be where you want it to be compared to hat brim.

I usually run on the hike and bike trails and don't need any lights. There is enough ambient light that my eyes adjust easily. When I have to cross a major street there are sufficient street lights for me to see clearly. I have a running "vest" that I will occasionally wear but I am not running on a road, only periodically crossing it. I always go with the assumption that no matter what I am wearing I am invisible to the cars.

Night time running is some of my favorite.

I have reflective arm bands, and sometimes will wear a reflective vest. I have also carried one of those glow in the dark sticks my kids have around Halloween. I have tried running with a light, but I tend to look at the road when I'm running at night and the bouncing of the light makes my head feel funny.

Fuel Belt branded reflective belt and and wrist bands.  No head lamps, I tried them a couple of times and the constant bouncing and dancing of the light along the ground gave me fits!  I couldn't take it.  Now I try to do most of my dark runs along well lit streets for my own ability to see and use the reflective gear so others can see me.

I use one of these bad boys:

http://www.amphipod.com/440-448/440.html

Reflective vest my wife got me.  Funny enough she got one for me and one for the dog.  The one she got me is huge on me so when I don't run with the dog I where the dogs vest.  Fits me much better (yes I have large dogs).

I was looking at these head lamps... Any comments?     http://www.buy.com/prod/2-pack-7-led-head-light-headlamp/q/loc/66357/listingid/109265761/217327578.html

Sorry if I posted this wrong I could not figure out how to post a link with out copy and paste.

I run on more rural roads where there are no streetlights, so I wear a derivative of this so I can see (and cars can see it too) and I also wear a red "blinky" to also help cars to see me. 

It seems like often they can tell that there is *something* on the side of the road, and then they turn on their high beams (blinding me) to see what the lights are all about.  Sometimes I wear the lights on over a visor, but I have also worn them alone with no issues.

Edited by ras26 2010-10-19 10:29 AM

My husband carries a flashlight that he turns on if there are cars around or if he needs to see the path in front of him.  He'll also throw on his bright orange safety t-shirt if he's going to be running streets instead of a MUP.

I'm too scared to bad guys to run in the dark. I usually do the first part on the tread, then hit the street as the sun comes up!

I got a lot of my night/early morning running gear from illuminite.  Looks like their website/stock is being redone at the moment, but they tons of running gear (pants, shirts, hats, gloves, jackets) that have tiny mirrors built into the fabric so the shirts themselves are reflective.  Much nicer than running with an awkward vest on over your running clothes.

So I wear the temperature appropriate reflective gear, a headlamp, and a flashing red LED clipped to the back of the headlamp. 

Excellent point... its scary out there!  All people should be cautious, but esp. women out alone.

I use one of those as well, and I clip a flashing red light on the back as well.

I use a cheap reflector vest and one of these cool blinky things:  http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=planet+bike+arm+band&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2524046405025917455&ei=sNK9TKmlD8ys8Aa6s_T7Bg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ8wIwAA#

I don't like headlamps because I can't see anything outside the beam i.e. it kills your night vision.  My goal is to be seen by others and to be able to see them.  I can see where my feet are going very well once my eyes have adjusted to the dark.  Not advice I'd give for cycling at night though.

I have a few things I use.  A headlamp, a reflective vest when it's not jacket weather and the brightest most obnoxious Brooks Nightlife jacket I call it my "If I get hit in this they were blind and I was meant to die" jacket.  Seriously, the thing hurts my eyes to look at in daylight.  But it is effective.  I run mostly on streets with street lights, always against traffic so I can see them coming even if I'm on a sidewalk.  I do not run outside in the dark if the streets/sidewalks are icy.  I work 6:30 am to 5 pm and spend most weekends skiing so in the winter I would be completely relegated to the treadmill if I wasn't willing to run in the dark and that is just not acceptable to me. 

That's a pretty good price.  Glad I checked this out.

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Do you never cross the street?  I run on the sidewalk but most of my close calls come crossing the street (usually people coming up to turn right beside stopped lanes of traffic that I'm crossing in front of at a light (where I have the walk light). 

+1 to that!  I run in the AM before work in DC.  At 6-6:30 AM its pretty dark and there is a he!! of a lot of weary-eyed, half asleep people racing to work.  It pretty safe along the Mall, but crossing those main roads is like a real life game of Frogger!  Even when you've got the walk symbol.

I guess I live in a pretty rural area.  I only cross the street one time each way and can run up to 12 miles round trip without another intersection.  The crossing is on a pretty lightly traveled road and I can see the cars from a long way off.  My biggest worry is coming across an angry racoon or wild pig.  You make a good point, if you cross a lot of streets, might be a good idea to wear something that is reflective. 

Man would that be nice!  I can barely get a 3 mile stretch on my local trail without a street crossing of some kind!