night running safety tips

Good article find Lara SD. I am always on the lookout for more reflective gear since a good bit of my run time is after dark.(Even though this winter I haven't been out much after dark.) Besides reflective gear I use a flashing red LED on my back and a 5 LED headband light. When I see a car I turn the light on.(I have found at times it works for dogs at night also, which is a very scary thing.) Most of the time I run by myself, which in a very rural area (sometimes not a house for over a mile) probably isn't too good of an idea. One other thing that I use is a RoadID (RoadID.com I think) which has my name, address, emergency contact and alergy information on it. I think this is a great thing for people like me that train nearly all the times by themselves.

Where did you get the LED for back and headband? Is there something for back of hat too? I run mostly down a long road on an extra wide sidewalk, but there's a number of intersections to cross. I have also been close to being hit by an old woman on a bicycle who couldn't see my white hat and shirt. Maybe LED's would help.

The back light I got at Meijers (a local department store similar to Walmart) for around $5 (2" diameter). It has one flashing LED surrounded by plastic reflector material. It uses two ~1cm diameter watch style batteries. I had a back LED that I used to use that had 5 leds and different flashing programs but was powered by 2 AA batteries. This was a little heavier and bigger (~2"x3.5") and really designed for bikes.

The headlight I got on ebay for about $5 but it came from China so I paid $10 in shipping. It is either off, on or flashing and has 5 white LEDs. The headband isn't the most comfortable because there is a plastic base where the lamp attached. This light is comperable to a Pezyl but much cheaper. This light is powered by 3 AAA batteries.

Thanks for the info. I will have to look for them.

How about the bike. It's still a little dark at 6am here. What is recommended for the bike (I'm not installing a fixed light). Thanks.

That is a great question that I haven't researched much yet. I know that with the bike you have to have something much brighter because: 1) You are traveling faster so you have to have a beam that travels further and 2) You don't have as many options to avoid cars(that is without causing damage to yourself or your bike). I think I read one review of a bike lighting system about a recommended minimum wattage (light output and not how much power you generate on your bike) but I don't remember the number. I know that they make systems for moutain bikers which should have plenty of light for road bikes. I think most of the better(higher wattage, longer battery burn time, durability and shorter battery recharge time) are pretty expensive ($100-$300). The reason I started looking was because I was thinking of starting to commute partially on my bike. My full commute is about 50 min in a car, so it would take some time to build up to that. Let me know if you find out anything else about bike lighting.

Craig