Review Fenix HL26R LED head light

Every runner knows how it is to run in pitch dark in winter time. The change you get hit by a car or sprain your ankle by missing something on the road becomes more realistic than ever. But if you want to go out instead of running inside on a running belt you have to undergo these challenges. But if you are running barefoot in the dark it’s even more challenging. 

When you are running barefoot it becomes a second nature to scan the road to avoid dead animals, snails, glass and stones, something what is very difficult in the dark.

But thanks to the invention of the LED light a headlamp can solve all your problems!!

Recently I bought the Fenix HL26R head light to try out if it works for me. And I am very pleased with it!!! The lamp is specially designed for runners, its light weight and has some great light beams to illuminate the road.

The lamp has two different light beams in several luminance levels.

Floodlight

The floodlight is used for close-range lightning and has three different modes, high, low and SOS mode. The floodlight gives enough light for walking in the dark or to do a job and have your hands free. For running in my opinion it’s not enough light to see everything you want.

Spotlight

The spotlight is perfect for running and it has four modes, low, mid, high and burst mode. Even on the low mode you have perfect visibility during running, and with the high mode you can speed up your run without any problems with visibility of the road. The burst mode you can activate by pressing the spotlight button for 1,5 seconds in any mode and it will turn on for 90 seconds. This mode is so bright that you can blind cars and they are forced to slow down. You can lite the sun for 90 seconds with one push on a button!!

Battery

I always run with the spotlight in high mode and regularly I turn on the burst mode if cars are speeding and they won’t slow down. I have charged the battery one time and I have run over 6 hours and the battery is still not empty.   The level of the battery is indicated by blue lights on the lamp.

Comfort

The lamp weights nothing, you hardly notice there is something on your head. I always wear a cap or a hat if I am running so I don’t feel the headband at all.

Conclusion

A great attribute for a little money and it brings you more comfort and safety during running in the dark. The quality is fine and the lamps feels robust, until now no complains but I just have this lamp for a few weeks.

Website

 http://www.fenixlight.com/ProductMore.aspx?id=2238&tid=27&cid=2#

https://nl.knivesandtools.eu/nl/pt/-fenix-hl26r-oplaadbare-ledhoofdlamp-voor-trailrunning-zwart.htm

Barefoot and cold weather

Yesterday the first snow of the year and it was a lot of snow. A hard gusty wind makes it to a snow blizzard. Normally on Sunday I go out for a one hour run but today I had to shorten my run. Not because my feet were cold but because the snow was flying so hard it hurt my eyes and face. This brings me to running with bare feet during winter. A lot of people asked me if it’s not cold. Yes it’s cold but you can run with bare feet in the snow.

Especially if it’s dry fresh snow it’s pretty comfortable to run, if it’s melting are frozen snow than it’s a different story. Water, cold wind and low temperatures are killing for bare feet. In this conditions you have to be aware of frostbite. Also frozen snow can become very slippery and can cause you injuries. In these cases shorten your run or stay home.

Then comes the hardest part of running in the snow with bare feet, coming home and warming up. This really can hurt. It starts with an itchy feeling and then it start to hurt really badly. There are no tips or trick to avoid this, the only thing is don’t put your feet in warm water or in front of a heater!!! The best thing is to stay in a warm room and gradually warm your feet. Normally this takes about 15 minutes.

So don’t be afraid and get out in the snow, it feel pretty cool (word joke) to be able to run with your bare feet in the snow if everyone else has to put on his or her snow boots!