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The feather weight e+Lite |
To be so light the e+Lite has a small body, thin strap and uses 2 of the flat disk CR2032 batteries. What I found with this was that running along the road you hardly knew you had it on, there was no bounce at all. On a technical decent on a trail however I did find it bounced, and tightening the strap made no difference, but this wasn’t so bad as to have too much of a negative effect on one’s ability to see where you were going. The thin strap, whilst effectively holding the lamp well on your head, it does mean that when you adjust the angle or setting of the lamp you do need two hands to avoid it sliding off your head. Again not a big drama, but if you have a handheld water bottle, or have a hand torch, this could be a nuisance.
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Cap clip, and ball and socket angling |
The other nice touch is that the clasp on the head strap is also a whistle, an item which is becoming more common on the mandatory gear lists for trail ultras.

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Who are you calling "Big Nose" |
What really matters with a head lamp is of course how well they illuminate your path. Both torches have the same functions, maximum beam, economy beam and flashing, as well as infrared beam and flashing. The infrared is great for being able to read your watch, looking at the ground 2 metres in front of you and road signs at 50ms, but other than that it’s not a function you’ll get much benefit from whilst running. Certainly if walking it would be a nice feature to use.
So let’s look at the battery and range stats:
e+Lite
Economy – 45 hours
Maximum – 35hours (19m range)
Tikka XP2
Economy – 120 hours
Maximum – 55 hours (35m range)
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XP2 Light diffuser slides up over the lens |
The standout memory of this test for me was when running along a straight stretch of road wearing the e+Lite. The lamp was picking out the road side reflectors at over 120m distance (I’m sure the XP2 would have been as good if not better). For the night time sections of TNF 100 the track is marked with reflective tape, so being able to pick them out from over 100m is comforting and shows that it is a very effective torch.
So both headlamps have their good and less good points. Which will I be using for next week? Well I’ll probably go with the XP2 for my head and may use the e+Lite on my waistband, or I may still go with the handheld. Don’t get me wrong the e+Lite is a great head lamp which I would recommend to anyone, and being waterproof with a 10 year guarantee would be a really good investment for a trail runner. I do prefer the one hand operation of the XP2, and the wider beam function and that has been the clincher for me. It is so light though that I’ll keep it in my bag as a wet weather option if it’s raining.
Good luck to all heading out on the trails this weekend.
Run Happy
Andy
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Good luck on Saturday - hope to see you out there. I'm going for a more heavy-duty lighting system with Avaya lights at night. Will be carrying the e-Lite during the day.
ReplyDeleteMy full gear list is up at http://www.enduroexplorer.com/ultra-gear-list-tnf100.aspx
I was using the e-Lite during tnf100 and found it to be inadequate. I couldn't really see my own light when others shine their's in my way, casting my shadow right in front of me. Furthermore the light was a little too dim to allow running.
ReplyDeleteHey Rtexal, I can see that others lights behind would be a problem, as that did effect me too during TNF. I couldn't test for this out on the trails by myself, but a good point to note for future. However, using a separate hand torch as well will overcome this, so the head torch provides the ambient lighting and the hand torch to create shadow. If you had to run with one only, you're far better off using a torch which is positioned away from your eyes so you get the shadow to define obstacles clearly.
ReplyDeleteYou also hint at another good point that the faster you are travelling the brighter the light needs to be. Something else to consider when buying a torch. That said if you were not running on trails the e+Lite would be a very effective solution.