Gear Review: Ultimate Performance "Performance Head Torch"

I've not been racing much lately, as I try to focus on getting my act together for my next attempt at 100 miles.  I thought about writing a nice little post on how I get my friends to drag me out on long training runs, but then the folks at Run Stuff asked me to review some of their products, and frankly that sounded like a much more interesting thing to do, write, and probably read!

When Lou handed me the Performance Head Torch, by Ultimate Performance, I thought, "it doesn't look like much, but at least it's light."  I also thought it would be great for those runs when you're out on the roads / paths in the winter, where street lighting is mixed or variable but footing is mostly certain.  So, that's where I took it to have a play. [disclosure: I got to try the light out for free. All views on the product are my own.]

Simple:  LED, Lens, Clip, Strap.

Packaging

When I took the torch out of its container, it took me a few seconds to figure out how to turn it on.  There are no buttons anywhere.  The on/off is a function of the assembly, much like many an old hand torch - loosen the lens to turn off, tighten to turn on.  You have to be careful not to loosen too much, or you'll pop the front off (this, by the way, is how you change the batteries).

The torch is very lightweight, coming in at 25g (excluding the CR2016 batteries).  It has a single high-intensity LED which sits behind a magnifying lens.  The light is fixed onto a hinge, allowing it to click into position through a range of 90 degrees to suit your needs.  I found that swiveling down towards the pavement when I was running towards people was a simple way to avoid dazzling them as I ran past.  There are plenty of notches, so you have a lot of flexibility in how you angle the beam.  And, since the hinge is on a clip, you can easily clip the light onto your peaked cap if you want - not easy to do with most head torches.

The clip makes it easy to put the lamp on your cap, and there's plenty of  beam angle flexibility.

Brightness

The first test of a small head torch is to overpower street lighting - there's no point in having something that isn't brighter than the ambient conditions.  Evesham is blessed with some lumpy pavements under weak street lighting, so I headed along routes I can run without extra light, but only if I slow down and take extra care.  The beam was sufficiently bright and large enough to make running at a comfortable pace (~8min/mi) very easy.  There's no lumen figure given by Ultimate Performance, so it's difficult to compare directly with other torches.

Next, I headed for unlit footpaths (still tarmac), and found the beam to be quite sufficient.  So, for country roads and other dark, slightly uneven surfaces, the brightness was fine.  Digging in my backpack in the dark was also an easy task - and I wasn't being blinded by looking at reflective surfaces like I can be with my high-powered torch.  I was able to use the light to see my Garmin, rather than use the backlight, thus saving the power for timing and GPS.

Power

The single LED is powered by 2 CR2016 batteries (included).  It's rated to have 16 hours continuous burn time.  Because these are standard disposable lithium batteries, I would expect the light to dim somewhat in the final half of the battery life, but that's still plenty of time to cover those dark sections of your winter road runs.  You'll probably need 2-3 sets of batteries to get you through the winter if you're staying in town, possibly a bit more if you're out on the country roads at night.

Comfort

This is where the Performance Head Torch really wins. It's light, there's a small pad on the back of the clip so it rests comfortably on the forehead, and the strap is small and unobtrusive.  Compared to my LED Lenser H7R, which has an external battery pack, this was a joy to wear.  It fits easily over a hat, and with the cap clip, can also attach to a chest strap or waistband, if you want a lower beam (very handy in foggy conditions!).

Summary

So, given all of that, would I actually be willing to buy the Performance Head Torch?  Yes: it would make a great addition to my kit cupboard.  For running around town in the dark months, this torch is completely sufficient.  I'd also be quite happy to take it on camping trips for those short, dark walks to the never-nearby facilities.  For my long night runs on the trails, the light isn't enough for a primary light, but it would be fine for those races that require a 2nd torch in your kit bag (most useful for finding and fitting new batteries for your primary torch).  It's a nice little all-rounder that will get you from A to B without a lot of fuss.

Gear Review: LED Lenser SEO7R

If I can, I like to have some time with our race prizes before we give them to our race winners.  I like to know that whatever they win will be appreciated.  On occasion, I've been able to happily say "We use that, and I know it's good."  Other times, I've had to say, "I have a friend who thinks they're great."  For the upcoming Cotswold Way 100, I can honestly say to the winner, "If you don't want your SEO7R, I'll happily take it off your hands!"  The headlamp will go to the winners courtesy of www.ULTRAMarathonRunningStore.com, who kindly provided a prize to all of our ultra winners this year.

I recently bought two LED Lenser H7R lights. Nic had managed to drop her cheap & cheerful head torch one too many times, and I was finding my 4 year old Petzl Tikka just wasn't as bright as I wanted for the trails, and we had a bit of night running planned.  The H7R is a fantastic light, with excellent power and fantastically fine control of the lens and the LED.  So when I saw the new SEO series come out, I knew it should be something pretty special.  Since I was passing by UMRS HQ recently, I stopped in and Keith Godden gave me a tour of the new SEO7R.  I haven't had a chance to use one through the night, but here is an overview based on my limited experience and a comparison with the model it replaces.

The SEO7R comes with a serious guy on the packaging, and some serious power in the light.

Packaging

This is where the SEO7R takes a great leap ahead of its predecessors.  For a start, the back-of-the-head battery pack from the H7R is gone.  The miniaturization process has resulted in a small, light package with the 3 AAA batteries located in the main package.  The result is 35g less weight on the head.  I could cope with the battery pack, but I can honestly say I'm happy it's gone.  The pack limited how the strap could comfortably fit on the back of the head.  In my case, that meant having the straps come low onto my ears so the pack could rest under the occipital bone.  In Nic's case, it meant she couldn't put her hair in a pony tail because that got in the way.

The SEO's battery compartment seems quite easy to use.  The back panel of the light clips and unclips, nothing complex or fiddly.  So, there shouldn't be any worries about it randomly falling off.  That said, it's all plastic, so try not to drop it on the rocks or stand on it too many times.

Lens Control

One of the best parts of the LED Lenser lights is the easy, continuous control of the lens aperture.  For my Endure 24 night section, I regularly changed from a dim, broad circle for the slower sections and a bright, focused light when I was running faster.  The H series features a little slider for the lens control.  The SEO series has a much more intuitive "twist the lens" mechanism.  It should be less fiddly, and still easy enough to work when wearing gloves.

Brightness Control

I love the continuous brightness control on my H7R.  Having 3 settings is all well and good, but we live life in a continuum of light, so why have a head torch that can't do the same?  The SEO7R combines both methods.  It has 3 presets (bright, dim, flashing), but by holding down the power/setting button, the LED brightness changes continuously through its full range, allowing you to select what you want.  For those who like to have these things automated, there's a light sensor that allows you to use the auto-control setting as well.  Personally, I'm more likely to vary the lighting based on what I'm doing and thinking than on the ambient light, so I'm not too fussed by the automatic functions.

Lighting Angle

I was deeply amused and heavily entertained with the H7R's lighting angle control on my overnight run.  It had 3 positions, none of which pointed where I wanted it to unless I was running upright with good posture.  It helped me keep my form, and gave me the giggles as I worked to stay upright as the night wore on, but wasn't the most adjustable of setups.  The SEO7R has a much finer control, with more than twice as many lock points and a more stable adjustment mechanism.  I think it's still going to require good posture if I want to look into the distance (ie. lifting my head up), but it is a huge improvement on the previous version.

Light

OK, some people might view this as the most important thing, but in many ways, we've now reached the point where we can have as much light as we want to pay for.  With 220lm (the latest H7R gets 200lm), the light is white, bright, and likely to do everything you need.  The beam distance is measured at 130m, which is a bit lower than the 150m of the H7R, but still further than you're likely to need on most night runs.  Compared to the yellowish light I get on my ancient Tikka, it really is the difference between night and day.  But, if the SEO7R is a bit too much light for what you need, the step down to the SEO5 still leaves you with an excellent night-run torch, and the SEO3 is more than enough for those early runs around town in the morning, where the main goals are to augment street lighting and wake up oncoming motorists.  The SEO series also features a low-powered red LED, which can be handy.

Accessories

Perhaps it's the erstwhile cyclists in me, but I like accessories.  The lights come with a white headstrap, accented in a colour to match the lamp.  But, for those who like a bit of extra fun, there are spare/replacement straps available in red, green, blue, and black.  You can shake your head now, but when your family run out of ideas for your Christmas present, you can bet this is the kind of thing that will save you from yet another pair of black socks.

Summary

As I said at the top, my brief experience with the SEO7R and my current H7R have combined to leave me both very impressed at the new SEO series and somewhat sad that I can't really justify replacing my still fairly new head torch.