AdventuresInMissingThePoint.com

I often run in the early morning, before the sun rises.  Since it’s dark, I usually wear a headlamp to keep my hands free to do what they do when you run.  I grew tired of replacing my AA batteries in my headlamp.

My first attempt to stop replacing my batteries were to use rechargeable batteries I had from an old camera.  For some reason, the rechargeable batteries would only work in my headlamp when I tested them, yet never when I needed them.  Frustrating!

I have a light from my mountain biking days.  The company that makes the light has an attachment to turn it from a bike headlight into a headlamp.  I decided I would buy the attachment, until I saw the price of $50.  That was beyond my breaking point.  So, I came up with the idea to attach the light to a visor.

I used a visor that Jimmy gave me for my birthday, Whoot!  This visor (by chance) is made out of a very durable plastic; I’m guessing HDPE or delron.  The rigidity of the material makes it very easy to attach zip ties to.  I used a 1/2″ PVC pipe so that I have the luxury of moving the headlamp angles.

I thought the headlamp was going to provide too much of a moment to keep from being super annoying while running.  I wore my headlamp for 4 hours while pacing a friend on Saturday night, and luckily, I was wrong about the large moment!

In the future, I may add a strap on top of the visor.  A strap on top will change the normal load from friction to a more static load.  But, it works just fine as is right now.

It makes sense that most headlamps are not as powerful as this one.  It would be painful to read glossy materials (magazines) with this headlamp; it is also awkward to have any form of a face-to-face conversation with this powerful of a headlamp.  However, for running (and mountain biking), the bright beam is perfect.  I bet the target audience for a traditional headlamp is Joe Camper, not a trail runner.