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Caplight Review

By Dave Roberts   

on November 3, 2013    No ratings yet.

Posted in Outdoor Gear Reviews, Outdoor Photography, Safety, Trail RunningCycling, lights, night cycling, night running, night walks, running

Caplight Review

If you’re someone who likes to run with a cap, then running in the dark requires that you choose between your cap or a head torch (do people really run with a torch in hand?) When these appeared on Amazon advertised as being for runners as well as just about any other activity going , we had to give them a go to see how accurate that claim was.

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They’re a 5 LED lamp that simply clips onto the peak of a baseball cap.  While this may be convenient, boasting only 5 LEDs powered by a couple of coin batteries, we were seriously sceptical that these would provide sufficient light for running. Perhaps for someone wanting to do some close-up work at night, such as fishing or reading, but not for illuminating any significant distance ahead. It’s plastic and feels cheap, but sturdy enough. The clips gripped our cap tightly, and there was no danger of it flying off.

So with our opinions firmly entrenched before hand, did this cap-light prove us wrong?

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We tested it during autumn, and it had been particularly windy the last few days so it was essential to avoid small branches as well as being able to discern fallen leaves from dog eggs. To be fair, it was hardly even used for running as we could hardly see much while stationary and neither wanted to risk a sprain or having to hose off yet another pair of shoes. And there’s only one thing worse than hosing running shoes off, and that’s not hosing them off if you know what I mean?

You can see below two images taken with the caplight and one with a Led Lenser H14. I’ll let you guess which was which.

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Where this would be useful, at a pinch, is where you need some weak lighting; perhaps you cycle at night with a decent bike light and need a light to view your cycle computer that won’t blind you in the process. It may also be handy if you’re camping, or for setting your camera up for night photography. For running or night walking however, this is woefully inadequate, and of very little use. The cap-light is only really recommended if you’re one of those people who need an operation to remove your cap as a head-torch will be much more useful and effective in most situations.

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Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

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